Martin Luther King Speech Rhetorical Analysis

This speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was delivered in 1963 while addressing the participants who marched with him from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. The march was conducted under Martin Luther king Jr. and some other civil rights organizations against the social injustices occurring against the blacks and to provide them with civil rights, in that court rulings such as those in Brown vs. the Board of Education had already ended segregation in schools in 1950s, but their effective implementation was only disrupted by the discriminatory Jim Crow laws which would not be repealed until 1965. Additionally, there were not sufficient legislations to completely end preferential treatment to the white. King using pathos successfully touches the legal and moral aspect of equality, enshrined in the constitution, by repeatedly using phrases to emphasize his point, utilizing quotations in his address, by using specific examples as the basis of his argument and using metaphors to feature contrasting ideas. Martin Luther King Jr. stated the

He uses two hypothetical concepts to highlight the contrast. Like to compare isolation and discrimination with racial justice, Martin provokes the contrasting metaphors of lonely island (of poverty) with vast ocean (of material prosperity). Similarly, he says in paragraph 7, “This ‘sweltering summer’ of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an ‘invigorating autumn’ of freedom and equality.” (Martin Luther King). In paragraph 19 he says, “sweltering with the ‘heat’ of oppression, will be transformed into an ‘oasis’ of freedom and justice.” (Martin Luther King). This use of metaphor results in enlightening the message that is being addressed in the speech. The dichotomy represents an unambiguous contrast between the conditions blacks were living in and the conditions they