Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

The speech “I Have a Dream” was very effective as King utilized many devices to enhance it. A device that Martin Luther King Jr. used in his speech was oral techniques. He used certain rhythms and spoke with passion and confidence to draw in his audience’s attention. King decreased his pace as he spoke about the injustices in the present and increased his pace as he spoke about his idea of a better future. For example, as King spoke about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, he described it in a slow speed as, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’” (King 5). He slowed his pace to increase suspense when speaking about the present reality that citizens of America promised equity for black people, but when asked for racial equality they seemed oblivious to the aforementioned promise. King then sped his words when speaking about the ideals of the future when he read, “So we have come to cash this check - a check that …show more content…
For example, this speech was apart of a civil rights march and alluded to Abraham Lincoln’s speech following the American Civil War. King's speech alluded to President Lincoln, who “signed the Emancipation Proclamation” (3), by referring to Lincoln’s “4 score and 7 years” with “five score years ago” (3) in his own speech. This reference set up the stage for the speech as Lincoln's speech was concluding a civil war and King’s speech was apart of another civil war. Also, the battle about the idea of slavery was apart of the American Civil War and this civil war was to further fight for rights of black people. As Abraham was a man against the slavery of black people, he and his words were perfect to tie into King’s speech. Therefore, the allusion helped give hope that black people would get the rights they fight for as they were reminded about their freedom from