Rhethorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King’S Speech I Have A Dream
In one of the most crucial times of history, a young baptized minister rose to give a speech that changed how one views a person today. In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech called I Have a Dream. This speech would go down as one of the most historical and influential speeches spoken. His voice sets a tone of how he feels toward equality for the whole world, and justice to those who are not given justice. Martin Luther King Jr’s. speech was successful though the rhetorical appeals of Pathos, Logos and Ethos.
These are three keys of persuasion that were presented by a philosopher Aristotle over twenty-three hundred years ago. Ethos is a useful way of persuasion it refers to the credibility of a person and the attributes of the speaker for example a person experience and character of a person. Logos is persuasion in the logical sense that is well presented with consisntcy and appealing to others. While Pathos appeals to emotions, pulling at the hearts strings. These appeals help influence the audience decides if the text is influential or not influential. These rhetorical appeals are still being used to this day.
Martin Luther King jr was born on January 15, 1925 in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin Luther King jr who was an activist who became the most visible leader from 1954-1968. On this day August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr gave his speech I had a dream speech.
The first appeal is Pathos, the appeal to emotion. Martin Luther King Jr. starts his speech off by saying “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”. He shortly goes into how the emancipation proclamation put in effect by Abraham Lincoln where this speech is being taken place gave the African Americans there first sign of hope. Segregation is now taken place “100 years later the negro still isn’t free”, “he compares it to a lonely island of poverty in a sea of where they see wealth that they can’t reach”. Which truly shows the needs which African Americans have for civil rights something every human being deserves. to further contextualize the harshness of the African Americans living conditions at the time he attributes is as “find himself exiled in our own country”, “still languished in the corners of American society”, “coming to the capital to cash a check with fund that are framed insufficient. ”
Choosing to ignore such a sacred obligation such as the very foundation of human beings is morally unjust towards one and other. Yet Martin Luther King J. R. and many African Americans wholeheartedly believe that “the bank of justice is bankrupt, that there is insufficient funds for opportunities of hope of this nation, so we come to the capital to cash this check, a check that will pay us the riches that were taken unjustly, we come here to this hallowed spot remind America the force urgency of now, for now is the time to make real the promises of democracy, now is the time to rise from the ash and darkness of segregation to rise to the daylight of racial equality”. Martin Luther King J. R, delivered his speech in the hopes of not just uniting the blacks and whites, but for changing the world about stopping segregation among the people of America and having people look past judgement, racism and to stop hatred between one and other but above all else, it was about making a safer place a community for his children.
Second appeal is Logos, the appeal to logic. Martin Luther King Jr. says “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of there skin but by the content of their character”. Martin Luther not only addresses the people as a citizen but as a parent. He is sharing the love that he has for his family. He hopes that one day his children wouldn’t live in a world of hatred but by the content of their character. He also addresses the people as a whole when he says, “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trails and tribulations. ” At this time in history many people saw the color of a person rather than looking at the heart. Some of theses people went through trials and tribulations, day and night. I was hard for the African American race as a whole, the people wanting justice and freedom from color.
The third appeal is the appeal to Ethos, the appeal to authority. Mr. King was a man of influence. He led a church and led the African American people towards freedom. He led marches of freedom and wanting to go forward. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. ” He also sets a standard in which people follow. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. ” His voice was very respected and heard though out the country. He wanted equality for all races, but he was the voice of the African Americans.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. ’s speech I Have a Dream, is successful in the appeals of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. Not only did this speech change the lives of many but it changed history forever. This speech has touched millions of people and with those words Martin Luther has changed the world forever.
