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

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In his extremely powerful “I have a dream” speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively expresses and visually persuades his audience towards his dream of racial equality. He does this through his use of descriptive words, repeating phrases, and by appealing to others’ emotions. He speaks to create equality among all people and promotes the better treatment of colored people. A powerful method King used in his demand for change is the use of imagery. During his demand for change King points out, “the life of a Negro is still sadly crippled by the mancles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,”(King 1). This quote expresses to the audience that the colored man is still treated poorly …show more content…

King writes, “I have a dream,”(2) repeatedly throughout his speech. He used this quote to remind his audience of his goals for society. He has a goal to end racial discrimination of all kinds, to make society a better place to live in not just for himself but for future generations, and to give freedom to all, all over the country. He used the phrase, “We can never be satisfied,”(King 2) multiple times. This phrase signifies that this world is constantly changing and has always something to fix. It means that colored men and women will always continue to fight for the rights that they deserve to have. They will never be satisfied as long as they are being discriminated against. King reminds his audience of his goals for society and he reminds them that the world can always be improved through his use of …show more content…

King relates to the audience by stating, “The Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land,” (1). Many people in his audience would most likely relate to this quote. They also could feel sympathy or anger towards the horrible situations and examples that King used. In this quote specifically, he said that colored people often find themselves to be alone or separated from the world that they were born to live in. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, society still can’t seem to accept that colored people are a part of this world too. King supports this by stating the hardships of the colored children in society. The children are being stripped from their childhood and their own lives. They do not get to just live and be a kid, they have to worry about issues that they should not be worrying about at their age. He hopes for not his own children but for everyone that they may live in a world one day where they aren’t judged by their skin color but for their character. By appealing to others emotions, King used the hardships of colored people and children in his fight for

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King didn’t just use an emotional approach during his “I Have a Dream” speech, but he also uses a logical approach. He uses a lot of emphasize about how after a century, the negro is still not free. Also, it might be a long time before the negro can be freed. King talks about how he has a lot of dreams for the world, and although not all of them will become true, at least some might. He wants everyone to be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

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King stated that the black community has waited long enough. “We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights” (King 5). These are rights that everyone should have yet people had been neglected of them just because of their skin color. Other countries were making progress while they were stuck on an unnecessary issue. King uses a great analogy to explain this “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (King 6).

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King connected to the audience’s emotions in an incredible fashion. One example of this is when King said, “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their adulthood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘For Whites Only’” (“I Have a Dream”). This made the audience sympathize with the difficulties African-American citizens go through. He specifically mentioned children, as well, which amplified the emotional effect on the audience.

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This quote exemplifies how blacks have been put down and beat upon for years without the ability to fight back. King detailing the constitutional and god given rights shows that blacks have been denied basic rights that our country has been structured around. The American ideology that “all men are created equal” has not applied to the black race, illustrating their denial of God-given and constitutional rights. The stinging darts of segregation is an example of blacks continuous enduring of

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By depicting a future in which everyone is treated equally regardless of race. He appeals to the emotions of his audience. In order to foster a sense of solidarity and shared suffering. He also discusses his own experiences as well as those of other African Americans. King made a strong speech and his rhyming passionate delivery helped make the gravity of his message clear.

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One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” (King). He uses the phrase “one hundred years later” to reference how it has been one hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation. However, even one hundred years after this momentous occasion for African Americans, their lives have hardly changed for the better, as they are still held down by “the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” which afflicted them all those years ago. These snippets from the speech make it evident how King often used cerebrally appealing arguments in order to convince people to help him fight for

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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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We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”. King addresses the fact that even though at the time blacks are the ones being segregated upon, it still affects the white community, not just blacks. This quote is relevant to the entirety of the paper because the whole letter is focused on injustices and how they have affected

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“Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” (King). King calms the African Americans who are being oppressed by using the words, “this situation can and will be changed.” and “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” which gives them hope that there will be a new day when a change will take place.

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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 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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At the end of the 17th century there is a distinct shift in the culture of Western Europe in regards to the manner in which people observe the universe around them. The people inspiring this all-encompassing movement are many individual philosophers. Each of these individuals focus their mental efforts in hopes of changing the societies in which they live. Many of them encourage their contemporaries to reexamine the lense through which they understand the world. The intellectuals involved in the Age of Enlightenment hoped that people would use reason and logic in order to explain the world around them instead of traditional superstitious and religious conventions (Kors).

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“...when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” (MLK, 276). King uses this strong sense of appeal to emotion to engross his readers and let them know how hard it is for them.

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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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