At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial waiting for one man to speak: Martin Luther King Jr. The speech he gave that day became one of the most memorable and impactful speeches of all time. King’s strong rhetoric in “I Have a Dream” shows through in the powerful imagery, allusions, and repetition he chose. Martin Luther King Jr. uses noteworthy imagery throughout his speech, which often compares African American’s future situation as a bright and empowering one, while the current one is grim and despairing. King creates a metaphor for such a hopeful future by using light, such as when he references the Emancipation Proclamation “as a joyous daybreak to end the long night …show more content…
King repeats the phrase, “Now is the time to…”, after describing the troubles African Americans faced. Often used to emphasize ideas to the reader or bring an emotional appeal, anaphora, in this case, is extremely effective. By previously recounting the struggles blacks had to go through, it makes the audience frustrated, and by then adding anaphora, those emotions channel into a sense of urgency where there needs to be a change now. Possibly one of the most eminent anaphoras of all time, the repetition of “I have a dream” is what makes the speech change history. Martin Luther King Jr. states, “...that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” The expression “I have a dream” suits particularly well since he just described how long and miserable their fight has been but that it will all be worth it. Every time King uses anaphora, his audience becomes more and more hopeful of their future, and they anticipate what will come next. Next, he repeats the phrase “Let freedom ring” and describes landscapes from different parts of the United States. This anaphora is especially successful since he firsts starts by stating northern states and then moves onto the southern states, which tended to be more prejudiced. The anaphora in “I Have a Dream” was part of the reason why King’s rhetoric was so
Martin Luther King uses a lot of repetition in his speech. They are scattered throughout but very close. One of the repetitions in his speech is “I have a dream.” He uses this phrase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have a dream that one day this nation will and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Another is “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 nature. I have a dream today.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 12) Two other repetitions he uses is “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 16&17)
On August 28th, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to roughly twenty-five thousands people attending the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. In Dr. King’s speech, “I Had a Dream”, he uses rhetorical devices to convey that all people are created equal and to educate the importance of the Civil Rights Movement.
The iconic speech “I have a Dream”, originally named “Normalcy, Never Again”, is dubbed to be one of the greatest speech of all time. It was expertly delivered by civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The speech was delivered during the March on Washington on the 28th of August, 1963. Dr King urgently called for the end of discrimination and racial prejudice between the Americans with different colour. He delivered his speech with finesse, inspiring and persuading his audience through the use of written, audio codes and body language. The written techniques Dr King utilized were repetition and metaphor and in addition, audio codes, which were volume and pace.
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 documents, metaphors, similes, anaphoras and others.
After 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln gave African American slaves their freedom in society they were still not treated as equals. In August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech “I Have a Dream” that impacted the nation. The twenty-six-year-old pastor of the city's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church had to show the grievances of his people, justify their refusal to ride on Montgomery's city busses, and encourage them in peaceful way. In the “I have a dream” speech given by Dr. King he uses persuasive appeals to fight for the civil right movements in the most civilized way. To do this he had to convince African Americans that his way of going with things was in their best interests, and he had to convince white Americans that his vision was not going to change their heritage and in their best interests as well.
Five decades ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his now famous speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Thousands of people came from across the nation to watch King give his speech. I Have a Dream is a speech that holds a lot of power and emotion. King’s figurative language, diction, and repetition inspired a change in the nation. King’s usage of hyperboles, compare the struggle that African-Americans felt to the battering of nature. He uses metaphors to highlight differing concepts. His speech gets both black and white audiences to realize the true harshness of the segregations that African-Americans faced to that time.
In Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” Dr. King addresses the nation in the March on Washington during one of America’s most fragile and dark times. King carries on his shoulders the responsibility of bringing a broken nation back together. He attempts to appeal to his audience of several thousand people through his use of logos, ethos, and pathos. King understands the importance of his opportunity; he needs to capture the attention and grab the heartstrings of his massive audience of people from all walks of life.
The “I Have a Dream” speech given and written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was and still is one of the most powerful speeches given. Because of the literary elements used in the speech is gives the audience something to think about and relate to and mixes with their feelings to possibly change their stance on the subject. Because of the serious issues that went on during the civil rights movement, such as separation of public services and unfair treatment to African Americans, something had to be done to end the racial injustice. People did try to prevent the discrimination by gathering marches and leading protests. But one of the largest impacts on this time period was the “I Have a Dream” speech and Dr. King’s use of literary
But before we look at these rhetorical devices employed in the speech in more detail, a brief summary of the discourse may be helpful. It can be divided into two parts. In the first part King depicts the racial injustice in America and calls for action using several themed paragraphs (e.g. “Now is the time to…” and “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…”). The second half conveys King’s hope for a better future where there will be equality between the citizens of America regardless to the color of their skin. This part contains the thesis of the speech: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”“ The address finishes with an emotionally rich and competently improvised paragraph themed around freedom.
Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a valuable and memorable piece of rhetoric. King’s speech includes different types of claim such as fact, value, and policy. The structure of the speech is well-planned. The speech is supported with all three persuasive appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. For example, Dr. King describes that “...the life of the Negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chins of discrimination...the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land” (King). This creates pathos or an emotional appeal on the audience,...
...n with great emphasis, this statement gives the listeners the desire to change "today" instead of continuing the discrimination. Additionally, due to King’s great use of anaphora which strongly emphasized these words, the speech rightfully earned itself the title "I Have a Dream."
Imagine a you are writing a speech that could very well change the way life is. If you knew that you would be speaking to hundreds and thousands of people on racial equality, what would you say? How would you start that speech? How would you write that speech so that everyone can understand it and learn from it and get inspired from it? How would you know what to say and how to say it?
On August 28th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous and powerful speech I Have a Dream, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The purpose of his speech was to fight for the civil rights, equality, and to stop the discrimination against African-American people. His use of imagery, repetition, and metaphor in his speech had created an impact with his audience. King used the three rhetorical devices, ethos, pathos and logos to help the audience understand the message of his speech.
Dr. King’s speech “I Have a Dream” is one of the most famous and important speeches ever given. On August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C Dr. King gave his speech to bring freedom to African Americans across the United States. The audience who Dr. King is talking to is the American People. To get the message out Dr. King uses logos, pathos, and ethos, by doing this he captivates an entire nation using just words.
In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the comprehension and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis.