He wrote the famous, “I Have a Dream” speech and the “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. Dr. King stood in front of many people and gave his speech, which was created to strike the people’s emotions of how African Americans suffered and why they wanted a change. In contrast, the letter was created to show the reasoning behind wanting a change, because he was writing to his fellow clergymen who said his actions were unwise and untimely. In Dr. King’s speech and letter, he uses rhetorical appeals many times to compel the feelings and reasoning behind the civil rights movement. In Dr. King’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream” he appealed to the audiences’ emotions about the topic of inequality and he proved his logic and reasoning for the Civil Rights movement.
Abstract: I Have a Dream is public speech made by Martin Luther King in Lincoln Memorial, 1963. It mainly talked about the equality problem of African American. Since Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans were waiting for the day when they were really free. However, even a hundred years later, the black people were still discriminated and their life still the same. I Have a Dream was written in such condition to fight for their own rights.
A few times in his speech, he chooses to repeat certain things in order to emphasize how important it is for the nation to be united and not divided by race or anything at all. King repeats certain things in hopes that the reader will have thoughts focused on the prominent issues of racism happening at the time. Issues such as those previously mentioned as, racism, segregation, unjust treatment of African American because of their skin color, etc. The effect that this repetition had on African Americans was very significant. The purpose of the repetition was to uplift and empower African Americans all across the nation so that they would not give up and continue to fight for their freedom because if they stop now, they will never get the just treatment that they deserve.
Both their speeches, “I Have a Dream” and “The Ballot or the Bullet” may have shared some common traits, but at the same time, differed greatly in various aspects. Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream” is vastly recognized as one of the best speeches ever given. His passionate demand for racial justice and an integrated society became popular throughout the Black community. His words proved to give the nation a new vocabulary to express what was happening to them. Martin was famously a pacifist, so in his speech, he advocated peaceful protesting and passively fighting against racial segregation.
In the two speeches, The Gettysburg Address and I have a Dream, they are both organized in different ways. These speeches were organized using tone, showing the purpose, and how it was structure. In both speeches the purpose is different., but similar. First, In the story I have a Dream, it is used to inform and encourage us about what we can become and how we could all become free from slavery, with the South, how blacks and whites could get along. As King states, “... signing a promissory note…” “... this note was a promise that all men yes black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” “Let us not seek satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” The Gettysburg Address, to inform us, the war and what could and will happen if the North wins.
On August 28, 1963 many people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. This is where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King spoke about segregation and discrimination of African Americans. Dr. King announced in his speech exactly what he wanted to do. In this speech he was speaking out for freedom and equal rights.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave what is considered the most important address regarding racial equality, it was called I Have a Dream. Hundreds of thousands of civil rights supporters gathered to be empowered and spread their beliefs to the world. His speech pointed out some of the mains issues of race within society. He explained that the African Americans in the USA were still not free, that they were not given the same opportunities as the white Americans. He brought to light issues of segregation and police brutality.
The people of this movement used peaceful protest to accomplish their goals of gaining an equal spot at the table and no longer being discriminated against. Lead by Martin Luther King Jr., a pastor, they paved the way for African American citizens of today. On April 16th, 1963 King was in the Birmingham jail after being arrested for his protests for change. An announcement had just been published by eight southern religious leaders warning people of the dangers of the protests and calling King out on his actions of protest. Dr.King wrote a letter be in response, from a jail cell.
The phrase “I have a dream…”(King) is preceded by dreams of a better future by each and every Black person in America. In each line containing this clause, a stronger hope for unity, equality, and freedom is established in the hearts of the Negro population. The most effective form of repetition used in the speech is also used as a allusion to a well-known American song “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” The one, short phrase used from the song is succeeded by different mountains of different states to convey a nationwide moral. “Let freedom ring…”(King) reiterates Martin Luther King Jr.’s proclamation of equality between all Americans. Also, the remains of each sentence with this idiom are references to height, to
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most influential African-American activists in American History and was a key participant in the Civil Rights movement, the goal of which was to provide full civil rights to all rights in America. MLK has written many, many speeches and letters in favor of the Civil Rights movement in America, the most famous of them being his legendary “I Have a Dream” Speech and the monumental “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. To attempt to gain support for his cause, MLK employs the use of emotional appeals, also known as pathos, and logical appeals, also known as logos, which aid to stir emotion and reasoning in the listener. It is more than obvious that MLK tends to tug at the heartstrings of his listeners with his emotionally charged language essential to his success. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses more powerful and plentiful examples of pathos in his literature, examples of which being his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, than logos due to the more powerful emotional connection they carry which can convince his listeners to sympathize with his civil rights movement.