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

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On August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Martin Luther King Jr gave his legendary I Have A Dream speech with hopes of advancing the fight for equal rights for African Americans. In his revolutionary speech about racism in the US, King inspired his audience through the use of rhetorical comparisons, repetition, and Ethos to attempt to abolish racial discrimination once and for all. Firstly, King utilizes rhetorical comparisons to add comparison, and imagery, as well as to stir the audience’s emotion. A purposeful example of this is when King states, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon of light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice” (2). This metaphor tugs at the audience’s conscience, moving many listeners to join the movement; it is also a painful reminder of a great deal of suffering Negros faced before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Furthermore, King argues, “...America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient fund's” (4). The bad check …show more content…

For instance, King states “ Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation” (2). Alluding to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation sets the scene for what is yet to come- King's argument that more than a century later, black people still aren’t treated as equals. In addition, King references the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (17). Speaking from his soul, King truly describes how he one day hopes our nation will be able to honor the true meaning of that creed. By using strong allusions, King is able to lay a solid foundation for his argument and reinforce his ideologies about equality for

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In Martin Luther King’s famed “I Have A Dream” address, and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” King makes use of bothe logos and pathos in his writing. It is because of these that his writings have risen to such prominence and stirred so many to action. But while he used both logos, the use of reasoning, and pathos, the use of emotions and charged language, a careful analysis shows that they are not equal. For King has a talent for dramatic, poignant resounding language, one which he uses to full effect and is much more powerful than logos. To demonstrate, take this passage “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it’s creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

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Martin Luther King was a very powerful speech writer, as well as great at getting the point across through paper. In two of his most famous works of art, “I Have a Dream” and “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he uses many different types of writing tools. Some of these writing tools include, analogies, rhetorical questions, and repetition. Some tools are only used in one or the other because it either wouldn’t make sense, or it would bring down the strength of the words within the work. The use of analogies is very common in his work.

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King's careful choice of words are used to sway the reader's sympathy for blacks and to increase the morale of the discriminated. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. He writes of his own problems that may apply to the daily struggles of the abused African

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King inspired millions to change the situation they were in and end discrimination with his emphatic diction. Unbeknownst to many, allusion was one of King’s most powerful and persuading forms of rhetorical devices in his, I Have a Dream,” speech. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” is guaranteed to both black men as well as white men, was a phrase spoken by King

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Have you ever wondered just how powerful and moving words can be? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, “I Have a Dream” as well as his “Letters From Birmingham Jail” are full of powerful and inspiring wording. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr takes advantage of this wording to help bring to light the issues that black people in America were being subjected to, so that people would feel inspired to take action. Martin Luther King Jr utilizes figurative language to effectively make the people who listened to his speech better visualize the struggles of black people in America so that they will actively try to get the government to change laws to be more inclusive. An example of this is when Martin Luther King Jr announced, “[That] this sweltering summer

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He used other rhetorical devices to convince the audience that he and other African-American citizens deserve the same rights as their white counterparts. King used metaphors extensively, which made his words have a greater impact on the audience. He described the life of African-Americans as “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (“I Have a Dream”). This emphasized the difficulties that were experienced by African-Americans and how it hindered them from succeeding. By emphasizing this, King made his argument more persuasive because he captivated the audience.

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