Rhetorical Strategies In I Have A Dream Speech

In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King uses the rhetoric devices of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the whole letter. While each component of his letter is an important key part of the process of persuasion, I believe that paragraph twenty-one is the strongest within his letter. Within this paragraph King uses multiple examples of mainly logos, but also pathos and egos in harmony in order to further prove his point of persuasion to his audience. These rhetoric devices were used in a way that I believe gave Martin Luther King Jr. the upper hand in approaching his audience. His audience throughout the paper was broad, but I believe that this paragraph addressed an important audience: The Clergymen. Not only does King use these rhetoric devices, he uses them in way that bring about the most benefits in terms of persuading his audience to agree

Martin Luther King Jr wrote an extremely powerful letter that created awareness within the Negro community that displayed use of logos, pathos, and ethos effectively. King writes from Birmingham Jail to the clergymen using the rhetorical appeals to persuade, particularly the white community that, “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 7) by being the voice of the Negro communities. Even though the letter was written to diminish the clergymen’s assertions about the Negro community, King wrote a timeless piece of literature that moved both the white and Negro communities. Balanced sentence structures offered logical and concrete arguments that were addressed by Dr King through the heavy use of logos. King argues against the

King used logos and pathos in both texts his use if pathos was a lot more adequate and sufficient. For example in Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech he said that “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitter hatred” (Dr. King 262). By using a more relatable potent and pursuing language Dr. King won the side of many. By using this language he had people of color stand by his side and fight for freedom all over. Another example is Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham letter; “ … when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”-- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (Dr. King 276). Using this powerful dominant language helps whites to understand and people of color to take his side and stand with him. He proves to colored people that he is serious and worthy of their

King uses ethos, which is making himself seem credible, many times throughout his letter. An exceptional example of this would be in paragraph three, where King says, “...so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” By comparing himself to the apostle Paul, it makes King appear to be more credible; more important and worthy of his position of leadership in the civil rights

Over 250,000 Americans, both black and white, gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963 to watch history in the making. This was the location where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his infamous “I Have A Dream” speech. The location of the speech is significant because the memorial stands for liberty and equality. King wrote this speech to express his dream of equal treatment and economic rights for all, no matter the color of one’s skin. In his speech he calls for an end to racism and a beginning for equality. Dr. King uses the rhetorical appeals; ethos, logos, and pathos to discuss the racial injustices and discrimination African Americans are faced with everyday. Ethos is used to appeal to values and give the writer a credible persona by seeming informed, trustworthy, and reasonable. Logos is used to provide logic and reason. Lastly, pathos is used to evoke emotion from the audience and have sympathy for the writer’s cause. King expertly uses ethos, logos, and pathos to further strengthen and support his points throughout the speech.

MLK Use of Rhetoric “Letter from Birmingham jail” and “I Have a dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King are both significant to the civil rights movement. In 1963 and 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King delivered two of the most authentic pieces known to time. He wrote the pieces with such charisma combining deeply rooted emotion and passion for civil rights. Both his speech and letter express his obsession for the nation to look past the color of their neighbors skin but to look at the content of their character. Kings use of rhetoric in these two selections contrasts because his purpose is not the same.

At the beginning of the letter, King had already manifested his great ethos. He showed his sincere attitude to readers to better answer their questions, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (King), which enabled him to establish his trust in some demanding readers. Moreover, at the end of the letter, he wrote, “I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother” (King). This shows

Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical appeals. It’s clear Dr. King wanted to entice the reader when he wrote this letter. Martin Luther King Jr. uses these appeals in his letter to get the reader involved and thinking. He uses ethos to divulge that he is a good leader and he has authority. Also, he uses logos to communicate with the reader that it is logic behind the things he does. He doesn’t just act mindlessly; he thinks things through before taking any action. This is how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical devices to appeal to his

To begin, King must first establish his ethos. King states, “... since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (1). Not only does this establish the purpose of the letter, but shows that King is writing this letter with respect to those who read it, which he deemed sincere, will be able to comprehend his argument instead of denying it - as most critics would. He then goes to recognize his title as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a large and fairly influential group that has ties to the entirety of the south. By establishing this title, King shows that he is not only influential, but trusted greatly among his peers. This conference has ties with eighty-five affiliate organizations in the south, one of which resided in Birmingham. The local affiliate invited King and his people to engage in nonviolent protests (King 2). Since King is the president of SCLC, has affiliate ties in Birmingham, and was invited by those ties to the city, there was enough reason for his presence. Political ties, however, may not be enough for some. One criticism of this letter is that King was too harsh to the church in describing his disappointment, argued to be condemnation. However, another title King held was that he was a minister of the gospel, a man that had devoted time to the church and its community. To see others in that community misinterpret and refuse the motives and actions of the movement saddened him. To see them remain silent in the face of such atrocities enraged him.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech is one of the most heart moving and powerful speeches of all times. Dr. King’s use of academic language and strong vivid words assisted him to express his dream for the nation to come. An element that immediately stands out is the song-like tone the speech contains, because Dr. King uses alliteration which creates a nice rhythm that gives it musical feel. Many people say that music is what gives meaning to words, and this is exactly what Dr. King did.

“I have a dream that one day all men are created equal.” Arguably the most powerful quote said by the most powerful men at the most powerful of speeches known as the “I Have a Dream Speech” during the African American Civil Rights Movement. So, it does require deep analyzation to fully grasp the piece and the author as whole. Analyzing the style of the author as a writer and a speaker, the audience and the rhetorical themes will help you to fully grasp the piece and the author. The author his name, Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King is an astonishing speaker. He is also a great writer too. Martin Luther King’s speech changed the landscape of civil rights immediately and for years to come. Since there is the speech itself and a written piece I will be analyzing a mix of both from the speech and the written peace.

The speech that I have chosen is “I have a dream “by Martin L King Jr. the setting this speech took place at was in Washington D.C. in front of the Lincoln memorial. The purpose of Dr.King “I Have a Dream “ speech was for people to continue to boycott and also protest until they were granted full equality and privileges due as any citizen of the united states. A weakness of the speech is when he stated “It seemed that all my fears had come down on me at once and I got to the point that I couldn’t take it any longer. I was weak”.

Rhetorical devices are a part of many great speeches and essays. Most people just read or listen to the speech or essay, not realizing the rhetorical device which enhances the feelings and introspection received from the piece of literature. Imagine a speech where there was no hidden or deeper meaning, no relation or connection to listeners’ personal life. It would be boring and everyone would lose interest. Rhetorical devices are used by great orators such as Martin Luther King Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lin-Manuel Miranda to draw the audience into really evaluating and hearing the deeper meaning in their speeches.

To dream is to envision a more purposeful future, to conceive an image of a better home, life or world. For many, it is far beyond what the mind can comprehend. Like for example, when a mother is pregnant, for 9 months she dreams of this perfect human being growing inside of her. The vision becomes a reality for the parents when their newborn arrives, something that they could have never prepared themselves for. On August 28, 1963, African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., took the stage in Washington, D.C. in front of lawmakers, policy makers, both white and black people, narrated a talk of a dream in hopes to inspire discussion, demanded the audience to accept culture change and provided a calling

Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, bursting with biblical language and imagery, is one of the most famous and recognisable speeches in American history. Delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C on August 28th 196, during the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”, King set out to show mass audiences his vision. The masterful leader and orator dreamed of a day when America lives up to its creed, when all people sit together at one table, and when freedom and justice reign. King wanted to prove that “all men are created equal”, as stated in the United States Declaration of Independence. He used various devices associated with the English language to really drive home the meaning of his speech and what