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Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr

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Justice is not treating someone unfairly because of their differences. Quite often many injustices go unnoticed; but one man noticed a big injustice that many people during his time ignored. This man was Martin Luther King Jr, famously known for addressing these injustices via his speech, “I Have A Dream”. This speech inspired over 200,000 Americans to march for a better future. The passionate tone of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “I Have A Dream” is magnified and supported through the use of rhetorical elements. The three strongest elements that he used were diction, allusion, and syntax. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s, I have a dream”, he exploits the element diction, to emphasize his point. For example, “With this faith we will be able to work together, play together, to struggle together…” (King 51). In this quote, King repeats the word “together” to accentuate that we should be united as a whole nation. King states, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and …show more content…

employs allusion to emphasize the historical progression of racism. For example, King illustrates,”...In whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation” (King 48). The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of America, making it an important moment in history. King uses this allusion to show that eventually discrimination will no longer be an issue of our future. King also describes, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution...they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir” (48). He uses the Constitution to address the fact that African Americans are denied rights and equality, even though the Constitution states otherwise. King also writes, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing” (51). King appeals to the audience using pathos, by talking about their nationalism. King calls on the ideal characteristics of a nation, having justice and freedom for

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