...Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Speech “I Have a Dream” Likita M. Taylor ITT-Tech English 1320: Composition I November 12 2012 Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Speech “I Have a Dream” “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.” These are the opening words of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream speech”, which he predicted will be the foundation of the Civil Rights Movement and the turning point in finally ending segregation. Time and time again, his speech is credited as being “one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history.”(Martin, 2010, 10 par 1). He was an astonishing, intelligent speaker who often relied on using strong rhetoric devices to get his message across. Through his articulate use of logos, pathos, and ethos, King was able to persuade his generation that "the Negro is not free.” (Martin 2001 par3). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on to this day as a perpetual masterpiece. Before one can really understand the analysis of his speech, it is important to understand King’s arguments. His main point is that blacks are not free or equal according to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. He argues that African-Americans must claim their full rights and demand liberation from inequality and suppression. King's audience is not only Black Americans, but his message...
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...Christian St. Germaine Mr. Gomez American Literature 15 April 2015 The Great Racial Debate; and Differences of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. for Racial Equality America in the 1960s was marked by an era of unfortunate segregation, violence and unrest towards African Americans in the country. They faced often-brutal violence and a government that had forgotten them in regards to human rights. Blacks needed something to be done about the harm and inequality they were facing at the time. Fortunately, two men in particular rose to the occasion to fight for what they believed in. They focused on achieving the same goal of a better society for Blacks. However, they differed greatly in regards to how they sought to complete this goal. While Malcolm X often viewed the problem as a war and wanted to ensure that his people would have the means and the power to fight back against the harmful Whites. Martin Luther King Jr. believed it would be more beneficial to both parties if the violence ceased to exist. The struggle for racial equality caused Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. to seek separate and contradictory methods of achieving what they felt was right for African Americans. One main difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was their distinctive childhoods. The two men were raised under dissimilar circumstances and environments. It can be supposed that the way they grew up directly relates to the views they had on the racial problems and the way...
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...“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the author Martin Luther King Jr., is responding to a minister’s opposing comments to King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference organization’s actions in Birmingham, Alabama. The author reflects his point by portraying the fear of the residents of Birmingham and thus evoking the same emotion in the reader to justify the actions that were taken. King also adds further detailed information explaining the time and situation along with various activities occurring in the same area which explains the feeling and temperament of Birmingham. Although King was attempting to explain the call to action, the article rambles and addresses so many topics that the reader becomes lost and by the end has forgotten the actual goal of the correspondence. The article was written with a very passionate and disgusted tone for how colored people were being treated in the southern states. His choice of words that include “intolerance”, “injustice”, and “racial” stress both his deep pain and personal anger for the way that he and other colored people are being segregated and reacted to by whites, law enforcement, merchants, and various people in the community. Each term causes the reader to pause and contemplate the feeling of prejudice, how it would feel to be judged by the color of your skin, and have laws created not for everyone but just for a specific population again because of the color of your skin. King uses pathos to evoke fear in the reader of...
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... Module 1 Case Assignment 1 June, 8 2012 While King's letter was set and written in the 1960's, it is still prevalent today. Martin Luther King was not only a civil rights activist for Blacks, but his logic and rhetoric is to be admired. I feel it is our duty not only to read King's letter, but to use it as an educational tool. The letter, by King, is well written and a great example of how to write a letter formed essay. Ignoring the fact this letter was being written during the civil rights fights and protests in the 1960's, it was written by a well-educated and well known man who is respected and admired. King begins his letter in a polite address to accusations delivered to him, "But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will..." He takes politeness to a degree that it becomes an art form. Not once does he use an offense word or phrase that would offend the audience of his letter. King's logic is also to be commended. The Letter began with King's reasons of being in Birmingham and he explains it in a way that you feel like you should agree with him. The different types of rhetoric that King uses are perfect for the intended purpose. His play on pathos, or our emotions, is so that you really have to pay attention to discover it. The best example of his play on pathos is when he describes an even with his son, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" It is not the point that the son was asking about racial mistreatment but that it was...
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...Without the holidays, we have today it would mean we have nothing to give our following generations and it take away things millions of people celebrate each year. National holidays helped create the strength our country has today if it is forgotten we won’t be as powerful in years to come. Country-wide happiness is a virtue in the states and is something that should be preserved for years to...
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...In 2013, three radical Black coordinators Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi made a Black-focused political will and movement development project called #BlackLivesMatter. This hashtag was made after the violent death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin at the hands of neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in 2012. The Black Lives Matter Movement is an ideological and political mediation in a reality where we bear witness to black lives who are deliberately and purposefully targeted for death. The Black Lives Matter Movement has developed into the biggest black driven crusade since the 1960s. While particular objectives and strategies for the movement shift by city and state, generally speaking the development tries to focus on...
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...In March of 1991, Rodney King was a victim of police brutality. Once the trial was over the officers were found not guilty. After the riot broke out in the city of LA, the Department of Justice had the officers trialed again. Many thought it was unfair for the officers to be charged again, but the officers were then found guilty. A few years after Rodney King, OJ Simpson was on trial for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. During the trial, there were lots of police accusations because he was an African American famous football player, who was loved by many fans but hated by many. Being a wealth African American during this time was a crime, basically, him and his lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, were harassed by the police for the color of their skin. Another victim of police brutality following the OJ Simpson trial was Amadou Diallo in 1999, he came to American in pursuit of his dream. Sadly, his dream came to an end in 1999,...
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...rights of all farm workers. Cesar was frustrated that while most other jobs could create unions to bargain for better work conditions and wages, farm workers could not. Afterwards Cesar Chavez formed unions and protested for better job conditions. In the end he was able to succeed in his struggle. Even so nowadays it seems that people have forgotten all about him. So I strongly believe that most people do not honor Cesar Chavez enough as they should. I believe that they may not honor Cesar Chavez enough since most of his memorial sites are rundown, some of the sites are actually forgotten or obsolete, and lastly people have forgotten or do not care for Cesar Chavez enough...
