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Martin Luther King's Speech At The Lincoln Memorial

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On August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the prominent speech “I Have a Dream” at the Lincoln Memorial to over 250,000 civil rights supporters. King’s speech was compelling and potent; it moved everyone to action. Furthermore, he helped change the society into a world of justice. King was strongly rooted in the equality between whites and blacks and died believing in it. In addition, he emphatically believed freedom existed for the black’s. He states, “[The white’s] destiny is tied up with [the black’s] destiny.” This quote emphasizes the problem of injustice in this world, and it makes the audience move into action. King’s speech was widely known, due to the effective tone he creates throughout his …show more content…

One example of an anaphora in this speech is the repeated phrase “One hundred years later...” to emphasize the injustice in this world. King states, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” King wants to get the blacks attention that they are under oppression, and it must change. In fact, he lets the whites know the cruelty they put the blacks under. He presumes it’s essential for everyone to be at peace and impartial. King makes a point that a century later, this society is still going to be overwhelmed with inequity because the world is damaged by our blindness. Moreover, many people are so corrupt that they don 't see what’s in front of …show more content…

The quote, “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust… to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny… They have to come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom” is filled with many diction like “destiny” and “freedom.” King uses a significant amount of strong diction to make his speech effective. Additionally, his word choice has a way of reaching out to the audience. He believes “freedom” is extremely important and it is an obligation to create a justice

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In the speech King shows in this quote that the Negroes should be free. “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic

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King’s letter is full of powerful and motivating quotes. King explained the topic of freedom and how it was difficult for the African Americans to achieve, he stated: “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (68). The African Americans, specifically the leaders, went through extremely tough and painful experiences. According to King, for the African Americans to achieve freedom they had to fight for it, because the oppressors refused to give freedom to their victims. King knew this because of the many different painful experiences him and the other leaders experienced to receive their

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Through his use of anaphora in this paragraph, King emphasizes a need for social change after illustrating the brutality suffered by the black population in America. Moreover, the use of pathos helps the white clergymen relate to the black American’s desire for freedom by connecting similar drives for independence. King understands that both white and black people hold independence dearly, and both believe “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom” (King 7.)

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Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the

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King relies on his audience’s positive emotions towards his stance to gain support for his argument. For example, King reaches to the audience when he states “ When will you be satisfied?” This question was in reference to the police brutality against African Americans. King then goes on to answer his own question by stating “ No, no we are no satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” King builds his case on emotion of the situation by signifying the importance of what independence should be and how black people should take a stand towards it.

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We live in a world with currently many conflicts from the racial disparity in high incarceration rates to gun violence and the war over gun rights. In his letter, King describes that Black Americans have no identity and that the oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever. King implies that they cannot be told to “wait for justice” because if they simply

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King’s dialect showed the audience civil right issues, involving many rhetorical strategies using ethos, logos, and pathos, to a racially tempered crowd whom he viewed as different, but not equal. From the very beginning of it , King brings his crowd back to the origin of America when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, that freed all slaves and gave hope to the former slaves. But immediately after Dr. King speaks out on how after 100 years Blacks still do not have the free will that is deserved. He points out the irony of America because Black Americans were still not truly free.

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He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of

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in 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke his I Have a Dream Speech to try and grab the attention to anyone willing to listen. He did that to try and get the rights that the African American people deserve but don’t get. He also wrote his Letter From Birmingham Jail on April 6, 1963 to 8 white clergymen to reply to what they said about him for protesting racial segregation. They said that what he was doing was “unwise and untimely.”

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The main idea of his speech is that all people were created equal and, although this is no longer the case nowadays, King felt it must be the case for the future. He argued peacefully, yet passionately and powerfully. In preparation for the speech, he studied the Bible, The Gettysburg Address and the US Declaration of Independence and he alludes to all three in his address. The intensity of King’s speech is built through parallelism, metaphors, bold statements and rhythmic repetitions:

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Racial inequality has been a grand issue in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses discrimination in his "I Have a Dream" speech through the use of various rhetorical choices. This speech was delivered on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in front of 200,000 people; in addition, the speech was broadcasted live throughout the nation. What made his speech so powerful was that he was a father sharing his dreams for the future of America. Dr. King was a social activist and Civil Rights leader; he encouraged non-violent protests.

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Martin Luther king in the quote provoked and abhorred the african-americans. The provoking words in the quote like “crippled”,”manacles of segregation” all show how the people of color are still not free . King uses the words “One hundred years later” in the quote to show how long it has been since slavery has been abolished and the 13th Amendment was passed and how frustrated he is, that an African American is still treated differently than a white american. Towards the end of the “I have a dream” speech Martin Luther King provokes and lists the ways that African Americans will never be satisfied.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

Although, King's speech which took place on August 28th, 1963, motivated many to stand up for who they are and fight for their rights as people living in America. Dr. King's words were eye openers to many because it gave them the realization of how cruel this discrimination was. His demonstration affirmed the nation that everyone does not need to tolerate the dreadful wave of racial injustice. The final result was a peaceful demonstration of how change positive change is frequent in American history. This I Have a Dream speech will always be recognized due to the power it had on the nation as a whole and its immortal notion of the horrors of racism.

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1111 Words | 5 Pages

This reference in particular evokes the strongest emotional response from black people because many African Americans revered Lincoln for his decision to sign the revolutionary Emancipation Proclamation, and how the document symbolized a free future for slaves--the ancestors of the blacks in the crowd. But the next few lines following this allusion also persuades those ignorant of how little things have changed by highlighting the “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” that blacks still suffer from despite the hundred year gap. Here, he uses the connotations of “manacles” and “chains” to evoke a negative emotional response from the audience, especially from those unaware of the need to change, causing their opinion to match the speaker’s: against segregation. Additionally, King weaves biblical allusions into his speech to appeal to the Christians within the crowd. He uses the “dark and desolate valley of segregation” to illustrate the injustice African Americans have endured for centuries and juxtapositions it with the “sunlit path of racial justice” to exemplify a future where true freedom exists for

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Throughout his speech he implies a lot of metaphors to make his speech effective and influencing. For example, King constantly describes the Negroes as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation”, “Storms of Persecution,” and “chains of discrimination.” Through these metaphors King indicates the crises the Negroes face. A few of King’s strongest metaphors are his references to prejudice: “the quick sands of racial injustice”, the “heat of oppression”, “the dark and desolate valleys of segregation”, and the “chains of discrimination.” King also indicates the unbearable inequality by creating an image: “the sweltering summer of the negro’s discontent.”

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