The Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. rarely bothered to answer to the criticisms of his work. He even states that, if he were to try to respond to all the the letters full of grievances and condemnation others feel towards his ideas, his secretaries would have no time for anything else, nor would he have any time to get any constructive work done. That is, until he was confined to the vapid monotony of the cell in Birmingham jail, that he decided to ponder a letter sent to him by eight Alabama clergymen, who censured his nonviolent campaign and urged him to leave the battle for racial equality to the courts. King, in response, drafted his most powerful and extensive letter against social injustice that shed light on the atrocities taking place in Birmingham,

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower. In a similar light, King addressed the speech ‘I have a dream’ to a peaceful mass gathering in Washington asking for change. The speech deemed racial segregation to be an inhumane practice that subdivides society into groups that essentially alienate them from the true sense of humanity; which is brotherhood. King argues that all people are created equal and directly challenged the outdated and abhorrent views that upheld the false flag of racial superiority among White Americans. Luther’s speech was a passionate rhetoric that preached his views about the future. Furthermore his speech did not

On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience. King’s dialect showed the audience civil right issues, involving many rhetorical strategies using ethos, logos, and pathos, to a racially tempered crowd whom he viewed as different, but not equal.

Additionally, Dr. King describes the problem that is still present at his time. He mentions back to the documents when the country starts a new government. In the Declaration of Independence it states that all men are created equal. That would include African Americans, but according to Dr. King’s speech it says, “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (Dream 3). The blacks were promised freedom, yet they are not as equal as the whites. Once Dr. King mentions this, the audience can easily see that he is right. Now that the audience understands, they can escape from the blind side and develop solutions to the problem. Some might say that Lincoln

He tells the world that there are those who do not want or believe in the change. This again shows his vulnerability.

On December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his acceptance speech upon being presented The Nobel Peace Prize. King discusses what many will not; he is gutsy in stating that this festivity does not pertain to him or his brothers. Also, he states how The Nobel Prize is not representing its compelling essence of peace and brotherhood. His main message within his speech is that there are three issues that need to be addressed racial injustice, poverty, and war. His purpose is to demonstrate the hope within him that one-day peace and brotherhood can become a reality. Martin Luther King Jr. accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in an elegant manner while demonstrating the hypocrisy when injustice and danger to establish a reign of freedom has yet to be successful.

On August 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King held one of the most powerful and influential speeches in human history. The speech was held in front of more than 200 000 people and concerned the injustices of discrimination of African Americans which was taking place in the United States at the time.

Robert began his speech with giving the rough news on Martin Luther King’s death. People reacted with gasps and cries, so Robert started to explain Martin’s goal and how he died pushing for a change. Robert connected his point of unity by asking the audience to not resort to hatred and violence, but to follow Martin’s dream of unity and peace. He explained how the country has gone through hard times and has always recovered and how there will be more hard

Martin Luther King Jr is the most iconic civil rights leader in history. If anyone is unsure of his significance, they could simply take a trip to Washington, D.C to view his magnificent monument. Dr. King in the 1950s and 1960s, led protests and spoke on numerous occasions about injustice and segregation within the African American community. Although he had many Anti- Racism protest, his most legendary took place in Birmingham, Alabama. While in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested which led to him writing a detailed letter to the city clerk. In Sr. Kings letter, he called for many changes within the city, the most eye popping to me were his calls for direct action, just laws instead of unjust laws, and the role of southern churches.

The words, laziness and discipline are descriptive words that normally do not appear in the same context. Laziness is driven from the desire of comfort while discipline is conquering the discomfort and embracing the grind. We live in a world where we may not consider ourselves lazy, but we are. A verse from the Bible, Proverbs 26:14 says, “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.” This verse is a riddle and it is saying as a door moves on its hinges the door in not going anywhere. Similarly, the individual lying in bed, turning over and you can almost imagine the individual pressing the snooze button. In the era of the Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr. decided not to press the snooze button. He knew “if we are

Inspiration and exuberance were the emotions that people felt as they listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s., “I Have a Dream” speech. The momentous speech was delivered on August 26th, 1968, shocking the world with its influential expression of emotion and implication of social injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaims courage to the civil rights activists as he speaks passionately about the need to end racism. In his words he suggests,“This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (King) . Dr. King is insisting that there should be equality between one another.

Dr.Martin Luther king Jr was a Baptist minister and social activist.He led the civil rights movement and he used non violent protests to get the freedom that other blacks and himself deserved.Martin Luther King Jr. delivered this speech in a time of great civil unrest and the increasing of racial tensions.He showed many outstanding qualities ,perseverance,organizational ideas,dignity and respect. He was influenced by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil and unequal system. He was also said to be greatly influenced by many others such as Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Mays, and many more.Martin Luther King, Jr. did many things to bring greater equality to America and to ensure civil rights for all people regardless of race.In his work he used rhetorical strategies such as ethos pathos and logos to promote racial uplift and social change.

In his speech, Dr. King alluded to the Emancipation Proclamation to give credibility to his speech: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” By using the authority of Lincoln in his speech, he established trust and common ground with the audience. He also uses the Declaration of Independence to appeal to the audience by reinforcing “unalienable rights” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to show that the government has not kept its promise to the American people. His use of these historical and significant documents adds to his credibility, or ethos, as a speaker to convey his message. He also gained a lot of attention from the ways he would, using pathos, capture an emotional response from the crowd by appealing to their emotions, fears, and desires. By repeating the phrase “I Have a Dream,” he stresses the sense of hope and sympathy for Negroes during that time. He also stated that the “Negro…finds himself in exile in his own land.” This phrase shows compassion and shows that he empathizes with the unfair treatment and alienation of African Americans. He also used highly

“I have a dream” by Martin Luther king teaches us how we are all equal and that we shouldn’t discriminate one another by their looks, skin color, or anything. He does an excellent job with his word usage and metaphors. The way he compares justice with bouncing a check really helps to get his point across. The way that he talks most likely gave a lot of people a reason to listen, because he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. The way he references the Lord and the Declaration of Independence showed how we are all the same. The Lord did not discriminate and neither did the Declaration.