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...In those Halcyon Sixties, specifically in April of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his remarkable Letter from Birmingham Jail. In it he explained to his fellow clergy critical of his sit-ins, marches, and direct action why he felt non-violent activism was necessary. He wrote from his cell that he has “almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not . . . the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.” He acknowledged that while they truly do agree with the goals he seeks, they choose to avoid the tension of activism. After the long day at the office or chauffeuring the kids around, we need to relax in front of the...
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...Nicholas Thompson’s article “Hero Inflation” he talks of the evolution of the word “Hero” and how it has been changed over history and he argues why he doesn’t think we should allow for being a victim to be a part of the qualification for being a hero along with being brave, noble and working towards a goal we approve of. Through his arguments he uses examples of logos to explain his reasoning in a logical progression. He begins this argument by describing the use of the word “Hero” during the 9/11 attacks when people first began to equate being a hero with being a victim as well. He states “The victims of the terrorist attacks deserve tremendous sympathy. They died tragically and often horrifically. But not all died in a way that people have...
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...Theory U? Jeremiah Staropoli ORGB 625 July 31, 2011 Introduction The world has known great leaders since the beginning of recorded time. Before any theories on building leadership skills or new buzz words and phrases about leadership, we experienced the impact of great leaders like Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt. These men and women shared little in common except for the fact that they were willing to take a stand for what they believed in and maximize whatever talents they had towards that end. Martin Luther King led the world through the tumultuous Civil Rights movement and inspired millions to change the way in which they viewed the world and each other. He was willing to give his life for this cause (Honey, 2011). Abraham Lincoln had a similar cause in an even more politically and socially divided nation and made similar sacrifices for his cause (Ferguson, 2011). Gandhi led one of the greatest social and religious reform movements in the history of the world with little formal training of any kind. Before it was popular to have a cause as a “first lady” of our nation, Eleanor Roosevelt set herself apart by championing the cause of those most severely affected by the great depression. “[S]he worked as a tireless advocate for the nation's downtrodden and fought to open relief programs to women” (Beasley, 2010). Theory U Theory U, and other theories like it, however, would have us...
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...not only is Martin Luther King Jr. a well-known civil rights activist, he is an African American. This allows him to easily connect with his audience and he already knows, personally, about the subject at hand. In his speech, King mentions how “there will be neither rest not tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundation of our nation until the bright days of justice emerge” (2). King, through his speech, is trying to bring an end to racial discrimination, but that cannot happen until the white Americans realize that African Americans deserve rights too. Being African American, King understands the adversity that African...
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...the hospital. However, I realized after she passed that I am grateful to have spent so much time with her during this last chapter of her life. When she wasn’t under anaesthesia, she and I would spend hours talking about everything we could, as if we were making up for lost time. Sometimes we started out by talking about life at her childhood home in Calauan Laguna, and she would end up telling me what kind of man I ought to marry. “Whatever you do,” she would say, “make sure you marry for love and not because you need him. A man is not a financial plan.” Then, ever the helpful teacher, she would add with a smile, “Although, they do rhyme and that may be why so many people get confused about that.” When someone you love passes away, there is a strong temptation to remember them perhaps a little too well. Misdeeds are forgotten. Offenses are forgiven. Only the most shining characteristics of our loved ones make it into the version of them that we keep with us when they depart. My mother’s only fault was in leaving behind a husband, and two children who loved her very much. The best thing that she has left behind for us is her example. Most people who knew her would be surprised to learn that she struggled with clinical depression on and off for her entire adult life. Her journal, which she kept diligently, details the feelings of doubt and worthlessness that plagued her in every aspect of her life. At church, she felt hopelessly inferior to the enthusiastic and sympathetic women...
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...In 1965 workers from grape vineyards in Delano area began to strike against grape grower because they had poor pay and working conditions. In 1969 two major people within the Delano grape worker movement put out a letter and a proclamation stating why they are striking and why they will not give up until things change. A leader of the grape workers movement was Cesar Chavez., on Good Friday in 1969 Chavez released a letter to E.L. Barr, Jr. within this letter Chavez is expressing his dissatisfaction of Barr’s accusations within the press. This letter, now commonly known as “Letter from Delano” begins by questioning the truth of the accusations Barr has flung at the Delano grape worker. The letter points out that Barr said and believes that the Grape workers strike and the boycott of grapes in the country is only successful because the movement has use violence and terror tactics to get their way. Chavez went on to say that if what Barr says has any true to it then he has failed as a leader. For their...
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...created equal”, this is a quote from the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. Equal. This is the key word in this quote; this is the foundation of the United States of America. In the 1960’s many of the white folks, especially in the Southern states seem to have forgotten what the term “equal” meant. They treated the African Americans like animals. They saw them as meaningless organisms, not even human beings and that their only purpose in this world was to serve the white men. Thankfully, someone had enough courage to stand up for the African Americans and take the physical, verbal, and emotional abuse to fight for their freedom once more, and his name was Martin Luther King, Jr. King writes a letter titled, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"; in this he helps both his audience, the white clergymen, and the rest of the segregated United States understand how these unjust laws are restricting African Americans from their constitutional and God-given rights. He also empathizes the feelings of exhaustion, anger, and hatred that the African Americans feel towards the federal government, and more specifically, the white clergymen who are taking these rights away from them. As King stated, "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws" (3). Also, in the same sense he gives a definition of just and unjust laws. He says, "A just law is a man-made code that squares with the...
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