...RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1 Rhetorical Analysis of “I Have Dream” Speech Alfonso Gonzalez Itt Technical Institute Instructor Deana Schoneberg EN 1320 RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2 The main point of Dr. Kings speech was that an injustice had been done to the black people. They were promised freedom from the emancipation proclamation and up to that point they still were not free. They were segregated and treated like second class citizens. Were they suppose to sit down and let white men at that time humiliate them, beat them, bomb their houses, and strip them of human dignity? No! Dr. King was preaching to all who listened, that now was the time to metaphorically cash this check, a check that will give them upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. But to do this, not with violence or retaliation, “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” (Carson, 1998, p225) This would be the way Dr. King would want to see his dream played out, with non -violence. Were all his efforts done in vain? On August 28, 1963, The March on Washington was organized by Bayard Rustin and led by union leader A. Philip Randolph. The backdrop ironically took place on the steps...
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...Written Assignment 4: Essay on Barack Obama’s speech at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial (2006) Even when a life ends, a soul can manage to live on with the people who it has left behind. This can appear through memorable deeds that a life can have managed to make before it passes. The above is what Barack Obama’s speech at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial from 2006 is about. Through the use of many of the same rhetorical instruments that Martin Luther King used before him, Obama establishes not only what Martin Luther King meant to America but also what he means to Obama on a personal level. In the following, I will make a rhetorical analysis and interpretation of the speech. The speech can be described as being an occasion speech which means that Obama’s aim is for him to entertain his audience at the memorial, by interpreting his vision of Martin Luther King Jr. The speaker is Barack Obama who is an African-American senator and soon-to-be presidential candidate in the United States. The audience for his speech is the participating to the national memorial, but primarily the speech is meant for the African-American inhabitants. He entertains his audience by reminding them of the great things that King has accomplished for the African-Americans in the United States of America: “I will tell them that because he did these things, they live today with the freedom God intended...
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...ITT-Technical University Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther Kings “I Have A Dream” (Revised) Introduction On August 28th 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech which was addressed to not only the 200,000 white and black Americans but people all around the world. The “I Have A Dream” speech has been considered one of the most greatest and powerful speeches in history. Why was it given? Simply to rectify that all me were created equal despite their race or color. In this Analysis I will be explaining some literary terms he used as strategies in his speech, and also explain how Dr. King used two rhetorical patterns to help him support his argument, those two patters are Ethos, & Pathos. Strategies Dr. King used many literary terms in the “I Have a Dream” speech such as Alliteration, which is the repetition of sounds. For example he 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 their skin but by the content of their character.” The “c” in those three words of that sentence gives it a repetitive rhythm feel which will make that important part of the speech catch and memorable. Also from that same sentence he used Anaphora, which describes the most famous part of the speech, where in this case is “I Have a Dream”. Although he used it many times just buy naming this speech “I Have a Dream” it will make...
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...Letter From Birmingham Jail Vs. “I Have a Dream Speech” The first way that a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “ I have a Dream” differ are in their intended audience, as one is intended for a group of white clergymen while the other is intended to rally a large group. This difference in audience and how Dr. King chooses to appeal to each of his audiences causes for the choices in language and the purpose of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I have a Dream” to differ. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is addressed to white clergymen, and the purpose of the letter is to defend the demonstrations that were taking place. As Dr. King is trying to defend the demonstrations to these white clergymen, his language choice is quite interesting. One brilliant way that he chooses to defend the demonstrations is by appealing to the white men through his choice of Anglo terms. For instance, in the letter, Dr. King writes, “Just as the prophets of the eighth century century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saint the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town” (King). This choice of wording makes Dr. King’s argument stronger since as these white men disagree with Dr. King and his form of peaceful protest, the white clergymen will not be able to argue back because he is using religious references that if the white men chose to argue against, it would make them look like hypocrites (Eubank). While...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist who boldly called an end to racism in the United States. On August 28, 1963 he delivered a speech in front of more than 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; a speech that became famous for its inspiration; a speech that was a defining moment for the American Civil Rights Movement; a speech plainly known as “I Have a Dream.” This infamous speech was so influential and moving because of the many rhetorical devices and appeals used that effectively related to the emotions and knowledge of the common people. Techniques used so beautifully and words spoken so genuinely that the hearts of those listening...
