Did you know that Martin Luther king Jr was an American Hero? He decided to speak up when no one else did. Christopher Zarr says, “On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech to a group of civil rights marchers that had gathered around the Lincoln Memorial located in Washington D.C.” (archives.gov). King’s speech was about how he had a dream, a dream to change America forever. So who was Martin Luther King Jr.?
The first thing that stood out to me was how confident Dr Martin Luther king was as a speaker and how much he captured the audience attention. You could feel the energy of the crowd without even being there. His eye contact stood out to me as well, he wasn’t just reading from a paper he spoke from his heart making his speech even more powerful. A quotation that really inspired me is “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement. He graduated from a segregated high school at the age of fifteen and earned a bachelor degree at a segregated institution in Atlanta in 1948. King was known to be a strong civil rightist, and he was part of the committee known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. On August 28, 1963, King presented his well-known speech, “I Have a Dream,” during The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom for Africans’ civil and economic rights. His “I Had a Dream” speech was known as the most influential speech that has tremendously impacted the United States forever by its powerful rhetorics and the emotional connection to the audience.
On 28 August 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King stood at the Lincoln Memorial with over 250,000 people gathered to hear him give his speech. His speech was “I Have a Dream.” He spoke about the problems with racism in the US. He wanted civil and economic rights restored. The first line of his speech was “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” (Martin).
Martin L. King Jr is the most well-known speech of the March on Washington. He begins on a lighter note, praising Abraham Lincoln’s accomplishments of the black man. Throughout the speech, there are powerful metaphors used to subtly speak of the African American’s treatment in American history. King was acclaimed for his “way with words” and demonstrates this from the start of the speech. As the speech continues, he starts to become more passionate with his words and they become more powerful to the people.
George Wallace wanted to run for presidency even though he was a liberal judge he used pro-segregation as a platform to gain the southern vote. They both had similarities and differences in Kairos, Ethos, Logos and Pathos. Dr. King and George Wallace had great timeliness for giving their speech, Kairos is the use of timeliness “ the right place and the right time.” (schoology.com) Both men used this point in time to give their speech because it was the beginning of the civil rights movement which benefited both men for different reasons. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of Kairos benefitted him because when he gave his speech on August 28, 1963 it was the peak of the civil rights movement.
Nearly 50 years after his assassination, Martin Luther King has become the international known face of the civil rights battle in America. Many people view him as the most influential and important activist of his time, and credit him with the positive changes that occurred during the movement. As a Baptist minister, King was particularly skilled at public speaking and preaching to his congregation was his first steps into campaigning for a non-violent approach to fighting segregation. These peaceful methods help further the movement, as most white people responded encouragingly to King’s request – a respect that the more violent groups, such as the Black Panthers, did not receive. Consequently, King’s status as a well-known figure in the civil
Despite the growing anger from the African American people and their rising call for violence against white men, a closer observation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” reveals a calm, assertive message to invoke people of all races to join together in a state of peace and
In his speech, Dr. king talked about his dream, the dream of Negro: to live equal to the white in America and to see their children treated equally to the white children. In addition to seeing the former slaves ' sons and their owners ' sons sitting down together as brothers, not as slaves and masters. (King, 1968). What stood out for me is that Dr. King repeated “I have a dream.” several times
which also fought for justice. In his speech, “I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. used language the best to promote his message. First, Martin Luther King Jr. is the most affirmative out of all the speakers. His words are very motivational and optimistic.