A Rhetorical Analysis Of King's I Have A Dream

In his 1963 speech “I Have a Dream”, King atop the Lincoln memorial orates his vision of what America should be. King does this in a way, that mimics a lawyer giving an opening statement, by laying out a clear beginning, middle, and end. King understands that by doing this he is appealing to his audience on a rhetorical level, allowing him to reach is audience in a pathetic way. King structures his essay in two ways, first he has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and secondly through his speech he includes several rhetorical devices that allow him to strengthen his argument. To start his speech King alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, symbolically placing himself on the same level as Lincoln. This is further heightened by the

It is here in this speech where he gives his thesis, on the state of America. To King America has issued a “faulty check” to the African American peoples. He states “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." He acknowledges the American Dream, a pathetic idea. The American Dream is a universally known idea, that gives hope to all those born and new to the United States, however he then goes on to say that the dream is not a reality for the people of color in

It his where he lists out his platform one by one, each one building upon the last, and with each I have a dream, he is building up the audiences fervor. He ends the same way he started with the American dream, in the opening he talks about how the founders visioned the American dream, here we see King state what his version of that dream is. The closing part of the speech continues to show pathos, because King knows that he wants his audience to end on this high note, with feelings of pride, hope, and a sense of duty, because he knows that these emotions will be the ones that are going to be talked about after today. And by mentioning not only his children, but other children as well, he brings about the most common and pure for of emotion, a parents hope for a better future for their child. While bringing up his children serves to humanize him more, it also serves to prove that he truly is a man of the people, and that he has the same hopes, and wishes as the rest of the people in the