“I Have A Dream” Analysis Set in Washington, DC in 1963 during the March on Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of his most celebrated speeches today. In his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is successful in communicating his points to his audience. Most of these points focused on equality for all and looking towards a brighter future of racial harmony. Throughout his speech, King used several, but not all, of the skills every speaker should have. One of the most important things to analyze is the speech objective.
The Constitution, until recently, did not apply to blacks; blacks feel they deserve payments from 310 years of slavery, destruction to their minds and culture. Dr. Martin Luther King's dilemma in the United States was of a different kind. He was torn between his identity as a Black man of African descent and his identity as an American. He urged Americans to judge based on the content of the character not by skin color and also believed in non-violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr’s main perspective during the fight on racism was equality.
Martin Luther King continues by referencing the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln, stating that great historical figures had realised the need for human rights of all people to be respected, but that the “Negro still lives on the lonely island of poverty”. Martin Luther King states that he felt this historical act was, in a way, a promise to all of mankind that equality would be met but “America had defaulted on this promissory note”. Mr King continues through this part of the speech with the belief that “justice” needs to be met and that this will enable the black community the “riches of freedom”. Martin Luther King continues, asking for these promises to finally be upheld or expect consequences from the black community, stating that it would be “fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment...And there will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights”. Mr King then makes a plea towards the black population, asking them “not to be guilty of wrongful deeds”, to be disciplined and have dignity while this process played out.
To bring out more emotion from the audience, King aggressively pushes the issue of blacks being treated poorly. The imagery that Martin Luther King Jr. uses in phrases such as “sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” call his audience to a realization of how he and his people have been treated. By using
King delivered one of the greatest speeches in American history. His speech has made a strong impact on the hearts of Americans about how badly African-Americans were being treated. King’s purpose of the speech is to provoke America to give African-Americans their promised freedom. Within the speech, King uses word choice, repetition, and metaphor to promote his main ideas. King uses word choice to contrast the negative past and present that the African-Americans have faced with the positive anticipated future.
Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered at Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. In hopes of planting the seed of equality into every American’s heart and letting it flourish. King expresses his profound and powerfully emotional thoughts while also mentioning momentous decrees such as the Emancipation Proclamation and Declaration of Independence that were signed by our founding fathers in our nations early history. These documents were intended to unlock the invisible cage that once held African Americans hostage from being treated as equals. Centuries later the Negro community was still riddled by racial injustice and oppression.
“…chains of discrimination…” “…great vaults of opportunity…” “…quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” The use of metaphors help to emphasise the message that King is trying to push for and helps keep listeners interested and holds their attention. King also uses anaphora quite frequently during the course of his speech. He uses anaphora to keep the momentum of a specific topic he may be discussing such as life of the Negro’s. “One hundred years later…” “I have a dream…” “Let freedom ring…” are all repeated to help remind the audience of the themes he is speaking about. Antithesis has also been used in his speech to reveal the goals he wishes to achieve.
It was also a period of radical change in segregation, discrimination and equal rights. Martin Luther King challenges American society to change and accept his race. This can be seen through Kings Use of anaphora throughout the entire speech. He continuously repeats “I have a dream” in his speech to amplify how he believes America is due for change to placate the growing population of African American people. Kings distinctive voice conveys his determination in uniting a nation to bring the changes needed.
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Declaration one hundred years before. The declaration was supposed to bring equality to the American Society and bring whites and blacks together as one, but that promise was never a reality among our society during that time. King’s speech was to convey the wrongful discrimination of the black race and that all races should be treated as equals. The tone and the way he used rhetoric appeals in this speech was to capture the attention of his audience and let them feel the sadness that he feels because of this racism, and indeed it did. There are three appeals of persuasion, ethos, logos, and pathos.
He gave the speech "I Have a Dream" in 1963 on the "March to Washington" after which he established himself as one of the greatest orators in the history of America. He wrote this speech in order to inspire and convince the people of America that each and every American no matter what the color of their skin is or from where they belong, each and every one of them should be treated equally, with justice and equality. He wanted to stop the injustice that was taking place in each and every street of America and he wanted to inspire the African American people to start a non-violent protest against this wrong doing. For this speech, his target audience were all the American's present on that day in Washington and all the people of the country. His final purpose of the speech was to attain freedom for his fellow African American citizens who were being treated unfairly during that period in the country.