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Rhetorical Analysis Of March On Washington

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On August 28, 1963, over 200,000 US citizens congregated in Washington D.C. in a demonstration called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (“March on Washington”). The aim of the march was to draw attention to the plight of African-Americans within the nation while focusing specifically on equal employment. At this event Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), a leader of the Southern Leadership Conference and an African-American civil rights activist, delivered a speech centering on racism in the United States. The main purpose of King’s speech was to demand racial justice and an equal and integrated society. He adopts an urgent and inspirational tone to appeal to his mixed audience of blacks and whites at the capital as well as those watching …show more content…

Eight different times MLK makes use of anaphora through his speech. In order of their usage King draws on anaphora when saying “One hundred years later…,” “Now is the time…,” “We must…,” “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…,” “Go back to…,” “I Have a Dream…,” “With this faith, …,” and “Let freedom ring (from) …” (King). Even without the rest of the speech the phrases that King continuously use tell his tale. One hundred years after African-Americans were supposed to be made free and equal they are still oppressed. Although, this can change if they act now, and they must act now for no other time is better. This change must be total and utter to satisfy African-Americans as they have been put down for so long and put up with so much suffering; so, they must go back now from where they came and be the change they wish to see. This is all a dream, but if there is belief in the dream it will come true and freedom will truly ring throughout the entirety of the land. This is the narrative King weaves and the emphasis attached to the repetition of the phrases makes the phrases more memorable and, by extension, MLK’s entire message more memorable. By making his message memorable King insures that his audience will remember his cries for equality and integration. What creed is given to the message is largely dependent upon the

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