Rhetorical Techniques In Martin Luther King's Speech

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in front of thousands of people, both black and white. Dr. King delivered a speech that talks about the racial inequality that existed in America for years, saying how it needed to end. The people that had attended that speech were in support of King’s ideas to end the long battle of racial injustice that was running rampant at the time. The speech resonated with people all over America, having an enormous effect that helped to end racial injustice. In the speech King used many literary devices to emphasize the importance of bringing justice to the people who had been treated unequally because this justice would will lead to peace.

The imagery put it into perspective on how negroes were actually treated and how they felt. Overall, Mr. King enforced different messages and lessons by using different speaking skills. The hand gestures, facial expressions, and the imagery he used inspired many people to take action and change what has been done. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech has left an incredible mark on us today. It reminds people that everyone was created equally and should be treated

All of the writings and speeches in his immense collection include a logical and emotional appeal to help persuade anyone reading or listening. Although King always seemed to appeal to the public’s emotions the most. One of Dr. King’s most well known public speeches is his “I Have a Dream” speech. This is known as one of the most influential and gripping speeches that was spoke during the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X, in his speech, focused on how important the African American vote could be, or meant, in the American political process. He had realized it was the time for Black America to wake up and take their voting power serious. When he remarked, it is time for African Americans to “become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for,” he was stressing that the voting block of black people must be unified, and African Americans should strive for some type of nationalism.

“Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” One of the main arguments Malcom is making in the speech is the power in fighting back. He claims that the African American community has been abused for too long and they need to take violent actions in order for anything to change. In other words, he is holding the black man accountable for their unfair conditions. “We want freedom now, but we’re not going to get it saying“We Shall Overcome.”

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.

“I Have a Dream...” Analysis On August 28, 1963, Civil Rights activists gathered around the memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the man that ended slavery and opened up a new world for African Americans through signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, African American still were not free. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech that has gone down in history as a glimmer of hope for the Civil Rights activists fighting for African American freedoms. In this inspiring speech, certain rhetorical devices were used to grab the audience's attention such as, anaphora and metaphors.

Rhetoric is the art of effective persuasive writing or speaking, its main use is to have a meaningful impact on the audience. Persuasive speeches can be used in multiple ways to better the world. Rhetoric can be used to show the future outcome, activist use this technique. Martin Luther King Jr. used rhetoric in his speeches to tell the audiences about the possible future if they all work together towards their common goal. Persuasive speeches can be impactful when addressed and crafted precisely.

Bringing awareness to situations of inequality or unfairness is crucial to society and the key is being able to communicate that ethically and effectively. Hence, communication competence is the ability to effectively exchange meaning through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior (19). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is perhaps a great example of someone who possesses communication competence. His “I have a dream” speech focused on a single positive message which was equality for all. If you watch his speech, you can observe his use of both verbal and nonverbal cues; for instance, his analogies, different vocal volume levels and even his pausing moments where everyone cheered.

Being both a Muslim and an African American my youth was rough but I came out of them stronger and I believe that to achieve something concrete we have to be prepared to do anything for our case. Thank you very much. Moving on to your famous speeches – ‘I have a Dream’ by Martin Luther King and ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’ by Malcolm X. What do you think made your speech most effective – the way you used your language or the context you spoke in?

Throughout the speech, another scheme King uses frequently is parallelism, the strategy of repeating similar clauses, several times. Parallelism is useful to emphasize things and ideas to the audience, which, like all the other tropes and schemes. Early in his speech, King writes “riches of freedom” and “security of justice” and then “justice rolls down like waters” and “righteousness like a mighty stream.” In these two examples, King is using parallelism to express that the African American wants justice and freedom by repeating them next to each other and mentally connecting them in the reader’s mind, which is also connected with pathos as the terms King uses subtly emphasize those words and create good feelings in the reader. As campaigning

Dr. Martin Luther King was a famous leader of the African American civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968, most notably known for his peaceful protests and speeches. In his speeches and other writings, he would try to persuade those opposed to his cause to join him by using rhetorical devices. The most common rhetorical devices he used in his writing were pathos, emotional devices, and logos, logical devices. Both pathos and logos were used in his two famous pieces, “I Have a Dream” speech and “Letter From Birmingham Jail” to help persuade his audience. The effectiveness of pathos and logos can differ tremendously from person to person, depending on an individual’s thinking or emotions towards a group or cause.

The energy that Dr. King delivered his speech was fascinating because he successfully used anaphora in his speech. He repeatedly used the same phrases at the beginning of sentences. For example, the phases such as “One hundred years later”, “Now is the time…”, “We must…”, “We can never be satisfied…”, “Go back to… were repeated several times during his speech. This really delivered his message by making the audience interested in following his words. Even when ending his speech, he did not forget to repeat the phrase “I have a dream”.

Martin Luther King was an African-American minister who led the Civil Rights Movement and fought against Jim Crow Laws. He was an excellent speaker who led one of the greatest demonstrations in the country called “ The March on Washington.” “ I Have a Dream” is one of his most famous speeches because of its style and structure. King used metaphors in his speech to sound more credible and to sound more convincing. One metaphor that King used was “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood”.