Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Speech

Introduction: John Lewis once said “My parents told me in the very beginning as a young child when I raised the question about segregation and racial discrimination, they told me not to get in the way, not to get in trouble, not to make any noise.” MLK does exactly what John Lewis was told not to, he stands up for himself and the other black people who were being discriminated. Although acquiescent obedience make an individual follow a law, prudent integrity makes an individual realize that certain laws need revision. Therefore, King's call to action to the white moderates is that they realize what’s morally right and protest against what’s morally wrong. King uses Pathos to manipulate his audience's emotional reaction by creating allusions. King states “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “Legal” and everything the Hungarian Freedom Fighters did in Hungary was “Illegal”.” When King refers …show more content…
This is important because at this time black people and white people were not on equal levels and the white people were the hierarchy. This may come off as surprising to his audience and may intrigue them to listen to what he has to say. King says this at the beginning to set the tone and language of his speech. This also reflects his belief that all men are created equal. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” King uses this sentence to create a commonality of danger between himself and the readers. This creates a common ground because King says that while Black people are obviously being affected, the white people are being affected as well. King creates an envision that the white people will be affected if they don't stop segregation. He tells them that they all need to rely on each other in order to make the world better. This makes the audience more attentive to his letter and helps the audience choose King's