Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Speech

On Wednesday, August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most encouraging and moving speeches ever made. During this revolutionary time King was an activist who made a speech that was so well versed that all kinds of people were moved. The main message throughout his speech was, he felt it was necessary to express the importance of his will to have equality for all, and freedom of the captive. He was able to accomplish this by using devices such as pathos, anaphora and other literary devices found in his speech. In the beginning of his speech he states, “Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” (Jr). The Emancipation Proclamation was a speech given by …show more content…
In his speech he states, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (Jr). This shows the passion and drive he has to devote himself to creating a better tomorrow. That one day, all people, young and old, black or white, will be able to be judged by how they act or not judged at all. Martin Luther King Jr. was so successful at using pathos because he used his diction so well to make his audience feel guilty, for ignoring the lack of right for blacks. With phrases like “God’s children” he is able to connect to all people as one community, as one, to make the word such a better …show more content…
With the examples of anaphora in the same words he uses repetition, by the amount of times he uses each example. King uses anaphora when he uses words like, “I Have a Dream”, “We can never be satisfied”, “One Hundred Years”, and “Now is the time” (Jr). By picking these words and emphasizing them, it causes the audience to be motivated and leaves them in bewilderment about how passionate he is. When King repeats “I Have a Dream” he intent is to make others believe in a new and improved America, by setting each other as equals. Also King wants to spark the passion he has, into all people so the world can become a wonderful place. By saying “We can never be satisfied” he wants the people to understand that he won’t be pleased with anything other than the same rights as whites. With the words “Now is the time” he wants his audience to be as fed up as he is with the segregation, and that now is the time to reverse everything and start the change. All and all the use of anaphora was a big part of his speech and the purpose behind