Rhetorical Analysis Of The Other America Speech

We’ve heard about the phrase “The Other America.” This phrase was most impactful when black activist and rhetorical speaker Martin Luther King Jr. used it when advocating for his Poor People’s Campaign. As an articulate speaker, he was able to make a long-term impact in his community, spreading awareness on social problems that were heard of but never taken action towards– still equivalent today. Whether it was about civil rights, racism, or what his “The Other America” speech talked about – economic inequality and the unfair education system of those in the low-income diversity. In his speech, King argues that poverty is a common but ignored issue that demands attention as it’s taken away from the people. It’s not a choice to live that way,

King utilizes poignant metaphors to appeal to ethos and persuade his audience to provoke their minds about the unchangeable cycle that the impoverished face economically. During his speech, King mentioned that the most critical problem by far in the “other America” was the economic problem. He then follows it with this diverse metaphor, “By the millions, people in the other America find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty amid a vast ocean of material prosperity” (King 2). What do we know about the “other America?” This America is filled with false hopes that have fatigued the impoverished. Now this quote can be broken down in diverse but factual ways. When you are secluded on an island, that’s all you need to know. You live there, repeat your days in that small land. Around you, you see this ocean, one where you want to explore and fish out opportunities, but when you try to swim, you drown. Now, what is the difference? The way you can break down the different problems the low-income class goes through. When they try to reach out for a better education, the new generation gets rejected. When the