I Have a Dream, Essay Example

In the speech: “I Have a Dream”, Martin Luther King Jr uses several rhetoric tools to contrast the past and future, to engage the audience, and to help listeners picture his vision. The below analysis will examine these tools in detail.

The speaker creates emotional engagement with the audience (pathos), through referring to events that are embedded into the shared knowledge of Americans. These references to American heritage can be found throughout the speech, for example the Declaration of Independence, and the Emancipation Declaration. By drawing an analogy between making “Negroes” free and equal and freedom of women, the author also uses logos: a logical reasoning in the speech.

Logos is present throughout the speech, and King states that the only logical next step for the American society is to provide African Americans citizenship. He states that there will be no equality, peace, until all of God’s children are equal in the real world. He clearly describes what would happen if the society failed to act:

“there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges”.

Repetition gives the speech a rhythm, and Martin Luther King starts with the famous sentence “I have a Dream”, while he repeats the same sentence as he elaborates his vision. He does not only repeat the above phrase, but also builds up a momentum when he  refers to historical events:

“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is 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. 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” (King)

The above repetition emphasizes the fact that while many things have been achieved, some social issues had not been solved. In the above passage, the speaker also uses pathos to connect with the audience. Using analogy between Biblical events and the fate of African Americans in the country, he creates a strong message. Jews lived in exile for many years, and were oppressed by Egyptian kings. Likewise, Negroes are forced to live in poverty and exclusion.

By aligning his vision with other great movements, the speaker also makes use of ethos: a rhetoric form that creates an authority. By calling blacks and whites “God’s children, the speaker creates unity, and authority as well. He describes himself as a fighter for humanity, referring to his pastoral role in the community.

Another form of repetition is also clearly used by King in order to create a strong emotional message: diacope. By repeating the same phrase, after inserting another word, the author emphasizes the idea of freedom: “Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty, free at last!”

Overall, the speech: “I Have a Dream” is making use of rhetoric tools that engage the speaker with the audience and create a sense of urgency to fight for freedom.

Works Cited

Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream. delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. 1963. Web.