King also toys with the usage of hyperboles, which exaggerates each word in his speech. Such examples could be seen where he says “we”, “all of god’s children”, or “every person”, which he wants the listeners in the crowd to view themselves and individuals, and see that everyone else has the thought and ideas that King portrays. He also personifies America as a person who has discriminated African Americans, and that people fighting for civil rights are fighting a person, but an entire system of white people. The use of simile represents the power of justice in his most famous line from the speech “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Martin Luther King has made a historical change after the speech, “I Have A Dream”.
Malcolm acknowledges his fellow people by saying “All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression by the hands of a white man, economic exploitation at the hands of a white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man". Malcolm X's integrity and propaganda regrading every black male and women's issue. Malcolm's speech in fact did pave the way for blacks to have that freedom. The Ballot or the Bullet rather insinuates ethos logos, and pathos throughout the speech with creditability, logical evidence, and Malcolm's tone.
He used Logos and Pathos by telling facts about racist voting restrictions and then phrased it in a way to make the crowd give sympathy. An example of him using logos and pathos is when he said: “Yet the harsh fact is that in many places of this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes.” He said this right after he said “Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote.” these two lines shock the audience. These two joined together, is the perfect strategy because when Lyndon Johnson stated what should be and what everyone believed, and then said what the harsh reality was in a negative way, it literally changed the perspective of many Members of congress and many other viewers.
Martin Luther King Jr. Knew exactly how the United States should have been run from the beginning. In “I have a Dream” Dr. martin Luther King convinces his audience that every man is created equal and should be treated the same. IN his speach MLK Jr. uses many rhetorical devices including logos and allusion. He said,”This note was a promise that all men, yes black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “inalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Douglass announced his speech to a sympathetic audience hoping to inspire African Americans by explaining how United States treated them poorly while using common elements in his speech. Douglass’ overall goal was to rewrite history in how Americans see Blacks. Throughout the speech he used specific diction choices and related to his audience to create imagery. This speech did more than change how U.S. citizens see colored people but it redirect relationship between the North and the South for the better. Douglass was an eminent human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement and the first African-American citizen to hold a high U.S. government rank.
Repetition is found all throughout Washington 's speech. He repeats the phrase "cast down your buckets where you are" to strengthen his allegory. The more it is said, the more it is clear that he is not just talking to the African Americans, he is also talking to the "those of the white race". He is implying that the Whites could look to the African Americans for the prosperity of the South, instead of looking to "those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits" (Line 74-75). He is telling both sides to notice what is around them and use what they have.
The main idea of his speech is that all people were created equal and, although this is no longer the case nowadays, King felt it must be the case for the future. He argued peacefully, yet passionately and powerfully. In preparation for the speech, he studied the Bible, The Gettysburg Address and the US Declaration of Independence and he alludes to all three in his address. The intensity of King’s speech is built through parallelism, metaphors, bold statements and rhythmic repetitions:
But not only does he use emotion, he also uses fact to prove his statements and points. One of the most powerful facts in this speech was “this note was a promise to all men, yes, even black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed “ undeniable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This fact is explaining how our founding fathers promised people of different color rights, but never received them, further proving King’s point. He also mentions the Emancipation Proclamation, a promise for freeing all slaves, issued by one of the greatest presidents this nation has ever had, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln being one of the greatest protesters and civil rights activists of his time, wanted a better life for the citizens of America, he made a promise and he kept that promise and freed all slaves held in the United States.
In the Declaration of Independence it is stated, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" (Declaration). With this being said, people have no right to ridicule and judge others for their gender or their race because everyone is equal. "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou is a powerful poem that beautifully puts together how prejudice people continue to put down others, but through it all they still continue to fight back. Maya Angelou uses similes, metaphors, rhetorical questions, and repetition to inspire women and African Americans. Maya Angelou uses similes throughout the majority
In this allusion he said, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” This one is another very powerful allusion because he is kind of saying that what the United States is doing is against the what our country was made for. His most powerful and meaningful allusions was the one where he referred back to the Constitution. He said, “ Would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” He said this because he knew that was being done to him and many other people in this country was against what the constitution had said.
Let Freedom Ring Martin L. King Junior’s speech “I Have A Dream” was presented August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. The speech references how African Americans were still not treated fairly. During his speech Mr. King stated “ But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.” This proves, Dr. King’s main point was to gain independence for the colored citizens of America. He mentions his goal is to form the country into a solid rock of brotherhood.
Martin Luther King Martin Luther King’s rhetoric speech “I Have a Dream” given in 1693, March on Washington, has noticeable different rhetorical devices that set this speech apart. Devices that Martin Luther King used to become the voice of thousands of people, making his beliefs immortal throughout the years. As for today, society embraces his ideas and he is, until now, the voice of those who could not stand up for themselves. He has such a good way to convert what he sees and believes into words that will later share a message to the word.
Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech taught America about social equality. Martin Luther King Jr. in a major civil rights protest (the March on Washington for jobs and freedom) eloquently persuaded the country into racial equality. Martin Luther King Jr. employed relatable and ethos inducing diction and anaphora, to articulate an effective speech on equality for Black Americans. Dr. King utilized diction carefully and meticulously as he crafted his excellent message to the people. The speaker frequently employed the words “we”, “us”, and “my friends”.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy were great men, there is no doubt about that. These men gave life to the country, to a cause, and to the world. They brought people together, setting aside the differences of humankind in order to create unity. Both of these giants in history caused great things to happen and teaching wonderful lessons. However, their similarities and differences really shine through when one reads King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Kennedy’s inaugural address.
In his 1963 speech “I Have a Dream”, King atop the Lincoln memorial orates his vision of what America should be. King does this in a way, that mimics a lawyer giving an opening statement, by laying out a clear beginning, middle, and end. King understands that by doing this he is appealing to his audience on a rhetorical level, allowing him to reach is audience in a pathetic way. King structures his essay in two ways, first he has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and secondly through his speech he includes several rhetorical devices that allow him to strengthen his argument. To start his speech King alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, symbolically placing himself on the same level as Lincoln.