I Have A Dream Martin Luther King Jr

Improved Essays
Analysis of “I have a Dream”
Martin Luther King, JR. was born in late 1900s in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in a Christian family, where most of his family members were preacher. His family’s values had shaped King, JR. to be a strong-optimistic Negro with love toward others. (King, 1998). National Archive (n.d.) reports that King JR. took his action to push government to open their eyes to see the racism that created gap amongst people by speaking his speech that known as “I have a Dream” on August 28, 1963 in the front of ten thousand people, in Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
Vary of talk card used in the way King JR. delivering his speech. He played the card of teacher, friend, family member, motivator and leader that was made he delivered his speech successfully. In my opinion, the way he played different roles in his speech was really brilliant. In the very beginning of his speech, he expressed his gratitude of being in the occasion together with all of the audience. “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” (King, 1963) He used card of friend and family together in this sentence. Expression of “our nation” shows that King JR. try to convince the audiences that they are family that together part of the nation. His role as a friend was shown by his statement that he is joining the demonstration together with the audiences, fighting together to reach their dream which is freedom. The other card that he used was teacher. In the second paragraph, he started to tell the audience of what happened in the past that last for a long period of time. He taught some kind of history to the audiences, thus that the audiences would understand the background of the speech and what was he is going to talk about. In the fourth paragraph he used his leader card, he showed that he was talking as the representative of the victim of injustice and inequality, he kept using the word “we” in this part that shown he was not alone, he was there with his family and his friends that were fighting to against their own pessimistic of reaching their dream. At the end of the second page, King JR. not only used his leader card but he also mixed it with motivator card. He motivated the audiences to keep fighting and put their best effort together. In the fourth page, he expressed his care to his friends through stating few sentences to show that friends know what their friends facing. Continuing to the page five King JR. kept using the friend card, he used that card to tell his dream to the audiences as his friends. In the last part of the fifth page he used his family card, he showed his love to the nation and his family as “God’s children”. In the last part of his speech he used his leader card again. This is a very smart decision that he put himself as a leader, it is really important that at the end of the speech the speaker stressed in order to burn the audience spirit and to make them remember the main point of the speech. In this speech King JR.
…show more content…
put lower distance in his powerful speech, where both speaker and audience have equal distribution of power. He delivered his speech with spirit and pure emotion. He made himself in the position where he and the audiences have the same power, he was not higher than the audience and vice versa, he put himself as a friend that motivated his friend. He used friendliness style. King JR. used both of formal and informal style in his speech, he used a lot of complex sentences and formal word choice, but he also used a lot of simple sentences. He used his natural accent, like other Negros’ accent and he used a very good phase in the way he spoke. The content of the speech vividly shows the goal of the speech, through the sentences that directly stating the goal. Based on the background of the audience present in the demonstration has clearly described that the audiences have the same purpose as the speaker. Regarding types of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Dr. King's unbelievable speaking ability and Gandhi type(nonviolence) persona has influenced the United States to celebrate differences in humanity. This speech also explains, how the King Jr is telling the government, and the people of the…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On August 28, 1963, American civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered one of the most famous public speeches in American history. During the political rally known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, King and over 250,000 civil rights supporters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the march and Dr. King’s speech was to advocate for civil rights for African Americans in the United States. In his speech, King calls for a permanent end to racism and discrimination in the United States and overall, equality amongst all races. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was ranked number one when communication scholars identified the top one hundred historical speeches of the twentieth century (Isa Engleberg,…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    on CBS as he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech (Edgerton, 239). This is an event that everyone in America learns about at a young age. He stood up there hoping to promote nationwide nonviolence and that one day African American children would be able to play with white children. King himself said it was the "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”(Snyder). His speech brought even greater attention to the Civil Rights Movement it focused on how things were not much different then compared to prior to the Civil War.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mlk Ethos Pathos Logos

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages

    King used these repetitions to create a whole hearted meaning into his speech, and for the world to understand what it is that should happen to the world, not what has happened. “I Have a Dream,” speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr on August 28, 1963. King’s speech used logos, ethos, and pathos to create a meaning that would forever change the world. The purpose of his speech was to let the world know that the chains and shackles of segregation will be ripped away, and that the world will soon become one whole nation. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr wanted to the world to be one.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Malala yousefzai vs Martin Luther king Jr. By Zion De`Shion Reaves Have you ever heard of Martin Luther king Jr. or have you heard of Malala yousefzai? You probably have heard of both of them but they have similarities and differences too. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born to parents Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Speech #1: Martin Luther King - I Have A Dream Speech - August 28, 1963 The strengths of the speech: In Martin Luther King’s speech, he has a well-organized speech and a powerful voice. He was confident, powerful and forceful in his speech. In the beginning, he used a history story to get the audience attention, which raises the audience interests. The topic of the speech is very clear, and there are many examples to support his argument.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The King's speech is carefully crafted to ensure a strong sense of unity resonates with the audience. The King or his speechwriter, aided by careful choice of diction, tone, and content, ensured the effect, to unite the peoples of the British empire in solidarity and build respect for the disliked monarch, was maximized. The first way this is executed, is in the interesting way the King begins address. From the very start, the king lowers himself from his position of superiority, down to the level of his audience.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Speech That Changed America In August of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that helped shaped America into the country that it is today. The speech, titled “I Have a Dream,” expresses the various challenges that the Negroes, or African Americans, experienced during this period. The main point Dr. King was trying to get across in his speech was that all people are created equal. “I Have a Dream” is about inciting change and bringing an end to the persecution and oppression of the African Americans.…

    • 1072 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ‘I have a dream’ August 28, 1963, was the day of the biggest march, but also for a very important speech. Dr. King spoke to two hundred thousand people, on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. He spoke of a future where blacks and whites were equal, and where his children were valued for their personality and not the color of their skin. It is important to note, that he wanted equality for all, not for the blacks to be above the whites, or of revenge on the whites.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Booker King Jr Influence

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929. King was born in Atlanta Georgia. King’s parents are Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. He was the middle child of three. His brother was A.D. King and his sister was Christine King Farris.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To be able to inspire and help others by merely speaking is a remarkable talent. John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. inspire, motivate, and transform the lives of others through their examples and speeches. On January 20, 1961 President Kennedy gave his influential “Inaugural Address” to the nation, asking for a change. King also demands a change when he gave his “I Have A Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. The 1960’s are a controversial period not only for our nation, but for the whole world.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1) Who is the audience? The audience were parents, educators and the general public. 2) What concern raised in the article was most significant to you?…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As we all know King was famous for his speech, “I Have a Dream.” It has touched so many people in various different ways, and people have many different thoughts on it. Martin Luther King Jr. was the one who delivered the speech on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The main purpose or point King tried to get across was racial equality, to obtain equality, and equal rights for all the people. King was born on January 15, 1929 and passed on April 4, 1968.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The introduction was awkward as it should be annoucing something sad and important to this audience. At this point in his speech I thought he used pauses very effecfively as if to give the audience and himself time to digest what he had just told them. It did not seem awkward as the pauses later in the content part of speech did. Introduction could have probably been longer to be more effective. He quickly got into the content of his speech and used this news to relay how he sees the country and the people moving on like King would have wanted us to.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King began his speech with a solemn reminder of the emancipation proclamation, and the great good it did for the people of America. It freed American people from slavery, what it did not do, however, is free the people from oppression. The constitution and…

    • 1109 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays