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Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

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Why is a speech given? The main purpose of a speech is to employ an audience with a main idea or proposal. The act of engaging an audience is crucial. A speech is a relationship between the person giving the speech and the audience he is speaking to. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech during a time where racial segregation was very popular. Jim Crow laws were instated and African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens. Blacks and whites were not granted equal treatment, blacks were denied jobs, access to good schools, and were not allowed to sit in the front seats of public transportation. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech “I have a Dream” to call for equal civil rights, economic rights, and an end to overall racism in the United states, while using ethos, pathos, and logos. The "I Have A Dream" speech can be divided by the use of rhetoric in the speech. Voice merging is a frequent approach used amongst African …show more content…

uses the rhetorical strategy ethos in the beginning of his famous speech to appeal to his targeted audience. As he delivered his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he relates Lincoln in his speech when he says “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” By King's use of Lincoln, he brought authority into his speech. Lincoln was a powerful and an influential president who was trusted by the American people throughout the civil war. This is providing a strong ethos appeal and establishing credibility with his audience. King also uses the Declaration of Independence to summon authority in his case for African American justice. He quotes, '"unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness"' he is stating that the government has abandoned the accountability to all of the American people. He is setting up his own credibility by using the authority of a great American and our

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TAG Statement One (Title, Author, Genre, Audience, Occasion) I Have A Dream speech written by Martin Luther King used to describe civil rights/segregation at the lincoln memorial for a crowd. TAG Statement Two

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In the text he says, "I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. As you can see King expresses his feeling of the negro sit-inners and demonstrators not given the verdict of being the "real heroes" of the south which they were king also give off a slight glance of angry towards this as well. As well as fur Roosevelt he too give off a tone of noble and a slightness of anger. In the Four Freedom speech he says things like, " it 's not probable

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King’s persuasive prowess in the speech is how he used logical and sensible arguments. A great example is when he states that their children are “stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity” by segregation laws and policies (King). He is alluding to the fact that African American children feel singled out and embarrassed by the fact that they are segregated from the white children. Most parents would never want their children to suffer through that kind of embarrassment, and yet African Americans experience it daily. A second example of King using logic and reasoning is when he states, “But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free.

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King shows his understanding of American history and its civil rights movements by referencing historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, and quoting from the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. He also presents himself as a man committed to equality and justice

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The introduction of Abraham Lincoln in the beginning acknowledges a successful past president who put in great work throughout the civil war. King does this to gain the attention of his audience and establish a strong connection to a credible source. Trust was now built between King and his audience through the appeal of ethos. Another way King creates credibility is when he quotes the Declaration of Independence, a legendary piece of American history that provides authority to King. He then compares the historical work to a promissory note that has failed to hold any value.

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In his 1963 speech “I Have a Dream”, King atop the Lincoln memorial orates his vision of what America should be. King does this in a way, that mimics a lawyer giving an opening statement, by laying out a clear beginning, middle, and end. King understands that by doing this he is appealing to his audience on a rhetorical level, allowing him to reach is audience in a pathetic way. King structures his essay in two ways, first he has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and secondly through his speech he includes several rhetorical devices that allow him to strengthen his argument. To start his speech King alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, symbolically placing himself on the same level as Lincoln.

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One of his main allusions, is alluding to the Declaration of Independence. In his speech, he states that, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men a created equal.” In this quote, he is alluding to the statement the founding fathers made when they said that everyone would be treated as one, and no one would be treated as less. By referencing the declaration, he gains credibility, because everyone in the United States looks up to the founding fathers as heroes. By referencing them, he brings across a feeling of, “The founding fathers did, so could I.” Also, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln throughout his speech.

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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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In a similar light, King addressed the speech ‘I have a dream’ to a peaceful mass gathering in Washington asking for change. The speech deemed racial segregation to be an inhumane practice that subdivides society into groups that essentially alienate them from the true sense of humanity; which is brotherhood. King argues that all people are created equal and directly challenged the outdated and abhorrent views that upheld the false flag of racial superiority among White Americans. Luther’s speech was a passionate rhetoric that preached his views about the future. Furthermore his speech did not

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Jackie Robinson once said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives”. Thousands of things in life can have an impact on our lives, whether it is a small or a large impact, it will change the course of our lives. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is widely considered one of the most impactful speeches in American history. In Martin Luther King Jr's speech, King uses repetition and metaphor to develop the central message that all races should be treated equally. King repeats the phrase "I have a dream" throughout the speech, which serves to emphasize the importance of the message and gives the audience a sense of unity with the speaker.

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“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” (King). This paragraph of his speech was very effective because it made some of the

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He repeated phrases like “Let freedom ring” and “I have a dream”, and made the speech compelling. In fact, at the end of the speech, the audience from the audio and I got excited from it. I believe how the crowd and location made a part to its success. The Lincoln Memorial showed symbolism to King’s words; which is important for rhetoric standards.

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King’s mention of Lincoln appeals to his audience because Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

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WHERE? King spoke from the steps of the famous Lincoln Memorial, which is an American national monument, and was constructed in honour of Abraham Lincoln , in Washington D.C. SIGNIFICANCE The speech is hailed as one of the best examples of oratory skills and helped gather momentum in the anti-slavery movement in the USA. King spoke to a crowd of 250,000 people, while millions more watched on television.

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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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