In Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he uses appeals to logic and emotion to inform people about the continued existence of racial inequality. He uses logic and reason to illustrate how Negro’s are still mistreated after agreements were issued to end slavery. In King’s
American civil rights activist and baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., has called people from everywhere to give his “I have a Dream” speech. “An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people from across the country traveled to the National Mall for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963. ” (Ferguson.) King purpose is to end racism in the United States forever and to gain economic rights for everyone. He also wants to bring awareness to society that there is inequality.
On September 15, 1963, a couple of weeks after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, four girls die in a bombing at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist church. Three days later, King delivered a speech at their funeral. In his eulogy, King claims that although the children were “unoffending, innocent, and beautiful . . . victims,” they were also “martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity” who “died nobly.” The speech shows another perspective of King’s leadership and how he links American political ideas to Christian religious ideas.
Dr.Martin Luther King Jr was a leader during the 1960’s who believed in peace. President Abraham Lincoln, a leader that broke the rules of society and freed the slaves. In the “I Have a Dream, Dr.Martin Luther King JR” speech and the “Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln” both leaders spoke out to talk about freedom and inequality. That was not the purpose, however, the purpose of these two speeches was to inspire the listeners to come together. This paper will analyze both speeches and express how different rhetorical devices helped achieve the purpose.
“I Have A Dream” by Martin Luther King Junior, is a well-known speech that demonstrates the power of rhetoric and its impact on audiences through the use of repetition and metaphorical speech. In the configuration of his words, King best utilizes the rhetorical device of repetition, both literally and conceptually, to create a call for action now to combat the injustices of the past. The most popular use of repetition that King exercises in his speech is the repetition of “I have a dream” which sends a message of love in a time of hate, as opposed to spreading more hate that can be found, as he says, within the “vicious racists.” A close analysis of this speech reveals that the “I have a dream” portion can be seen as a buildup or as a climax
On August 28th, 1963 in Washington D.C., civil activists, minorities, and people of faith await for Martin Luther King Junior’s speech, “I have a Dream”, to commence. A predominant leader in the Civil Rights Movement and a leading spokesperson for nonviolent methods, King delivered one of the greatest speeches. Weaving in references of the Founding Fathers and the Bible, Martin Luther King Jr. shows the struggle for black liberation. Through nonviolence and civil obedience, he requests them to fight for the freedom that is due to them. The message King wanted to portray was no one should be satisfied until they achieve equality despite physical or mental exhaustion.
Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his speech “I have a Dream” August 28th, 1963. He had four main points. Those points are as followed, The United States owes the black or “negro” community freedom. He also repeats several times that the protest should be non-violent. He now expresses the most valuable tool hope.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech August 28th, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington D.C. This speech was a success. This speech brought Martin Luther King and his message of anti-violence to a worldwide, and nationwide audience. Also, his speech made Congress move faster in passing the Civil Rights Act. Mr. King’s speech was broadcasted all over the radio and also reprinted in newspapers all over the world.
In the speech by Martin Luther King titled, “I Have a Dream” was intended to get rights for African Americans. His speech was referred as a piece of writing that created history. He acknowledges that African Americans did not get the freedom that was entitled to them hundred years ago by the document, “Declaration of Independence”. He states, “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 pursuit of happiness” (1).
On August 28th, 1963, during the height of the civil rights movement in America, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed the nation at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In his speech, titled I Have a Dream, Dr. King shares his vision of a future where all people are treated equally regardless of the color of their skin. After years of injustice, this historic speech was a catalyst for laws that provided equality and justice to black men, women, and later other minorities in our country. Even today, it is considered to be an icon of civil rights and social justice not only in America, but also around the world. The speakers here will be talking about different facets of this speech.
King uses metaphors as a way to portray his philosophical messages in a more concrete fashion, making it so that any person can understand and feel inspired by them. He starts this section of his speech out by decisively utilizing the extended metaphor of a “bad check” to help his audience visualize in widespread, laymen terms what it means to have something that is rightfully yours unjustly denied from your possession. To further show the injustice of their current situation, he embodies the culture of acceptance among “Negroes” with the metaphor relating gradualism to a tranquilizing drug and uses it to shatter the belief that time will heal all wounds, implying that time will only make us numb to injustice instead of solving the problem. After explaining the injustices of his day, he then illuminates the possibility for the future by juxtaposing the current situation and the future he seeks through metaphors in two ways. First, he decisively juxtaposes the metaphors a “dark and desolate valley of segregation” and a “sunlit path of racial justice” in order to draw a stark contrast between the American Dream of opportunity and inclusion and the American reality of oppression and exclusion at the time.
Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963, American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr, delivered his public speech to thousands of people during the March on Washington. The speech was titled, “I Have A Dream,” and would go on to be a defining moment of the civil rights movement (biography.com). In seventeen minutes, King influenced and informed generations of people about racial equality and fairness. The speech was written to generate the audience into feeling sympathy while providing hope to the depressed African American population. The speech was centered around the belief that all men are created equal.
In Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, rhetorical devices are highlighted to strengthen King’s argument. Anaphora and imagery are some of the strongest components of King's speech. The line “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (King 17) showcases King’s rhetorical strengths. King repeats the line “We can never be satisfied” or other versions to relay his message clearly; African-Americans will never be content until they receive the inalienable rights of justice and freedom they deserve.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his earth shattering “I Have a Dream Speech” to a group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C. On this day, everyone across the nation listened to him diligently and intensely. As he stood in front of everyone marching, including those watching, he explained how a black man does not have the luxury of living the American dream. During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, the freeing of slaves did not create automatic freedom for those once held in bondage. “But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of segregation” (Luther).
heavily utilizes the emotional vulnerability of his audience when promoting his claim of racial inequality being a great injustice. King begins his speech with an intense introduction, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” (1). This example shows King’s use of the “American Dream” to motivate his audience to support his purpose. At this point in time American’s are driven by the belief of America being a source of freedom and equality, patriotism being at an all time high, and he applies that to his speech. As he continues, he refers to the Emancipation Proclamation as a, “great beacon light of hope,” (King 1).
