Rhetorical Pathos In I Have A Dream Speech

“I Have a Dream” Analytical Essay Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 to deliver “the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” At the March on Washington he spoke to a group of avid civil rights supporters, black and white alike, to rally the people of his nation for positive change in the Civil Rights Movement. The literary devices used in this highly acclaimed “I Have a Dream” speech create an auditory effect that compels his people to take action. Dr. King uses metaphors, allusions to influential documents, antithetical sentence structure, and anaphora to engage his audience and convey a feeling of unity among the people of his nation.

On August 28, 1963, American Baptist and renowned activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gave a memorable speech in Washington, D.C., “I Have a Dream,” about the importance of equality amongst all people and ending segregation. He gave his speech on the hundred year anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation that had freed slaves. King’s striking tone catches the attention of the white supremacist and also conveys how important unity is in order for a community to be successful. To achieve this goal, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses techniques such as repetition, pathos, and the use of metaphors.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is considered one of the most utterly effective pieces of rhetoric in all written literature. Doctor King was an adept scholar fighting for civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the different rhetorical appeals to respond to eight white clergymen that had publicly criticized him for his actions. Reverend King was so persuasive with his letter that he influenced not only other African Americans to join his fight for equality, but also the White community. As Osborn tells us in his piece “Rhetorical Distance In ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail,’” that Mr. King’s “Letter” went on to cause problems for these eight men (32). He was very effective in portraying his undesirable situation from the point of view of someone that held authority. Along with portraying his circumstances, he provides logical arguments to contradict the white clergymen's statements. In addition to a logical approach, he uses his emotions and passion to make his readers feel sympathy for forsaken situation place upon the segregated community. Reverend King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” provides a vivid insight into the civil rights movement along with rhetorical appeals that persuade his audience to join his fight for justice by establishing authority, reasoning with logic, and engaging our emotions.

In the year of 1963, when racial discrimination was evident in the community, Dr. King delivered two of his most noted works called the “I have a Dream” speech and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to the public. These two pieces, quickly following each other in succession, were literary works of Dr. King devoted to the cause of racial equality and used eclectic devices and appeals to achieve that goal. King’s purpose bolstered in his “Letter” and “Dream” speech by key rhetorical devices are supported by audience oriented diction and appeals.

In Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream speech’, he proclaimed, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…. But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free.” For years people have fought for racial equality, but even now in the twenty-first century we still have not achieved that. Martin Luther King Jr fought for the rights of black people, and his words are still spoken to call others to fight this injustice. In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he uses many stylistic elements including structure, language, and figurative language to influence his readers thoughts and convince them to join the fight for racial equality.

"The time is always right to do what is right" Martin Luther King states. Though they were living in a world of hatred and discrimination Martin Luther King still fought for what he believed was right. "I Have a Dream" was the most compelling for this reason; M.L.K. states his feelings in an inspirational manner, in which he motivates the people to fight for the blacks rights in a peaceful way. M.L.K. discusses much in his speech with rhetorical devices. Several rhetorical devices he uses are; diction, repetition, metaphors, hyperboles, similes and imagery. While using these devices, he states his ideas, I incorporate three main ideas throughout this essay.

“I Have a Dream,” by Martin Luther King Jr is one of the most powerful speeches in history. The speech contains many different types of rhetorical devices to help convince the readers to fight for equality and freedom, using devices such as allusion, imagery, anaphora and personification. An example of how powerful the speech with rhetorical devices such as imagery and allusion, is “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” This part of the speech talks about how african americans are being treated wrongfully, and will not be content until there is freedom and equality for all men and women. The quote can talk about how freedom is a problem when

In addition , throughout his speech he talks about two main things equality and freedom.He talks about them ,but he repeats them with different words and explanations. Also , he has a bandwagon approach when he states , “ This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.In those words, he mention the Declaration of Independence. The speech contains the use of a Slippery Slope which is known as “The camel’s nose fallacy”. For example, Martin Luther King explains that when Negros are free more positive things will follow. If people took those small steps other things will follow after them ,but the first step had to be made. Martin Luther King tried to change the subjuect to divert the real issue. For example , he stated “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”.In those words , he was going to talk about themain argument ,but he later talked about the “insufficient funds” to kind of set a

Mia Buonavita Martin Luther King Analysis Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, was given on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C.. His speech explained to the millions of Americans at the march or at their homes that the people should not be judged by their race, religion, or ethnic background, but by “the content of their character.” In this speech, Dr. King uses figurative language such as; allusion, anaphoras, and metaphors to set his point across to everyone and to also, impact the listeners. Allusion is one of the types of figurative language Dr. King used in his speech. An example of an allusion was on pages 84 and 85 when Dr. King says, “When the architects wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration

One-way Dr. King furthers his purpose is through his use of ethos. At the beginning of the speech he expresses his happiness for joining the demonstration and set the tone for the opening lines. Further he states that, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.” To gain credibility to his speech he alludes to emancipation proclamation. With the use of authority of Lincoln, he establish common ground and trust of the audience.

In his famous speech King says ‘’Rights of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness’’. This method helps make the words stick out and illustrates his overall point. What really makes Dr. King’s speech stand out from all the other civil leaders is the fact that he addressed his message to the masses (and not exclusively to the African-American community). He effectively convinced his audience that all of society has a problem and it is in their best interest to be concerned. Although Dr. Martin Luther King was passionate and emotional throughout his speech he kept his anger and resentment within

used amplification in his historic speech by referring to some historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence,which he stated said that “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” and he also stated that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” He uses the authority of one of America's founding documents by stating a couple of quotes to illustrate his purpose. He also quoted verses out of the Bible such as “Justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” is the first allusion to the Bible in King’s speech. This verse from the Bible is simile with refers to justice more much than what a police officer can do or a prosecutor can do.

I Have a Dream “I have a dream” speech of Martin Luther King is a perfect example of the rhetoric appeal to their supporters and the entire nation of America, aimed at highlighting one of the most important problems of the time - racial inequality. This speech had achieved the strongest support from the different social classes in the country due to the right structure of the text, and the effective use of the main rhetoric tools of persuasion. To understand the main aspects that increased the influence of the speech, and guaranteed the political success of Martin Luther King, it is important to analyze the text from the point of the rhetoric art. Though the main target of the rhetoric art is to persuade the listeners to support the position and main ideas of the

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, I Have A Dream, King explores freedom, equality of all people, and racial injustice. Throughout the speech, it is discovered that King is a significant advocate for freedom of african americans. King recognizes that discrimination is very unjust, and encourages equality for the future of America. King calls for an end to racism in the United States in this powerful speech that was delivered during the “March on washington.” Although times were hard for himself and other african americans, his motivational speech and activism played a huge role in the creation of the civil rights act of 1964. King uses literary devices such as metaphors, repetition, and to allusion to emphasize the importance of his ideas about racial injustices.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have A Dream” speech is arguably one of the most persuasive pieces of writing in history, fighting for African-American rights and freedoms. The speech was given at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, five years before Dr. King’s assassination. Although he is no longer alive, his actions and words have had major impacts on society, government, and the daily lives of Americans today. His “I Have A Dream” speech is a work that set him apart from others by skillfully and thoughtfully employing metaphor, juxtaposition, and anaphora in order to coax U.S. government officials, as well as the general U.S. population, towards establishing laws protecting the rights and safety of African-Americans.