Logos In I Have A Dream Speech

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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. Dr. King was talking to over 200,000 people who were with him when he made his speech and the millions of people who were at home watching on televisions. Dr. King used the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. He also chose to give the speech at the Lincoln Memorial, which is used as a symbol …show more content…

Logos appeals to the logic of the audience. Dr. uses a lot of metaphors in his speech, when Dr. King says, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”.” (King, 1963). He is basically saying that America is not holding true to the constitution, because all men are supposed to be equal. African Americans are not equal and are still suffering. They marched to Washington to cash their checks so they would be treated as an equal. Another metaphor used is when king says, “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children” (king, 1963). This just says that it is time for all people to have the same opportunities. The final example of logos is when Dr. King uses what is happening in Mississippi. He states, “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of justice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice”. (king, 1963). King is comparing oppression and injustice to sweltering heat, justice and freedom to an oasis. By using logos, he was able to use metaphors to make the speech easier to understand. The black audience was able to relate and the white audience was able to better understand what was

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