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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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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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One hundred years before King’s speech, the “Emancipation Proclamation” was signed and became a “great beacon light of hope to millions,” as it finally began providing the oppressed with the rights they deserved from the beginning (King). Although revolutionary in freeing slaves, one hundred years later, African Americans were “languished in the corners of American society” and treated differently (King). When the Emancipation Proclamation came about, the document sparked the initiation of movements to take place in the 1960s, this came as a great source of hope for the movement. However, African Americans still did not have the same rights as white people after many years of being treated lesser than others; Martin Luther King knew it was the time to stand up and bring about lasting change that was long overdue. To conclude, the Emancipation Proclamation was a good start in the movement as it allowed all people to receive the rights they deserved, but King knew that the pursuit was far from over; it would take effort and persistence to reach

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He incorporated a lot of biblical allusions to insist the audience that his speech is in accordance to the Bible, as King writes that he has a dream that one day, “every valley shall be exalted,” every hill and mountain “made low,” all rough places will be “plain” and crooked places “straight” and that the “glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:4-5). On another occasion he paraphrased one of biblical statement “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5 ) in his words as “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity “cite .King’s allusions to past events help to create unite both races and inspire them to tackle this problem collectively as both colors experienced American history in some form or another. King not only references the Biblical allusions which emotionally appeal to people but also mentions legal statements like declaration of independence and Emancipation proclamation by mentioning “Five score years …” to refer to Abraham Lincoln’s address and “promissory note” to direct their attention towards their legal rights as mentioned in the constitution.

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