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...Title | #2 Group AssignmentMartin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream | Due Date | Week 8 | Date Received | | DECLARATION | To be completed if this is an individual assignment: I declare that this assignment is my individual work. I have not worked collaboratively nor have I copied from any other student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgment is made explicitly in the text, nor has any part been written for me by another person. | Student ID | Student Name | Student Signature | Student 1 | | | | To be completed if this is a group assignment: We declare that this is a group assignment and that no part of this submission has been copied from any other student's work or from any other source except where due acknowledgment is made explicitly in the text, nor has any part been written for us by another person. | Student ID | Student Name | Student Signature | Student 1 | 4240138 | Danushka Nirmal De Silva | | Student 2 | 4235150 | Ngu Ing Sung | | Student 3 | 4237293 | Dashilla Ladaey | | Student 4 | 4237323 | Ahmad Akmal Afiq | | Student 5 | 100070566 | Lasse Svenning Jensen | | MARKER’S COMME Total Mark | | Marker’s Signature | | Date | | EXTENSION CERTIFICATE | This assignment has been given an extension by Unit Convenor | | Extended due date: | | Date Received | | Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream An analysis of a historically important leadership speech Words: (excl. front-page and...
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...From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the Martin Luther King Jr. speech. For other uses, see I Have a Dream (disambiguation). Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering "I Have a Dream" at the 1963 Washington D.C. Civil Rights March. | "I Have a Dream"30-second sample from "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. | Problems listening to this file? See media help. | "I Have a Dream" is a public speech by American activist Martin Luther King, Jr.. It was delivered by King on August 28, 1963, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.[1] Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863,[2] King examines that: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free".[3] At the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme of "I have a dream", possibly prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!"[4] In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become the most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.[5] The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address...
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...its interest of reading might be. The audience in writing is defined by the person or group of people that is reading or listening to a certain choice of writing. Depending on what kind of writing genre is presented, determines the audience of the writer and how the writer choose to reach his or her audience. In order for a writer to reach a particular audience, the writer has to be able to compose his writing. The writer can do so in such a way that a rhetorical situation is formulated in a particular genre which reflects the type of audience that it interests. A rhetorical situation is situations in which a story and a scenario is presented and explains a situation that could possible occur in real life, therefore giving a situation in which the reader can assume the outcome; a certain form of communication to entail a situation. Different genres may include rhetorical situations, for example, in a horror movie a killer may stalk a college student day in and day out. The situation is considered rhetorical because although the situation is occurring in a fictional setting “a movie” it’s also a situation that can possibly happen in real life. You can assume that eventually the student is going...
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...the assignment of a writing project in any class. Contributors:Ethan Sproat, Dana Lynn Driscoll, Allen Brizee Last Edited: 2012-04-27 10:46:02 Example 1: “I Have a Dream” Speech A lot of what was covered above may still seem abstract and complicated. To illustrate how diverse kinds of texts have their own rhetorical situations, consider the following examples. First, consider Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Because this speech is famous, it should be very easy to identify the basic elements of its particular rhetorical situation. Text The text in question is a 17-minute speech written and delivered by Dr. King. The basic medium of the text was an oral speech that was broadcast by both loudspeakers at the event and over radio and television. Dr. King drew on years of training as a minister and public speaker to deliver the speech. He also drew on his extensive education and the tumultuous history of racial prejudices and civil rights in the US. Audiences at the time either heard his speech in person or over radio or television broadcasts. Part of the speech near the end was improvised around the repeated phrase “I have a dream.” Author http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/625/08/ Page 1 of 9 Purdue OWL: The Rhetorical Situation 9/11/13 7:53 PM Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most iconic leader of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He was an African-American Baptist minister and prominent civil rights activist who...
