On August 23, 1963 a quarter of a million men and women marched towards Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, during the March on Washington. They peacefully demonstrated the need for extending civil rights to African-Americans (Wynn). Overheated people passionate towards the cause of equal rights for all, not just the selected white majority, filled the streets (Madison). No one spoke, and everyone looked up towards where the next speaker would begin. A man welcomed John Lewis to the stage. As he took the podium people wondered what his speech would contain, for the night before the press received leaked portions of his speech (Feeny). Although he altered his speech the day of, this analysis will focus on the original version. In John Lewis’ memorable speech “We Must Free …show more content…
For example, Lewis points out things missing from the bill, “This bill will not protect. . .” “This bill will not protect. . .”. By starting each sentence this way the audience sees his point, that the bill is missing many things. Also, Lewis uses anaphora by asking numerous sources to “listen” to what the African-Americans are asking for, “Listen Mr. Kennedy. Listen, Mr. Congressmen. Listen, fellow citizens”. By repeatedly saying listen he points out that many people, especially the government, are not listening to what the African-Americans need, and that it is time for them to listen up. Lastly, Lewis uses anaphora while discussing the African-American’s needs by beginning phrases with we, “We cannot be patient”, “We want”, and “We cannot”. By beginning these phrases with “we” he emphasizes that the audience has similar needs, and those need to be granted. When a significant proportion of the population has an opinion, it must be responded to. Thus, Lewis enlists anaphora to emphasize his points, and to effectively win over the audience’s agreement on his opinions and