Preview

Martin Luther King Jr: I Have a Dream Speech Critique

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1240 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Martin Luther King Jr: I Have a Dream Speech Critique
"I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH CRITIQUE"

This speech took place on August 28, 1963 millions of citizens, children, law and policy makers attended while 250,000 watched on TV as a Baptist Preacher ,a Boston University Graduate Dr, Martin Luther King stood behind a podium. He established an immediate rapport with an ever changing audience and communicated on a meaningful level, by appealing to moral conscience of Americans standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He gave the rhetorical demands that racial justice no longer shall people be divided by race or religion. Although at the time it wasn't the case, it was a future vision that " all people are created equal" ( M.L.K.) The central Idea or purpose of his speech was and is to still educate, motivate, and persuade everyone to do away with segeration between whites and blacks one race to another.In preparing the speech King studied the Bible, Gettysburg Address, and the Declaration of Independence which he alludes all three in his speech. He was already a known Reveron so it was natural for the tone to sound little church sermon yet descriptive. He had competence, character which made people listen. He had Initial, derived, and terminal Credibility. He reasoned from principal, casual and analogical reasoning having Biblical references and literary illusions. King began to captivate his audience a Kings speech was really organized in problem solving order. persuading us to get rid of segregation.He does this by starting his speech with painting a visual picture .The opening of his speech starts with the metaphor " Five score, Years ago, a great American". Through out the speech King states other metaphors, "segregation to manacles, a bad check to what is rightfully theirs, racial injustice to quick sand, vast ocean to material prosperity".(M.L.K.) Some of the smooth flowing transition statements that were used when King was changing topics to talk about were. " Once the equality is practiced "and "Now

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    King uses anaphora, repetition at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the past aspect of his speech. He repeats “One hundred years later,” to show how racial segregation is still as much of a problem as it was a hundred ago.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King used many rhetorical devices in his speech at the Lincoln memorial one of which was repetition most notably seen in the most famous part of the speech paragraphs 13-18 where he repeats "I had a dream" by repeating it in a way he empowers the phrase making it more meaningful another rhetorical device he used was allusion the way he used this is less direct, but just as meaningful by saying "But one hundred years later" in the context of Lincolns emancipation proclamation and how black people were still not treated fairly it shows the injustice that even though they were promised freedom 100 years ago they still had not received it, the third rhetorical device that he used was an extended metaphor from paragraphs four and five where he makes…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King uses rhetorical strategies in his speech in order to do many things. These rhetorical strategies can be seen throughout the Letter from Birmingham City Jail by Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. The main purpose of this letter is to fight for freedom and end segregation between the Whites and the African Americans.King utilizes pronouns to include the audience to persuade his audience that as a nation we are all in this together. King says, “We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands” (1). The purpose of this sentence is to make everyone come together. King claims that they will win because God is on their side. If they work hard enough they will also achieve what they are striving for. “We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation” (1) Kings purpose of this quote is to give his readers hope that change will come eventually. He will not just reach the goal of freedom, but the nation will reach the goal of freedom. Using pronouns to include the audience brings king and the readers together. Together they take a stand and become one. King utilizes repetition, which ingrains the problem in your head while making…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Martin luther king jr speech was inspirational to many people and lots of people thx him for what he did and his bravery. He said that all race should be treated the same. “ There are those who are still asking the devotees for civil rights”. I have a dream that one day the nation will rise up and live out the truth. I have a dream that one day everybody and every mankind will be treated equally.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The key phrases that I have identified are Negro and America from the beginning sentences. The correlation that I notice with the use of these phrases is that he is expressing to the public that a change needs to occur for America to create unity and equality for the Blacks to be included in society. In the following sentences from his speech, he expresses how no change has happened over the course of time towards the Black population. “But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.” “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” These key phrases express the main objective in his speech and that is the division between the Whites and Blacks in society. Mr. King is emphasizing that Blacks are still not free in society even though slavery has been abolished. He addresses the segregation that still exists which is promoting a form of discrimination among society. The end goal of his speech was to open the eyes of the nation to identify the problem and to act on this issue of discrimination by not engaging into the problem anymore.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They must fight racial discrimination with peace instead of violence. King juxtaposes when stating, “We cannot walk alone.” He stresses that he and the black community must create an alliance with progressive whites in order to achieve racial equality and justice for blacks. Anaphora and repetition appear in the next part of his speech when King states, “We can never…” He echoes this to demonstrate the inhumane discrimination blacks faced in the 1960’s. He states that he and the black community will never be pleased until they are treated with dignity and…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King initially draws connections from the current state of African American peoples by referencing allusions to historical documents which assisted in the advances against oppression. In his speech, King begins with a nod to Abraham Lincoln, using “Five score years ago” as his opening statement. He then praises Lincoln, claiming that he was a “symbolic shadow in which we [the people] stand today” and mentions his effort toward the ending of slavery, the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. However, the signing of the document was only a literal end to slavery, but in reality, African Americans were still enslaved by society. King was aware that slavery had been abolished, but obstacles such as Jim Crow laws were almost as detrimental to the Negros as slavery. Although, as he emphasizes, the Declaration of Independence evidently states that “all men are created equal,” African Americans were still being denied their unalienable rights. In theory, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were to be given to all Americans, regardless of color, but for the Negros, liberty was remarkably lacking. By alluding to…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1960s Dbq