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...Critical Analysis Essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In arguing, writers use different techniques to effectively convey their message to their intended audience. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen in which King’s presence in Birmingham and his methods of public demonstration were questioned. King’s letter was not only a response to his presence in Birmingham, but he also used the opportunity to address the unjust proposals by the clergymen that Negroes wait for the legal system to abolish segregation and unjust laws. King uses rhetorical modes of persuasion such as ethos, pathos and logos to meticulously address and discredit the claims made by the eight white clergymen. Throughout his letter, King also makes many comparisons to effectively illustrate how the Negro pursuit of freedom was timely. To answer the question of his presence in Birmingham, King uses both ethos and pathos to explain why he is qualified to be present leading the demonstrations. To argue the perception of him being “an outsider coming in”, King first states that because he has organizational ties in Birmingham, he has an obligation to be available whenever he is needed. This statement discredits the notion that he is an outsider. To lay the foundation of his argument, King states, “But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This statement is used to make King’s presence seem less personal...
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...people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.” Source: King, M. L., Jr....
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...A Rhetorical Analysis of “Letter From Birmingham Jail” The Constitution of the United States of America states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The First Amendment of the constitution goes on further to state, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there-of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” In light of these, “Truths” that our country was founded on it is unimaginable that at the time “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he was, in fact, serving time in a narrow jail cell for his participation in non violent demonstrations. These demonstrations were an attempt to win these previously proclaimed “Rights” for the Negro populace not only in his time but for all time to come. King, in his response to the criticisms of eight white religious leaders of the south’s statement calling his actions, “unwise and untimely,” has the well designed approach of appealing to his audience on all levels engaging their logic, emotions and most importantly the very ethical nature of the issues facing the Negros in the 1960’s. An Example of King’s logic at work comes almost immediately as he details...
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...Speech Analysis Rough Draft: “We Shall Overcome” In early March of 1965, civil rights voting marches in Selma, Alabama went from a silent protests to violent assaults and beating by police officials. The goal of the march was to focus on allowing voting registration for blacks in the South because whites were preventing the rights of the American people by creating impossible tests for minorities to take in order to vote. After a week passed on March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke out in response to the Selma-to-Alabama March. His purpose was to unite the American people in the task to get equal voting rights for all races-- according to the Constitution. He is addressing his ideas to Congress, but he intends to convince the citizens...
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...or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it” (Malcolm X). This quote from one of Malcolm X’s speeches embodies who he was as a person and what he valued. As a civil rights activist, Malcolm learned not to let the hate of others prevent him from living out his life the way he wanted. While others pushed a pacifist movement, Malcolm understood that there would be no peaceful way to resolve the civil rights issues. Malcolm was prepared to fight for his own rights, and even put his own life at risk. The impact that he had on the Civil rights movement was rivaled only by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all of his ideas were culminated into one speech, called The Ballot or the Bullet. Malcolm X’s speech comes during April of 1963, a critical time during the American Civil rights movement, and Malcolm’s ability to target and rile up the emotions of his African-American audience is what makes his speech so powerful. During the 1960’s, America was a hostile environment for an ambitious African-American citizen. Although executive leaders, such as John F. Kennedy, were promising that they had been doing as much as possible to improve civil rights, not enough actual progress had been made to improve the lives of African-Americans. In 1963 alone, a year in which the civil rights movement was supposed to take a huge step forward, hate crimes were still rampant. One such example was on September 15, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama when a baptist church was burned to the ground by the...
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...Licensed to: iChapters User Licensed to: iChapters User 6e FIFTH EDITION COMMUNICATION in Our Lives LINEBERGER DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF HUMANITIES CAROLINE H. AND THOMAS S. ROYSTER DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF GRADUATE EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL Australia . Brazil . C anada . M exico . Singap ore . Spain . Uniited Kingdom . United States Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. Licensed to: iChapters User This is an electronic version of the print textbook. Due to electronic rights restrictions, some third party content may be suppressed. Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. The publisher reserves the right to remove content from this title at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. For valuable information on pricing, previous editions, changes to current editions, and alternate formats, please visit www.cengage.com/highered to search by ISBN#, author, title, or keyword for materials in your areas of interest. ...
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