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

In the speech “I Have a Dream” (1963), Martin Luther King Jr. announces the ongoing problem of African Americans not being able to live freely without facing inequality. King defines his argument by asserting the credibility of the rights from the Constitution and

Declaration of Independence, by continuing to use rhetorical devices - repetition, and by connecting the community through his strong use of diction. King points out the issue in order to open the peoples’ eyes of the horrible treatment of African Americans. The author writes in a guiding and convincing tone for the emotional audience who wants to see a change in the rights of all Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr. takes off his speech by using ethos to establish credibility for the

He indicates the “magnificent words” (4), of them “signing [this so called]

Martin 2 promissory note…every American was to fall heir” (4). King verbalizes the lies America has written and has not followed.

King connects to the audience by using diction throughout the speech. He brings the audience together by continuously using “us”, “we”, and “our”. MLK shows the needed unity between whites and blacks with “community…their destiny is tied up with our destiny” (9). He believes that this “situation can and will be changed” (14), and that we will all be one with the same rights of freedom, we will have a “brotherhood” (18), and most importantly that the upcoming generations “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (20). King pushes at the point of equality and unity that is needed in the world.

MLK continues to make his speech flow by the use of meaningful rhetorical devices - repetition. When King talks about how the African American community has been lied to

This reverts back to Abrahm Lincoln and how he freed the slaves. MLK starts to get the crowd cheering “Now is the time” (6), they clap. He keeps them going “we must” (8), they scream. Martin Luther King Jr. broadcasts “we can never be satisfied as long as” (13), the horrors of police brutality and the horrors of the wounded bodies. King demands us to think about and “go back to” (15), the hotspots of police brutality. Now, the famous “I Have a Dream” (16), is brought to the realization of the nation. In the future King “…dreams…the sins of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood” (18). “With this faith, we will be able to” (26), be equal, be free, be together, be ONE. King finishes the speech with “Let[ing] freedom ring” (39), through the places where the inequality is unbearable to live in. MLK gives these problems a remembering title that keeps the speech moving.

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Throughout the speech King provides a productive choice of rhetorical devices and a strong collection of language, Martin Luther King Jr. ignites the crowds want for African

Americans equal rights and freedom. He had a fluent use of diction, the strong and