Rhetorical Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

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On January 15, 1929 a leader was born. The African American representative Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Best known for his “I Have A Dream” speech, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The great pacifist was one of the most influential African Americans of the 1950s Civil Rights Movement. He was a role model for the Negro Community. He was very well respected due to his style of fighting. He fought unfair judgement and injustice without violence. Unlike the Black Panthers (a group lead by Malcolm X) whom fought with violence, King used his powerful knowledge and inspiring words to persuade confused racists. With his power, he promoted “turning …show more content…

These consist of three categories being Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos being the calm, trustworthy, seemingly sincere approach, while the Pathos appeal connects with your emotions and makes you feel some type of way. Logos is when the speaker/writer hits the audience with straight facts, statistics, definitions, historical proof, or quotes from “experts”. An area where King used all of the appeals would be his “I Have a Dream” speech. He used Ethos with “even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream”. King used words like “we” to let the audience know that he understands them, and that if he believes in something, so shall the audience. And if a person of higher power believes, he shall be trusted. An example of Pathos would be “we can never be satisfied, as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality”. King used words like “victim” and “unspeakable horrors” to make the audience feel sadness and sympathy, while at the same time, outrage due to unfairness. The last appeal and most logical, would have to be Logos. King used Logos in this quote: “they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone”. This quote reveals the truth of how King sees the system. In order to fully restore peace amongst the Whites, they must restore peace to the Negro. They are both striving for justice. The rhetorical appeals to the speech were only the beginning. The other major contributing factor would have to be King’s rhetorical

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