ipl-logo

Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Speech

1033 Words5 Pages

A key part of King’s vision

“I have a dream”: Who doesn’t have Martin Luther King speech resonating in his head when he hears these worlds. Those words heard during the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom “on August 28th, 1963. The brio of “The King”, King capacity to deliver an explicit, powerful, persuasive speech to the crowd. Through his use of context, appeals and symbols, he encourages his nation to embrace the word of “the Declaration of Independence”. The message is clear and commanding: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Dr. King’s purpose is to end all problems between the different races …show more content…

“King”, King was the most efficient figure to deliver this majestic public speech as a renowned Baptist preacher and the president of the new Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was the main organization to conduct civil rights activities. His speech refers to young and old people from all around united states, (Mississippi, New York) and each people filled concerns because he made his speech about his audience. The purpose was to inspire change in both side black and white during the civil rights era. The genre is narrative and argumentative, this way his audience can identify them self in the text. He discusses the Afro-American situation: “But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from m the cup of bitterness and hatred”. The White people who support equality and civil right for all, “for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.” Then the White people who contribute to this violation of humans right:” We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by …show more content…

To make feel his audience the injustice of the situation “The King” King appeal constantly to pathos; he evoked how emotionally the prejudice affected Americans. “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. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”. He use emotional image to describe and make everybody aware, “...one day right here in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” He used for ethos that liberty and freedom now is the logic continuity of what the ancestor American builder want “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of

Show More
Related
579 Words | 3 Pages

On August 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King held one of the most powerful and influential speeches in human history. The speech was held in front of more than 200 000 people and concerned the injustices of discrimination of African Americans which was taking place in the United States at the time. In his first statement he says: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” With this introduction Mr. King firmly states what the essence of his speech will be.

Read More
196 Words | 1 Pages

Empowered, gratified and dedicated is how Martin Luther King Jr, made his audience feel when they were either reading his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” or listening to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The letter he wrote from the Birmingham jail was a response to the 8 white clergymen who criticized M.L.K for leading protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The speech approached by non-violent protesters, it took place at the Lincoln memorial after the march on at Washington. In these two forms of writing Martin used two different persuasive appeals, logos and pathos.

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine you’re living back in 1963, it’s the year of change, for the better. There’s a man, Martin Luther King Jr., who is one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movements. He has two famous works, First, the Letter from Birmingham Jail. from back in August; a powerful response King gave after reading the criticisms of the clergymen of Birmingham. Second, there is the “I Have a Dream” speech from The March on Washington.

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

In 1963, while Martin Luther King was in Birmingham Jail, King delivered a powerful letter to his Clergymen in order to take time and respond to the criticism he had received over his work in Birmingham. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. In order to do this, Martin Luther King uses several techniques in paragraph thirteen and fourteen of his letter such as repetition, personification, as well as allusion, to support his claim that racial unity has taken too long. To emphasize the passing of time and the need to take action now, King uses repetition and allusions in paragraph thirteen to assist his claims. King starts strongly with the bold statement “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”, which in this case, the oppressors refer to the whites, and the oppressed are the negroes.

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

He appeals to the furious emotions of his audience by explaining how countries such as Asia and Africa have allowed social equality to remain in their societies, while his own country has banned young children from “go[ing] to public” parks based on their skin and not their actions. He intervenes in this time of social inequality in order to unite the people and persuade his fellow negros to have no tolerance for social injustice. This release of emotion from King conveys an

Read More
1236 Words | 5 Pages

I Have a Dream’s Rhetoric A momentous day in history is exalted by the enthralling speech and resonating imagery of a man whom wanted to make a difference. Just over 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was implemented, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a very riveting speech to over 250,000 Americans during the March on Washington, the nation’s largest demonstration of peaceful protest. With peace typically comes logic of which King very much emanated from his speech. With powerful rhetoric, King captivated an entire crowd and subsequently the entire nation with emphasizing while being freed from the travesty that was slavery people of color are still placed in chains by society’s gruesome yet commonplace demarcations.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

“There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.” Declared Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Dr Martin Luther king Jr. who gave the I Have A Dream speech claimed that all men are equal no matter the skin color. Abraham Lincoln, the United States sixteenth president who gave the Gettysburg Address, stated that all men are created equally and everyone should be free from slavery. Even though both of these men have made a huge impact to our country, both of these have made a huge impact to our country, both of them have their differences.

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr.’s overall tone in his speech is determination; determination to gain equality for all races and colors and for the nation to unite in fighting the injustices of inequality in America in the 1950’s. I Have A Dream, is all about his dream that one day all the injustices in the world will one day disappear. The use of diction brings the reader towards his tone of determination , contributing to his overall feelings towards his mission of wanting freedom and equality, which he portrays throughout the entire speech. King uses bold words repetitively such as "freedom" "dream" and “justice” to open his argument that equality will bring freedom to the black community.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

American Baptist minister and activist, Martin Luther King Jr., in his famous speech, “I Had a Dream”, highlights the broken and separated state that encompasses our country at that time in history. (Kirk) King’s intentions were to instill hope in his audience, including the African Americans, fighting for freedom from oppression. He portrays an inspiration filled tone, through multiple rhetorical devices, which motivates his audience to persevere in the tough battle against discrimination and segregation. Martin Luther King starts his speech, by approaching the subject of the disarray in our country. He compares the ideal rights everyone is granted and should possess, to what dosage of equality is actually paid forward.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

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:

Read More
1848 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

“Let freedom ring.” Freedom is all something we all value in life; unfortunately, it wasn’t just handed to all of us. In “I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. tries to convince all of America that everyone should be treated with equality. This address is very compelling because it uses tone, repetition, and allusion to convey a point using both compassion and power. The first paragraph references to the Declaration of Independence and our unalienable rights as Americans, trying to argue his point.

Read More
1229 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Speech

Related Topics

Open Document