Renowned Nobel Peace Prize winner and celebrated orator, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in his zealous speech, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", illustrates and pleads for the growing need of active participation across a social revolution in America. Dr. King's purpose is to empower young African American college graduates and inspire positive involvement in the Civil Rights Movement through the promotion of non-violent means. He adopts an authoritative tone in order to persuade his prospective audience into taking action and elevating the rights of African Americans across the nation.
Dr. King begins his speech to the college graduates by acknowledging the great challenge to remain awake through the social revolution and transformation from the "old order of slavery" to the "idea of freedom and human dignity". He appeals to their consciences by stating the obstacles faced by the graduates were to unify the races and dissolve racial barriers "in terms of a brotherhood". He calls for "moral and ethical commitments" in order to create "a brotherhood" because he aims to inspire educated African Americans into catapulting themselves from the bottom of the social ladder to racial equality …show more content…
He utilizes the emotional impact on the audience by describing racial inequality as the "Negro's burden" and "America's shame". Dr. King also refers to African Americas as being adhered to the "bottom of the economic ladder", only to find themselves "perishing on a lonely island of poverty" for the purpose of invoking sympathy and an appetite that longs for equal rights. The importance of this assertion is paramount because not only does it stir up emotions and increase their aptitude for reform, but it also proves that "the time is always right to do right" through the "tireless efforts" and "persistent works of dedicated