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An analysis of martin luther king junior's "i have a dream speech
The importance of rhetoric
The importance of rhetoric
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was considering America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence during the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march in Washington, D.C to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for occupation and sovereignty among all men. There where hundreds to thousands of black and white Americans gathered to hear Dr. King’s speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech was focused on equality and human rights. Novkov says that “the speech presents a particular vision of guilt for racial discrimination, purification through the crucible of the civil rights movement.”(2007) The speech expresses personal involvements and beliefs that Dr. King witnessed firsthand during the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King takes a stand and maintains …show more content…
After rhetorical analysis, there are three rhetoric concepts that are apparent throughout the “I Have a Dream” speech. Logos Dr. King utilized personal experiences that helped the audience relate to the message that the speech conveyed. Dr. King referred to the different acts and instances that proved that Negros were not equal to the white man. In these quotes: "The Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”, “our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."” and, “a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.” In which, at least one person in the audience had experienced firsthand and this is how Dr. King drew their attention and jeering. Dr. King brought this to the attention of the audience by explaining how America is not equal and Negros should acknowledge and demand to be treated fairly. The Lincoln Memorial and the first line of the …show more content…
King was able to appeal to the audience emotions, doubts, feelings, and aspiration through the use of pathos in the “I Have a Dream” speech. The repetition in the phrase: “I Have a Dream” provided the audience with a sense of confidence and optimism. Mark Vail explained the phrase: “I Have a Dream” as an “integrated the overarching tripartite organization of his speech into a single, cogent argument for his audience.”(2006) Pathos appeals to emotion based on charged descriptions of people, objects, events, or actions. Dr. King used anaphora throughout his speech to gain impetus with each line for applause after a few repetitions. Some examples are: "One hundred years later, the negro...", "Now is the time...", "I have a dream...", "Some of you...", and "Let freedom ring..." Dr. King used biblical terms and religion to gain an emotional reaction and connection to the audience: "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.” Yan explains some of Dr. King’s biblical references: “King had a deep knowledge of scripture he quoted verses from Amos and Isaiah, and subtly referenced passages from Psalms and Galatians. These allusions surely resonated with large portions of his audience, and gave his words -an added layer of depth.”(2015) In which explains that the Lord will come and that all men will come and stand together. Dr. King makes a point that relates and appeals to every father that desires a better future for his children. “I
Martin Luther King uses a lot of repetition in his speech. They are scattered throughout but very close. One of the repetitions in his speech is “I have a dream.” He uses this phrase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have a dream that one day this nation will and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Another is “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their nature. I have a dream today.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 12) Two other repetitions he uses is “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 16&17)
On August 28, 1963 Dr. King made his way to Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to commit his speech to his fellow Americans. Dr. King commands his speech during an ironic period time of America history. African-Americans were frowned upon by the Caucasian. Not only the African-American had a difficult time fitting in, also Asians and Hispanics were discriminated and surrogated from the Caucasian population. The heartless Caucasian police officers would verbally command their racists’ hounds on the desperate but yet innocent African-American young adults and children. The inhuman Caucasian fire department used their almighty water hose on the nonviolent protesters, only because the protesters’ skins were darker than theirs.
L., Anson. "Rhetorical Analysis of the "I Have a Dream" Speech." Teenink. Emerson Media, Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .
In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he uses rhetorical strategies to capture his audience and to keep their attention as well. One style that Dr. King used when he delivered his speech was Ethos, which is establishing his own credibility to
states that he and all other African Americans will not stop fighting for justice until they are guaranteed “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” He declares that they will no longer stand for being robbed of their dignity while trying to make a living in America. King says, “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Martin Luther King Jr. uses great amounts of ethos to show those filled with hatred against blacks that all they desire is freedom. He plays to the morals of the audience by telling of the demeaning acts of “Whites Only” signs across the United States. King states that there will be no rest until love drives out the darkness that has been hovering over the country since the beginning. He adds, “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Here he plays to the rhetorical device, pathos, to develop the central idea of how momentous it is to end segregation and racial discrimination. King relates to the anger of the audience as he demands justice for
Through emotion, Martin Luther King Jr. was able give connect with his audience during his speech when he declared the Constitution is “a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed…life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”. Therefore, he referred to this promise as a “bad check” and so he announced to the people that it was time for the African American to cash the check that would give them “upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice”. Throughout his speech, he stated the struggles of injustice by declaring “the Negro…still finds himself an exile in his own land”. With a keen voice, he declared to the African American that it was time to “go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed”. Overall, with the use of hope and faith, he was able to apply emotion to his speech and assure his audience that together one day African Americans would be truly
Two score and fourteen years ago, a great American stood beside the great Lincoln memorial, demanding justice and equality for all people, regardless of the color that divided them. This speech would come to be known as the “I Have A Dream” speech, and the man behind it was none other than Martin Luther King, Jr., a black minister from the state of Georgia. In his speech, King employs several rhetorical strategies like parallelism, ethos, and antithesis in an effort to inspire his audience in spite of injustices, to stay the course and know that success will come.
