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Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Speech

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In the course of pursuing his dream, egalitarianism throughout the community, Martin Luther King created numerous varied political speeches which justified his arguments of the controversy. From the moment when he began verbalizing this particular deliverance, I Have a Dream , King used appeal to authority in his speech to create ethos. While mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation, he expressed his reverence to Abraham Lincoln as “ a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today” ( King 1). By doing so, King is denoting the jurisdiction of Abraham Lincoln, the man who signed the document to free the slaves, in order to approach his goal of having equality for everyone of different races. This will draws people from the audience who are patriot and esteem one of the …show more content…

Amids creating his speech, Martin Luther King later use an emotional appeal to establish pathos. Amongst the various examples he use to draw sentiments from the audiences, King attracted the white people by using their empathy that are hidden inside of them; he stated, “ one hundred years later, the Negro [are] still is not free.” after being granted their equal rights of justice ( King 1). In the process of persuading the audiences, King is using emotional appeal by attempting to let the public know the feelings that were felt by the African Americans when they didn’t receive the treatment they deserve and their promise of equality forgotten, buried within the society. This will evoke a light bulb of some sort into some of the audience to place themselves in the people who are in this circumstances to experience their segregation. Accordingly, this may lead them into agreeing to King dispute for they may understand the situation from the victim's perspective: fight for civil rights. Also, during his speech, Martin Luther King utilizes an expert testimony in order to demonstrated the logical source for his idea,

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Martin Luther King Jr is an incredible writer and speaker which did help him when he was in the civil rights act to end the segregation of African Americans and white people. In king’s famous works such as his “I Have A Dream” speech and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” King discusses his want to the end of segregation through the means of persuasion. By doing this he uses two types of persuasive appeals, logos(using a clear line of reasoning supported by evidence, and pathos (using loaded or charged language and other devices to arouse emotions) in King’s coordination towards each texts targeted speech and audience. King uses both of these appeals excellently and is not exactly better at one than the other mainly because of the target audience and occasion these texts are represented by. Let the rest of essay explain to you as to why this is.

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Dr. King stood in front of many people and gave his speech, which was created to strike the people’s emotions of how African Americans suffered and why they wanted a change. In contrast, the letter was created to show the reasoning behind wanting a change, because he was writing to his fellow clergymen who said his actions were unwise and untimely. In Dr. King’s speech and letter, he uses rhetorical appeals many times to compel the feelings and reasoning behind the civil rights movement. In Dr. King’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream” he appealed to the audiences’ emotions about the topic of inequality and he proved his logic and reasoning for the Civil Rights movement. When Dr. King gave his speech about the inequality of African Americans, he backed himself up with reasoning to prove why equality was needed.

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Besides, King also infused the theme of religion into his speech to create a resonate with his audience. King was a Baptist minister; therefore, his ideology and rhetorical tactics are based on the Christian thoughts. Also, in the beginning of the speech, Martin Luther King not only used good words to praise President Lincoln’s contribution on preserving African Americans’ civil rights, but also referred biblical allusions to reflect African Americans’ actual situation during the civil war era. King graphically depicts Emancipation Proclamation as that “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” (King, Par 2)

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He begins by explaining the many racial issues within Americans. He argues how the constitution has failed to give African Americans equality. King, Jr. explains that they should not take matters into their own hands but rather have a patience and not revengeful. Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. uses his speech to explain his faith and hope he has towards seeing everyone being treated equally and having the same rights everyone else does.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.

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This speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was delivered in 1963 while addressing the participants who marched with him from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. The march was conducted under Martin Luther king Jr. and some other civil rights organizations against the social injustices occurring against the blacks and to provide them with civil rights, in that court rulings such as those in Brown vs. the Board of Education had already ended segregation in schools in 1950s, but their effective implementation was only disrupted by the discriminatory Jim Crow laws which would not be repealed until 1965. Additionally, there were not sufficient legislations to completely end preferential treatment to the white. King using pathos successfully touches the legal and moral aspect of equality, enshrined in the constitution, by repeatedly using phrases to emphasize his point, utilizing quotations in his address, by using specific examples as the basis of his argument and using metaphors to feature contrasting ideas. Martin Luther King Jr. stated the

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Martin Luther King Jr. uses both logical and emotional appeals in order for all his listeners’ to be able to relate and contemplate his speeches. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. Using emotional appeals captures an audience's attention and makes them think about what the narrator is saying. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true.

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It is rousing, motivational and filled with emotion. The aim of my investigation is to see how Martin Luther King uses language to create a speech of this nature that will persuade the audience to support the Civil Rights movement in America. It has become almost an defining moment for the cause. Alongside King 's speech, I have also chosen study the similarities between King 's speech and Abraham Lincoln 's 'Gettysburg Address ', as Martin Luther Kings refers to this in his speech, and are related as both aim to promote peace and equality. As this is much shorter speech, I will be looking at it in less depth.

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