The Rhetorical Analysis: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech (Essay Example)

Martin Luther King Jr. suffered and witnessed the injustices in the world around him due to being born into segregation. After seeing these injustices and learning more about them, King decided to write and deliver his famous “I Have a Dream'' speech on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this speech with the intention of persuading Americans that all people are created equal. He dreamed of the world as no place for racism or any other inequality. He wanted to see everyone reunite, not see the disagreement of the races. The setting of the speech was at Lincoln's memorial, symbolizing the importance of how freedom for black people started through the Emancipation Proclamation. King goes deeper into how black men and women have been treated unjustly, but when the documents were signed it meant all Americans were equal. He targets his speech at not just one group of people but to all by talking about how his goal is for every person to be equal. Martin Luther King Jr. became a very educated person of the Bible and its implications. He fueled his desire of helping create equality for all by the injustices he saw growing up and of the people who caused it. With those concepts, he forms a tone of hopefulness and determination for all. Martin Luther King Jr. presents many rhetorical devices like symbolism, imagery, and powerful speaking style to create an effect on the audience and to further the importance of his argument. The rhetorical strategies that he conveyed exhibit ethos, pathos, and logos to help the audience understand the speech and its purpose. 

Many rhetorical devices were used throughout Martin Luther King Jr.s speech. He expressed devices like imagery and anaphora to better his speech. Imagery is one of the most visible rhetorical devices in the "I Have a Dream" speech. For example, King states, “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice" (King). King may have made this piece seem to be insignificant, but it contains more imagery than it portrays at first. The imagery that he incorporated creates a sense of unity. Another way Martin Luther King Jr. uses imagery in his speech is by putting former slaves and owners as a comparison when he says that they “will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood” (King). He talks about them like they are going to get treated the same in the future because that is what he expects. Anaphora is shown multiple times throughout the speech. He repeats the title of the speech, “I Have a Dream” to show his listeners what his goals are. King also says the phrase “one hundred years later” repetitively throughout his speech. He is repeating this to stress the idea that many years have passed and barely any progress has occurred. He follows that by repeating “now is the time” over and over again. This emphasizes his speech by showing his listeners that this is the time to take action for all of the time has gone by with change not occurring. 

Although the tone of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech is essentially hopeful and filled with determination, the tone shifts throughout his speech. King starts off the speech with a more urgent tone to grab the audience's attention and exhibit the issue. King switches to a more hopeful and uplifting tone once he gets more into the speech. He mainly keeps that tone to inspire his audience and inform them to take action against discrimination in a good manner. King states what he is going to achieve and tells his audience that “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King), creating a sense of determination. He speaks to his listeners in a promising way and tells them what is going to happen about racism and that it will be fixed. He reveals a powerful response from African Americans because they are the people suffering from injustice and are still “not free.” King had been a paster which helped create his passionate tone in his speech and to be so powerful to change the perspective of the nation.  

Martin Luther King Jr. made several references to legal documents that declared certain rights for everyone but they were not actually being followed through with. This really made his speech more significant to others because how can you argue with references to important documents such as the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln, signifying slaves to be free in the future. In his speech, King goes on to talk about how little of these issues have changed, even with the document being signed “a hundred years ago.” He repeats that multiple times throughout his speech to prove how wrong it is that people have been overlooking racism for all of this time. King compares the conditions that African Americans have been treated to “chains” to create an emotional response to his listeners, especially the ones who did not realize that change was needed. His goal was to get his audience to match his perspective against segregation by sharing those references. King also refers to the Bible several times in his speech in order to appeal to Christians' listening. Martin Luther King Jr. gives hope by stating how “every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” (King). 

All throughout the “I Have a Dream” speech, many rhetorical devices were shown to exhibit King’s thoughts and dreams of racial equality. He incorporated ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to different aspects and inspire change. King starts off by using ethos when he gives a sense of trustworthiness. He informs the audience of how “happy” he is to join them and how his speech will go down in history. He initiates his vision and foundation to assure the audience even more. When King references documents such as the Emancipation Proclamation, he also gives a sense of ethos by showing that he knows what he is talking about and is earning the audience's trust. Another way ethos is shown to listeners is because of Kings’ past of being an influential leader. Next, pathos is incorporated when King keeps his audience engaged and puts his all into the speech. He puts his faith into the speech and makes his disappointment known about the years of nothing being changed. He implies his emotional appeal by saying that hope is not gone but something must be done about inequality after all of this time. King speaks to motivate others to create relationships and equality between the races. The last rhetorical device shown is logos. King supports his claims with facts from history. Another example of him showing logos is by preaching how racism can be fixed and should be fixed in a nonviolent way. He approaches the issue with trustworthiness, emotion, and facts. 

Throughout Martin Luther King Jr.s’ speech, he preaches the struggles and inequality of African Americans from white people. He motivated many to speak out against discrimination in a safe manner and make a change after all of the displeasing years of no change. King displays many rhetorical devices such as rhetorical appeals and devices like imagery to prove his accuracy to his listeners. He created a breakthrough for the world regarding segregation in a peaceful manner. Kings’ speech will forever be remembered in history because of its powerful message and impact on history.