Fifty one years ago, on August 28, a mass of people gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. to join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in what would “go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”(1), the March on Washington. It was that day that Dr. King bequeathed one of the most well-known speeches, his “I Have a Dream” speech. Which moved the whole nation, whites and blacks, into a state of greater hope as the marchers demanded equality and an end to the unjust treatment of African Americans. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech conveys repetition, allusion, and rich figurative language, calling on all Americans to rise and fight injustice, and
On August 28, 1963, the incredible Martin Luther King Jr. gave his influential speech titled “I have a Dream.” This speech was one of the biggest pivot points of the Civil Rights movement, and solved one of the biggest problems for Negro people at that period in time; racism. One of the strongest techniques used in this speech is metaphors with imagery, such as when he stated “flames of withering injustice” and “beacon light of hope,”which evokes an emotional response because of intense imagery used in the quotes, allowing King to influence his listeners to a greater extent.
With all honesty before this day, I have never read Martin Luther King Jr " I have a dream" speech in its entirety, but today after reading it closely it sparked many emotions within me. I noticed that rhetoric is applied in Martin Luther King Jr speech and he does so by using words like "our","together" and "we" which builds a connection with the reader and signifies that the people were not alone and that they would go through any situation together and that collectively they would try to obtain the freedom that they deserved. He repeatedly spoke "we are not satisfied" implying that he and others as well did not only want their freedom but jobs, their right to vote and justice. After reading the CNN article written by Kevin Powell, it dawned
During the mid-20th century racial inequality was a major issue in the United States that needed to be addressed. On August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial thousands of people gathered to listen to Martin Luther King’s speech on segregation and freedom. He spoke to the Negros who were demanding freedom, and the white people that had been rude and unkind. This was an extremely serious and determined speech that showed lots of emotion by King, who was also a preacher. He created a tone that was emotional and eager to create a new beginning. King’s speech ended up being heard across the nation and is commonly known by millions. Throughout his speech he uses repetition, logos and pathos to get the nation to stand up for equality.
In King’s speech, he uses more pathos than anything else. In the beginning of “I Have a Dream”, he says “the Negro still lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” he is making a connection by saying emotional words such as “lonely” or “vast”. HE is basically saying that black people are all by themselves because of their color. Later on he say s”Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.” Which here he is talking to people who have been in jail which can be emotional. When he makes it personal by saying “We can never be satisfied as long as or children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by a sign saying “For Whites Only”, he makes it about family. He is trying to get the white peoples to realize that things are hard for black people. There are
Finally, I think the purpose of speech is to persuade and impress the audience. Their tone shifts throughout the whole speech in order to convince the audience too. In “I have a dream” speech, Martin Luther King has repeatedly stressed, express strong emotions, making passionate speeches. The second paragraph mentioned about "One hundred years later," and the earlier "One hundred years ago," produced a clear contrast, and he also repeatedly stressed tone just in order to stressed that "Emancipation Proclamation" signed by a hundred years later, the Negro human rights situation did not improve. Moreover, the most impressed part in President John F. Kennedy speech is he said “to convert our good words into good deeds...to assist free men and
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this
He delivered his speech in a way that made everyone feel like they had a part to play. Out of the 250,000 people that were there, he addressed every one of them. Martin luther King had a plan to show that a group of people no matter the color, gender, or where he or she comes from a difference can be made. He knew his audience and made the audience feel connected to one another. Martin Luther King addressed whites and blacks in his speech. We rallied the two races together with his use of words. Martin Luther King says “the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today…(1963).” With this simple sentence King linked blacks and whites together with a call of action. The speech dose not just address people by race but also their hometowns. Martin Luther King talks to each state: New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Martin Luther King presented his speech to a verity of people, but with his word choice and knowledge of his audience made them feel