Rhetorical Analysis: Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech

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The rhetoricians perspective focuses on Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech message, the producers, how the speech was distributed and how the audience consumped the famous speech. The I Have a Dream speech focused on how blacks lacked the equality and freedom they deserved. Using the rhetorcian’s perspective as a reader and a American I agree with King’s message of equality because of how King presented his case for inequality. An example of the reason why everyone should agree with King’s speech is when he stated “In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thrist for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred… We must not allow our creative …show more content…

King’s speech appeal to Ethos would be King’s character of how he presented the speech. How King spoke in front of thousands of people to preach his message of how blacks were treated with inequality. King’s speech to Logos would be the quotes he uses from United States Document like “This note was the promise that all men- yes, black men as well as white men- would be guarnted the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”(King 687). King using quotes from the Declaration of Indapendence gave King more credibility showing his knowledge of his rights as an Amercian citizen. King’s speech appeal to the emotional appeal of Pathos would be statements such as “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”(King 688-689). The emotional appeal King’s speech was looking for was to make whites feel guilty for their segregated and racists actions to make up for their sins by treating African Americans with the respect that they deserve as Americans and human

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