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Rhetorical Analysis Of Indignantly Critical Speech By Martin Luther King Jr.

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In his indignantly critical speech (1963) given to a group of civil right marchers in Washington D.C. for racial injustice, Martin Luther King clearly articulates and emotionally persuades his audience through the use of allusions, imagery, and anaphora to advocate that discrimination based on race is an injustice. He writes this speech to persuade his people suffering from segregation that they need to peacefully stand up for their freedom and equality in order to promote that racial injustice is present and needs to be rectified. King spoke to inspire his followers and the people of America who needed to come together and peacefully unite. One of King’s most effective methods of promoting that discrimination based on race is injustice is his use of allusions. In his speech King presents an opening phrase “Five years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation” (1). This shows the reader that he has credibility by connecting himself to Lincoln’s part in equality and freedom. …show more content…

King presents an “I have a dream” phrase throughout the entirety of his speech (1-3). This is an example of a King putting faith in the people that freedom will soon come by repeating his phrases consistently. He uses this phrase repeatedly to show what he envisions in an America that does not experience racial discrimination. Besides his famous dream phrase, he uses phrases such as “now is the time” and “with this faith” (King 1,2). Phrases such as these give the audience motivation to take action in gaining freedom. They give the people hearing the speech a sense of community in each other and trust that they will stand up together even with their struggles. By using anaphoras King manages to deliver his speech in an inspiring and effective way to encourage the people of his time that they should step up for their

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King was also able to express impressive grammar with constant semicolons and commas in order to support his syntax. For example, he states in paragraph 47, “There will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for a conscience’ sake.” The grammar that King applied to his statement made the sentences appear longer but they are not so complex that they are difficult to understand for the reader. The reader comprehends a stronger meaning from the sentence with more explanation and more reasoning. This then connects to the ethos appeal by unmasking his credibility with such exceptional grammar and writing.

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1963, time of the Civil Rights Movement, and the world was one of chaos and the fight for equality was at its end. 250,000 people congregated at Washington D.C. to listen to Martin Luther King Jr. express his and his followers views on the issue of racial injustice. His words persuaded and inspired many to not only end inequality, but to expose of it. However, none of this would of been possible if good ole rhetorical devices didn’t come into play. His superb usage of ethos, logos, and pathos quite possibly changed the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement.

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I Have a Dream’s Rhetoric A momentous day in history is exalted by the enthralling speech and resonating imagery of a man whom wanted to make a difference. Just over 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was implemented, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a very riveting speech to over 250,000 Americans during the March on Washington, the nation’s largest demonstration of peaceful protest. With peace typically comes logic of which King very much emanated from his speech. With powerful rhetoric, King captivated an entire crowd and subsequently the entire nation with emphasizing while being freed from the travesty that was slavery people of color are still placed in chains by society’s gruesome yet commonplace demarcations.

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They were much more likely to want things to change when they heard him describe the situation this way. Another rhetorical device used by King was anaphoras. An anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of several clauses to create emphasis. King’s best use of this begins in the very title of his speech. He declared to his audience, “I have a dream that one day… sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

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Segregation has been an issue faced in our world all throughout history. On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights leader, spoke out against racial injustice to make a change in our world. By utilizing logos, pathos-filled imagery, and strong anaphora, King successfully conveys his message of the inequalities humans face based on skin color, to convince the world that not making change would be unethical. In the beginning of the speech, Martin Luther King Jr emphasizes the unfulfilled promises made in our country by using logos.

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In his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King addresses the issues of racism and inequality in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the letter, King references a variety of historical events and figures to support his arguments and convey his message. In this essay, we will examine the effectiveness of King's references in terms of how effectively they convey his message of the need for civil rights and racial equality. By analyzing King's use of historical figures, events and religious allusions, we will explore three different ways King expresses his message and to what extent these different things change many individuals' lives and the way they look at things differently now due to King's statements in his essay. Through this analysis, we will gain a deeper understanding of King's message and the powerful rhetorical strategies he used to convey it.

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Power and Possession In all the earthly worlds and stories, greed has always existed. Greed for power, possessions, and everything else. In Tolkien’s fantasy world of fairy tale and wonder, it is no different; that same element still exists.

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The activist, Martin Luther King, revolutionized the civil rights movement as he addressed the issues that racism had induced from the beginning of its existence; to counter this damage, King encouraged peaceful, relentless protests for freedom and equality. Angry hate crimes tarnished the lives of African Americans in the United States, putting a stop to these monstrosities would be a momentous task but Martin Luther King was fearlessly ready to take on the challenge. The undoubtedly great speech was crucial for the development of the civil rights movement and success because the speaker compelled his audience to stand up for what they believed in and created a sense of purpose and drive that would lead to prosperity. In the speech “I Have

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These beginning lines help connect King to the audience and lays the foundation for the rest of the speech. Following these introductory lines, King alters his center of attention and starts to focus on America's history and the beginning of our nation. He states "five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice........". In this section of the speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln and the history of America to gain credibility with his audience.

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Martin Luther King Jr., a minister and social activist, led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He was an advocate for equality between all races and a civil and economic rights Activist. Because of his leadership, bravery and sacrifice to make the world a better place, Martin Luther King was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. His incredible public speaking skills and ability to properly get his message across can clearly be scene throughout the speech. Tone: Dr. King delivered his speech at the university of Oslo in Oslo Norway in front of a large group of people.

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On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.

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On April 4, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy gave his remarks on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Robert’s goal was to inform people on Martin Luther King’s journey and to strengthen people’s attitudes on the whole situation. Robert’s main points throughout the speech were how the country as a whole should move forward, why the states should not resort to violence but unity instead, and he also addressed that the country needed unity, love, and compassion.

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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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To achieve this, he used rhetorical strategies such as appeal to pathos and repetition. His passionate tone flowed through these strategies, increasing their persuasive power on the people and encouraging them to follow/listen to his message on racial injustice. While pathos elicits an emotional response from the audience to make them more accepting of King’s ideas, repetition structures the speech and emphasizes key ideas for the audience to take away from listening. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. To this day, King’s speech remains one of the most famous and influential speeches in

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Another practice MLK uses throughout his speech is the wide use of anaphors. To influence his audience efficaciously he mentions “I have a dream”, “One hundred years later”, “let the freedom ring” due which the audience gain a preserving feeling. The intense use of anaphora elevates his speech and make his speech more powerful, memorable and quotable. The tone being used by MLK is informatory. His tone possess an essence of argumentation and description.

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