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. The Negroes were victims of discrimination and were not allowed to affiliate with the white Americans. They had been taken as slaves from their own countries, and they felt like aliens in this country. For many years, they lived as exiles in their own land. Dr. Kings speech was very effective because of his skillful use of the rhetorical tools ethos, logos, and pathos. Because of these tools and the events when it was written, “I Have a Dream” has shaped America in astounding ways.
At the time of this speech, African Americans had been deprived of the equal rights befitting citizens of the United States. They did not have the right to vote and were treated as if they were only marginally human. They were forced to stay separate from the prosperous white neighborhoods and live in alienated, poverty-stricken ghettos. The Negro children were not allowed to go to school with the …show more content…
King uses to persuade his diverse audience is the rhetorical strategy of ethos, which shows that he is a person of dependability and good character (Gross and Arthur 197). At different points in the speech, he makes references to different states and and locations, such as “the red hills of Georgia,” “the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire,” and “the snowcapped rockies of Colorado” (). By taking time to mention each of these regions, he shows how important each one is and endears himself to the listeners from those
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. The Negroes were victims of discrimination and were not allowed to affiliate with the white Americans. They had been taken as slaves from their own countries, and they felt like aliens in this country. For many years, they lived as exiles in their own land. Dr. Kings speech was very effective because of his skillful use of the rhetorical tools ethos, logos, and pathos. Because of these tools and the events when it was written, “I Have a Dream” has shaped America in astounding ways.
At the time of this speech, African Americans had been deprived of the equal rights befitting citizens of the United States. They did not have the right to vote and were treated as if they were only marginally human. They were forced to stay separate from the prosperous white neighborhoods and live in alienated, poverty-stricken ghettos. The Negro children were not allowed to go to school with the …show more content…
King uses to persuade his diverse audience is the rhetorical strategy of ethos, which shows that he is a person of dependability and good character (Gross and Arthur 197). At different points in the speech, he makes references to different states and and locations, such as “the red hills of Georgia,” “the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire,” and “the snowcapped rockies of Colorado” (). By taking time to mention each of these regions, he shows how important each one is and endears himself to the listeners from those