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Rhetorical Techniques Used In Martin Luther King's Speech

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On August 28, 1963, 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to listen to Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his infamous, "I Have a Dream," speech. He was a civil rights activist, and in his speech he describes the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African Americans taking place in our nation. King's purpose is to provoke a change in the minds and hearts of the American people. He adopts a determined tone in order to appeal to similar feelings of his audience who want the freedom and civil rights that other citizens have. King effectively convinces his audience that racism and segregation should be terminated by using rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos. Without delay, King presents his speech on the steps of the …show more content…

To give his audience a sense of hope, he constantly repeats the phrase, "I Have a Dream" (pars. 16-19). Nonetheless, King uses a significant amount of feeling words to provoke the emotions of the crowd. Words such as "shameful," "oppression," and "injustice" are all used to help him penetrate the hearts of the people. Because King uses the example of wanting a higher quality of life for his children, his audience can relate to him as a father and longing for their children to have a life greater than them (par. 19). King effectively uses what the people are most passionate about to create a change in racism and segregation. On August 28, 1963, history was made when Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered an inspirational speech that caused a change in the direction of the Civil Rights Movement. He was speaking out to confront the issues of racism in our nation, and skillfully used rhetorical devices to help him achieve his goal. King successfully used ethos, logos, and pathos to show the impact of appealing to ethic, logic, and emotions of his audience. This speech was definitely groundbreaking for American people to gain

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Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil right activist who fought for the right and equality of African American citizens. In his speech, he stressed that nonviolence was a more effective way to success. One of the rhetorical devices that was key was his persona. His persona showed his followers that with patience and persistence change will come. In his speech, King spoke about the march in Birmingham, Alabama, where he and his friend Bull Connor lead.

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Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey also known as Frederick Douglas was born in Talbot County, Maryland in February of 1818. Frederick Douglass was unsure of year he was born at the time, as most slaves were not allowed to know their age. Douglas was born into slavery in plantation. He also lived a tough life not only because he was born into slavery but also because he was separated from his mother when he was born. Douglas lived with his grandmother Betty Bailey.

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Martin Luther King Jr., a minister and social activist, led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He was an advocate for equality between all races and a civil and economic rights Activist. Because of his leadership, bravery and sacrifice to make the world a better place, Martin Luther King was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. His incredible public speaking skills and ability to properly get his message across can clearly be scene throughout the speech. Tone: Dr. King delivered his speech at the university of Oslo in Oslo Norway in front of a large group of people.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in the African American Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, he was known for his nonviolent movements and methods of protesting. This involved many African American citizens to take verbal and physical abuse from the police and not being able to do anything about it. He used his words to inspire the nation into taking action, instead of promoting violence. Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of thousands of United States citizen from all different backgrounds at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Kings uses ethos to point out why segregation was unjust and to justify why African Americans deserves the same rights as the white citizens of the United States.

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On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.

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He wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and wrote his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In both of these, he used pathos and logos to appeal to the audience and fit the occasion, so that he can make the people do something about segregation and defend his ideas in an effective way. If he would not have spoken up and had influenced people to follow him, the world could have ended up still having segregation today. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the biggest visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used pathos and logos in his speech to draw in people so he can make them act and he used pathos and ethos in his letter to defend his ideas using his knowledge of the audience and the occasion.

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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:

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Martin Luther King, Jr. was an extremely impactful activist during the Civil Rights Movement that gave over 2,500 speeches in his lifetime. Of these speeches, his most popular is his famous I Have a Dream speech that he gave on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. during the March on Washington. Even famous speakers like Martin Luther King, Jr. use persuasive techniques to appeal to the different sides of their audiences. In order to appeal to his predominately African American audience, Martin Luther King, Jr. makes reference to Abraham Lincoln and his granting freedom to slaves by signing the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Although, King's speech which took place on August 28th, 1963, motivated many to stand up for who they are and fight for their rights as people living in America. Dr. King's words were eye openers to many because it gave them the realization of how cruel this discrimination was. His demonstration affirmed the nation that everyone does not need to tolerate the dreadful wave of racial injustice. The final result was a peaceful demonstration of how change positive change is frequent in American history. This I Have a Dream speech will always be recognized due to the power it had on the nation as a whole and its immortal notion of the horrors of racism.

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The “I Have a Dream” speech is well known throughout history to be one of the most famous speeches to be on the subject of civil rights. Throughout the entirety of “I Have a Dream”, Dr. King uses pathos more than logos. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.”

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On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a famous speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and freedom, this speech was called “I have a dream.” This speech was focused on ending racism and equal rights for African Americans during the civil rights movement. He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audience’s emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time.

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Gun control is and always will be a very disagreed issue in this country. There are those who believe that Americans should not own guns at all. They think our country would be better without them. Guns do not do the killing or injuring of the innocent bystanders.

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To achieve this, he used rhetorical strategies such as appeal to pathos and repetition. His passionate tone flowed through these strategies, increasing their persuasive power on the people and encouraging them to follow/listen to his message on racial injustice. While pathos elicits an emotional response from the audience to make them more accepting of King’s ideas, repetition structures the speech and emphasizes key ideas for the audience to take away from listening. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. To this day, King’s speech remains one of the most famous and influential speeches in

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He also appeals to Pathos in his speech, where he includes his own family hopes that americans can relate to him. As a father he dreams “ that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character”. (King) He hopes his children will live in better world than he did. He appeals to pathos through a concerning father.

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