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of his goal’s and or business ideas was in document 2, where King states “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”. This sentence is from the U.S. constitution and this shows that King thinks that men are meant to be equal. Another piece of evidence is also in document 2, “I have a dream that one day out in the red hill of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”. This shows that King dreamt of a day were we can all be together, which is how it is today. The last piece of evidence is from document 6, King tells how through non-violence; they were able to get jobs for…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King appeals to the black audiences but also to the white in his letter to show them all the effects of segregation. He understood that not everyone has experienced segregation so he described the emotions for everyone to understand. He used emotional stories and painted a picture for the audiences. “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled police curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can 't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental shy, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kings speech is based heavily around repetition. He uses this in the lines, One hundred years later, I have a dream and Let freedom ring. All repeated to gain suspense from the audience as well as emphasising his themes of equality and justice. King says them with such authority and power to further drive home the importance of these themes. Using his voice to create a sense of urgency about the issue.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was the day of the March on Washington and the “I Have A Dream” speech. The march on Washington was when tons of people marched for jobs and freedom and some 250,000 people took part in it. after that, Martin Luther King Jr. Gave one of the most famous speeches of all time. It was called the I have a dream speech. And on June 11, 1963 John F Kennedy televised it because of it’s importance. Interestingly,King’s speech was almost never heard by people because right before the speech, the expensive sound system was sabotaged! But people were called to fix it just in time for the famous speech. (NCC staff Constitution Daily). That Speech was about his dream of equality for all mankind. His mindset was that we're all human, so why aren't we all treated the same and why does the color of our skin matter? After this famous speech it is easy to assume that it changed the way all people were treated in America. And it did! But in reality the amazing speech led A Civil rights change all over the world. People in many different countries heard it and were inspired to make change just because one man named Martin would do whatever he had to for racial…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Repetition devices are utilized in King’s speech to unite and inspire his followers. He declares “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On August 28, 1963 the march on Washington brought over 250,000 people marching for eliminating segregation in school and public places, and giving people equal job rights for African American people to find a peaceful way to stop racial discrimination. But the most remember able thing that happen was Martin Luther king jr speech “I have a dream” where he express that one day people of all different races, religion and characters can be free from discrimination, when it states “…when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the usage of anaphoras, King can get his point across further by repeating the same phrases. In paragraphs 17-24, King says “I have a dream” at the beginning of each sentence. Throughout the speech, King repeatedly states that he has a dream, a dream of a country where there is peace and you are not judged for the color of your skin. In paragraph 6, King repetitively says, “now is the time.” These phrases emphasize his main message but also give off a sense of urgency.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I Have A Dream Dissection

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages

    King used the Ethos appeal to show his credibility and knowledge. He uses information from universally accepted pieces of legislation (Emancipation Proclamation, Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution) to provide information to prove his points. (Ramirez) For example, "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”(King, stanza 2)…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays