Martin Luther King Jr., used ethos in his speech, “I Have a Dream” to build on trust and connections with the audience. He made the audience know he knew exactly what was going on currently with their struggles and racism issues. In this quote King Jr. explains how African Americans have been mistreated, stripped from their self-hood, and robbed their dignity over millions of years and it has to be stopped and changed. King states: One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. The purpose of this speech was to make a change in …show more content…
First he describes a wonderful decent future where all children will play together and none will be judged by race but by who they are in the inside. He also states bible verses that describe a perfect world where everyone is equal: “That one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low…the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (King Jr. 3). In the conclusion King Jr. used lyrics from a song the “America” (King Jr. 3). King Jr Sings: Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. With these lyrics King Jr. states that the day will come when everyone will be able to sing these lyrics with a different meaning. Martin Luther King Jr. ends his speech by letting all his audience know that freedom will come and he is sure of it. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (King Jr. 2). Kings Jr. Speech overall is very influential and King accomplishes to get his message across. His words throughout the speech are those of hope. The more you read the speech the more inspired you become with his words of wisdom. This speech is one of the most inspiring speech’s there is out
King Jr. have a desire to change the government laws, policies, etc. to get the freedom for his fellow negro people who had been suffering for 340 years of very violent and cruel treatment of white people. He is aiming for a fair treatment and freedom for the blacks. He does not agree on how the government don’t give the black people the equal right to vote, go to normal places, and get treated properly by white people. Also, he do not agree for the black women to not have the respect by considering them as “Mrs.”, for black children to not be able to go places because of their color, and for blacks who gets humiliated and get treated like nobody because they are black. He does not like the idea of keeping people with color separate from one another. This is just one country, and I think that people should be considered as one and have a unity from one another.
King used pathos and logos as well as ethos in his speech to appeal to the audience in a more emotional way. He mostly attempts to appeal to the audiences’ emotions, fears, and desires. When King repeats with the infamously famous quote, “I have a dream,” he stresses a sense of sympathy and hope towards the African American population during that time period. King states that the, “Negro…finds himself in exile in his own land.” In this phrase, King yields compassion as one can see when he emphasizes the unfair treatment and the alienation of the African Americans. King also uses highly connotative language so that he could evoke an emotional response to the audience by saying words such as, “chains of discrimination” and “oppression” to reinforce the need to change. He not only uses words to get to the saddening side of his audience, but King also uses an uplifting tone to motivate and inspire his audience by using positive diction, using words such as “freedom,” “majestic,” and “brotherhood.” Furthermore, King appeals to logos through his use of analogies; for example, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” This analogy applies to logos by using a form of reasoning since he appeals to the basic concept of money and the frustration of receiving a “bad check.” Not only does King like to appeal to his audience, but he also uses rich metaphors to convey his message across American
In this speech, King utilizes diction throughout, such as "we," "America" and "free." Words like "we," and "America" in the same sentences and same speech, gives everyone, African-Americans, the feeling of being equal and they deserve to have the same rights. Thus giving hope to everyone that they will, one day, be equal in everyway and have the same unalienable
When King gets up there to speak, he knows that he is fighting and uphill battle and the only way to persevere is with the power of numbers. King does what not many can do through the power of speech, he makes a nation realize that there is know true constraint holding them back from making change for the better of their great nation. King uses multiple metaphors in his speech to connect with the audience and create and emotional bond, one that they can relate to, a bond that unifies the masses to feel and understand what King is
Martin Luther King Jr uses repetition, concrete diction, and tone in his speech to distinguish between the ways someone acts, gets treated based on the colour of their skin and the ways that they feel. In his speech, King says “I have a dream” and “let freedom ring” a lot to show repetition. He also uses concrete detail when explaining how the blacks no longer want to be disrespected or be under their discriminating rules. King’s final way of expressing himself is through tone, he changes his tone when saying what him and his people want. The purpose of this speech is for people of all colours to understand that King tried to spread a message that he wanted a better community without racial discrimination and rights for black people.
Also When he repeats, “Let Freedom Ring.” When King refers to people that are also logic because it is actual people or a document that has made an influence or have done something to help make peace. Such as, “When all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of old Negro spiritual.” He also stated that “ black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable right” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” this is from the Declaration of Independence that greatly changed our
While what King refers to throughout his speech creates an emotion that spreads through the crowd, he realized the power of words and their effect on people. He uses “horror,” “distrust,” and “brutality,” to represent what their past and present consisted of. “Glory,” “hope,” and “dream,” are used in his speech to show what their future would be like after that day. King starts of the speech retelling why the audience is there, fighting for their rights, and
King also uses allusion to augment his point in his speech. Throughout his speech he makes many references to the Bible. “…justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). King alludes to the bible verse Amos 5:24. Through the allusion, King depicts that he wants justice to overtake the injustices of discrimination, and for justice to not only overcome discrimination, but for it to flow through America forever. King believed that humans live in a world where God does not judge people by their race and that people should not judge each other off of the color of their skin. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (King). This line in King’s speech alludes to the bible verses Isaiah 40:4-5. Although he does not quote the verses verbatim, this connects King’s message with the religious sides of people, as the majority of people practiced Christianity in America at this time. King dreams that one day
King uses different elements to show his audience that he was a credible source. He sounds fair and sets up his own credibility by tapping into the authority of Lincoln and his view of the civil rights when he said: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” and invoke authority in his cause when makes reference to the constitution where it says “black men as well as white man-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” He also uses the bible to provide confidence in what he is saying for example when he says “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it
On the 28th of August 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most inspiring, and influential speeches America has ever encountered titled “I Have a Dream”. The inspirational high point of a civil rights movement that asked for wrongs to be righted and for every American to get the same chance at success. He delivered his speech to blacks and whites to help advocate the idea of equality throughout all Americans. Martin Luther King first talks about America’s past, he then gradually moves on to the present and the current racial dilemmas African Americans are facing. Martin Luther then advocates Americans to take actions promptly to stop the racism that has been running through America’s veins for centuries. King relies heavily on pathos, ethos, and logos to convey his message of equality. As well as the use of several fallacies such as, the overly sentimental appeal, the bandwagon appeal, and circular reasoning to interact with his audience.
King is trying to connect to the crowd of people and trying to get equal rights for everyone no matter their religion,color of their skin. “King is connecting with his audience member not only as a fellow man of color, but as a parent of children whom he hopes will inherit a better world because of his actions in the civil rights movement now” he is saying that he wants his kids to have a better life than him because he got judged by the color of his skin and he doesn't want that for his kids. A 100 years ago slavery was suppose to stop but it didn't. “ Five score year ago a great America in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree is a great beacon light of hope it millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of injustice…..” this shows that even though slavery had ended it was still going on and people still had to do hard word just because the color if their
Mr. King was talking about the Civil Rights. He was talking how the black people will come join the white people one day in the nation. He was talking that one day that his four children will not be judged not by
King’s speech was delivered during the March for Freedom in Washington August 28, 1963. With a determined tone, is motivation was to speak about racism of blacks in America. Slavery had long been abolished since 1865 with the 13th amendment. By law, African Americans were “free”, but the concept of freedom was like a myth. “The life of the Negro was still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”. (King 9-10). There were no Civil or economical rights, blacks were still bounded by invisible chains of calamity. The purpose of King’s analysis is to bring hope to the people of color. Hope for a better tommorrow, hope that all their labor will not go in vain and hope that their children will live a better life. Moreover, He also argued to convince his audience that there should be an end to racism and equal rights for all races. He argued that freedom should be for all Americans, not just white Americans.
Martin Luther king put a lot of time into this speech and you can see that he meant what he said, you can also see that a lot of figurative language was used in his speech and that the sentence structure where short and to the point for a
His speeches were based upon his beliefs and the dreams of a better society. King had high hopes and spoke of his high hope for the black people. King didn’t make racial slurs against the white people, but he put the white and black people on the same level. He argued that every man, black or white should have equal rights.