Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

"I Have A Dream" is a mesmerizing speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was delivered to the thousands of Americans on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to African American under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.

Near the end of Martin Luther King’s speech a gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to Dr. King saying, “Tell them about the dream, Martin”. At this point Dr. King stopped reading the speech and expressed his inner feelings saying “I have a dream..”(Mlk, 4). He continued to tell the crowd of his dream for the Negros to be free and equal and that they would be able to live happily and do as they pleased. He had a dream that America would live out the meaning of the constitution stating “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”. He tells the crowd that at the end “We are free at last”. Dr. King’s choice of words and the tone in which he delivers his speech is enticing and pleasing to the crowd of America.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most famous civil rights activists in the history of the United States. He gave several important speeches and promoted non-violent protests. His most famous speech was “I Have A Dream”, around a quarter of a million patrons, black and white, attended this empowering speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The reason his speech was vastly successful in the movement against segregation and injustice was because of its repetitiveness.

The author will also calm the audience to pressure the audience. In the speech, “Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Cesar Chavez the ethos is used to calm the audiences. ““ He once stopped an armed mob, saying: “we are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies…. We must meet hate with love, ”” (Chavez 324). Cesar Chavez is using ethos to reassure his audience. Like he example Martin Luther King Jr. as a calming and peaceful person that they should do what Martin Luther King did to persuade his audience to fight for the right, however non violently. Chaves He used credibility of Martin Luther King to act in peace instead of hate like what Martin Luther King Jr. did. It will persuade the audiences to fight non violent and they will successfully win like what Martin Luther king did.

Martin luther king uses examples of ethos in his letter in multiple ways. In the beginning of his letter he is answering one of his fellow

At the beginning of Martin Luther King’s speech, he says, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free, one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination…” (Martin Luther King speech, 1963, para. 3). King keeps saying “one hundred years later”, to show that no matter how much time passes, African Americans will never be equal to the whites. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Logos is shown all throughout his “I have a dream” speech. He is letting the audience know that they have not been given equal opportunities, like the whites have been given.

King brings up several emotions in his letter. King uses his children and how they ask him why the white men are so mean and why can’t they do what the other kids do, and how he would have to concoct an answer for his five year old son on why colored people are treated like trash. This is very sad on how a father has to explain to his kids why they can’t do anything and why they are called niggers instead of their first name, while the women aren’t even granted the respect of being called “Mrs.”. Imagine telling your child that they couldn’t do anything just because they were different. King also appeals to his beliefs in God, often quoting bible verses such as “I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus”(6) referring to how Jesus was whipped just like the black men were for standing up for his beliefs or his people.

He questions the audience about society and what they have done for their community. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the 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; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity,” (King). King knows how to bring the people into the speech to involve every single person standing before him and make them feel like they are apart of the speech. He mentions what has been taken away from them which creates anger within the crowd. King’s ability to appeal to the audience through emotion affected society for decades after and changed the sense of pride the African Americans had.

In a period of time where few were willing to listen, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood proudly, gathered and held the attention of over 200,000 people. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was very effective and motivational for African Americans in 1963. Many factors affected Kings’ speech in a very positive manner; the great emotion behind the words, delivering the speech on the steps of the memorial of the President who defeated slavery. And not only was this message beautifully written for the hope of African Americans, but the underlying message for white people, revolution and peace. To stimulate emotion from both parties of his listeners, King used a selection of rhetorical devices such as allusions to historical

Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to the thousands of African Americans who had marched on Washington, D.C. at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The date of the speech was August 28, 1963, but it is one that will live for generations. Of course his purpose was to convince his audience on several fronts: he sought to persuade the black community to stand up for the rights afforded them under the Constitution, and he also sought to demonstrate to the white community that a "simple" black man could so effectively use powers of persuasion that they too would have reason to join the cause. He stated in his opening sentence that the event at which he spoke

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was an astonishing display of language that persuaded the American nation to dissolve the barrier that stood between equality for all in our great nation. The true beauty in Dr. King’s speech rests in his ability to persuade the audience at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as, the nation to believe that it is a necessity to rid the exigence of segregation. Through the usage of metaphors that engage the reader, King uses language as an instrument to control the audience’s emotions and fuel their ideas that they can be the ones to make the change to propel our nation from one mediocrity to greatness. In his speech, King uses an eloquent blend between symbols and emotions through metaphors to persuade the audience that there is no true constraint that can hold them from achieving their goal and use the historical March on Washington as the solution to this exigence that failed to wither away one hundred years ago when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The “I have a dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the greatest speeches given during the civil rights movement. Appealing to the audiences’ emotions plays a crucial role in the act of persuasion and with his utilization of pathos, King does just that. “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King). The reference to his children helps charge an emotional image into the listeners mind, more so because they are likely to pity the way the actions of others affect the younger generation.

On August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a 17-minute public speech to over 200,000 supporters of the Civil Rights Movement. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was a response to continued racial bias nearly 100 years after the end of slavery and a call to action, meant to unify the country in the fight to end segregation. King used his time at the historic event to urge Americans, of all races, to work together throughout the country to ensure equality for all citizens. Though King’s delivery of the speech is widely recognized as impactful because of his passionate sermon-like delivery, the context of the speech contains many rhetorical components. Those rhetorical efforts

Martin Luther Kings famous speech was held on August 28, 1963. It was held at the

On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech to more than 200,000 people during the March on Washington. King's speech was one of the most influential during the era of the Civil Rights Movement and is to this day recognized as a masterpiece due to its effect on the audience as well as for its eloquence and language. Many components went into this passionate speech that portrayed King's hopes for racial equality and a brighter future made the speech as moving as it was. It is doubtful that any person can guess that this speech was written without forethought regarding what goals King wished to accomplish in this speech. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eloquent language was perfectly suited to his audience, both his