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Martin Luther King
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FOA MLK Speech script Introduction During the 1950s, racism against African-Americans was a prevalent issue in the United States. Although all blacks were supposed to be free, under a corrupt law system, blacks were victimized mercilessly. Therefore, many civil rights activists emerged in order to fight for equal rights for the black community. The most notable activist was Dr Martin Luther King Jr. King engaged in various civil rights boycotts and protests. Out of all of his civil rights efforts, the most prominent was the “I Have a Dream” speech, given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the “March on Washington” in 1963. The speech illustrated the issue of racism and provoke the audience to sympathise with the blacks while providing hope to the depressed African-American community. Just under 17 minutes, King influenced the generations and generations of people about his dream for America’s future and planted seeds of anti-racism and racial equality in them. King has employed three rhetorical elements of ethos, pathos and logos which are reinforced with metaphors in his ground-breaking speech. Pathos King utilises Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric, a persuasion technique, one of which is pathos. It refers to the mode of utilizing human emotions. King portrays the hardship that Negroes undergo due to racism by using strong adjectives and metaphors that indeed create emotions. For example, King elaborates the state of the African Americans as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation” and “chains of discrimination.” Through this, King depicts that fact that the Negroes are undergoing unbearable sufferance; as if the Negroes had committed a crime and have to be restrained in cells with no freedom like caged animals ... ... middle of paper ... ...e, King beautifully strings the major races in the world in a parallel structure to present the idea that all, despite their differences, are God’s and thus are equal in the eyes of God. Both these examples of parallelism produce strong emotions, which is pathos. In short, parallelism allows values of anti-racism and racial equality to be imparted in the audience’s mind easily. In conclusion, King’s “I Have a Dream,” played a major step in inspiring generations of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans bitterly ashamed of their lack of moral and Godly values, forging a new start for the American society that embraces racial equality. The speech’s heart-warming and moving content coupled with King’s effective voice and the usage of literary devices such as Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric have made this speech the greatest of the 20th century.
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.
Write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies King employs to promote racial uplift and social change. Cite textual evidence from Two or Three works.
Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most historic speeches of his time entitled “I Have A Dream”. Within this speech he discussed the racial injustice and prejudices that were rampant at that time. This was a very tense period in history where any small action could potentially lead to large consequences. Being an African American was hard at this juncture in time, but King never let that stop him. He quickly became a champion for equal rights among all, and vouched for peaceful protests even if violence was tempting. The “I Have A Dream Speech” resonated with people of all cultures, and was a touching moment for anyone who was in attendance of this historic delivery. King used many key rhetorical devices,
He knows that the white moderates have strong family values, so he reaches out to them by providing stories about children. There is one story about a little girl who has just seen an ad on television and when she asks her father if she can go, he has to look his daughter in the eye and tell her that?Funtown is closed to colored children? King 561. He then goes on to explain how that forces that young child to grow up feeling inferior and to begin to hate because she has darker skin than the other children do. Then there is another story about the family taking a cross-country vacation and having to?
The famous speech, “ I Have a Dream”, was held in 1963 by a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was born January 15,1929 the son of an Atlanta Pastor. Martin Luther King Jr. always insisted on nonviolent resistance and always tried to persuade others with his nonviolent beliefs. In 1963, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and almost 200,000 people attended his speech. All his listeners were Civil Rights supporters who rallied behind him and the people who watched his appearance on television. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population.
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.
I HAVE A DREAM! In an era when racial discrimination and public bigotry towards African Americans in the United States was becoming more evident, this simple, but powerful statement by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a beacon of hope for all African Americans in the country. In his speech, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King expresses his frustration that after a hundred years since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans are still treated like second-class citizens. However, Dr. King also expresses his hope that the status quo will change and African Americans around the country will be “free at last.” Dr. King uses eloquent statements to appeal to his audience’s emotions and to see the difficulties and hardships that African Americans across the country suffer on a regular basis. Dr. King makes use of sound rhetorical devices to convey his message that “all men are created equal” and that racism should not, cannot continue if the nation is to prosper.
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.
King says, “But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.” (King, page 2) The African American leader goes on to describe, “...conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” (King, page 2) His message from these quotes are amplified with imagery and metaphors, illustrating the African American’s position with deft strokes of the 5 senses, such as the phrases “warm threshold” and “high plane;” also, it compares justice to a palace. The imagery aids peace into looking like the much, much more better option because the diction and metaphors used to describe this situation makes equality seem like a fairy tale and “dignity and discipline” seem like kings and queen, miles above their royal subjects. It also helps the audience have a better understanding of the importance of using peace and why violence mustn't be an option. This is again illustrated with imagery and a metaphor, “...not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” (King, page 2) In the speech, King wanted inequality evaporated, with no reminisce of it behind and without hate. When he he uses imagery and metaphors in this main idea, it assists his
The famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the historic March in Washington in August 1963 effectively urged the US government to take action and to finally set up equality between the black and white people in America. Although there were many factors that contributed to the success of the speech, it was primarily King’s masterful use of different rhetorical instruments that encouraged Kennedy and his team to take further steps towards racial equality. King effectively utilizes numerous linguistic devices, such as metaphors, anaphoras, allusions, and provides an abundance of specific examples in his address, and this all makes the speech more convincing and memorable. 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.
This speech had a big effect on African Americans getting treated equal to white people. Freedom had been given to African Americans over 100 years ago, yet they still were not entirely free. They were still being treated as less than white people and still being held back because of their skin color. King had addressed this in his speech when he said “one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (King). African Americans were no longer slaves, but they still weren’t entirely accepted into American society. King had mentioned the Declaration of Independence in his speech as well, since the declaration is meant to secure rights to all people and not just some. King had this to say about how the people weren’t living up to the
Martin Luther King Jr.’s, I have a dream speech was first heard on ------- during the million man March in Washington DC. (CITE SOURCE 1). In this invigorating speech Dr. King address some of the inequalities between the African American citizens and white American citizens at the time. After addressing those issue he encourages the nation to make changes to treat everyman equal. He nears his conclusion of this powerful message with sharing a dream that he had. A dream a peace amongst the races. A dream of fellowship amongst the races and a dream of hope for the future of our world.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is committed to getting equal treatment for all Americans, regardless of their skin color. The speech “I Have A Dream” was given in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, by the monument honoring President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Pathos is used to guide the audience’s feelings to go along with his plans, hate racism enough to act on it but at the same time be filled with hope for a better future. King states in his speech, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech inspired a generation of black people to never give up and instilled a bitter sense of guilt in thousands of white Americans who were ashamed of their actions. Even hearing this speech in today’s society gives many people goose bumps as it continues to promote people against racial segregation of any kind along with endorsing social colorblindness. King’s effective structure along with his usage of George Campbell’s rhetorical faculties intended to help connect with the audience by helping to: inform and argue his reasons against racial inequality, provide aesthetic delight from the location and of the description of a new society, to affect the feelings of his audience by emphasizing on patriotic words and holistic intentions, and urging action from his listener by warning them not to let this treatment continue one more day. This speech effectively serves as a masterpiece of rhetoric as it persuaded hundreds of thousands of people to support the blacks instead of treating them
...re being taken away. The rules of society divide freedom from the blacks. The image of a sign saying, “For Whites Only” is a strong message of how greatly unjust the rules set on black people are. Black people do not receive their dignity and people only judge them by their looks. The other image of innocent children’s dignity and worth being taken away because of their looks captures the audience’s attention and proves how justice should be acted upon now. King’s use of imagery has a great impact on the audience. The audience is aware of the injustice of the nation and is driven to make a change.