Preview

Primary: African American and Luther King Jr

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1511 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Primary: African American and Luther King Jr
Primary Research Paper
Black Identity

“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”. This is the first line of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech. Martian Luther King’s speech took place after the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered the speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps. He voiced this speech to millions of people both blacks and whites. This speech is one of the greatest speeches of the civil rights movement, because it has many rhetorical tropes such as; repetition, assonance and consonance, pathos, logos, metaphors and ethos.
Martin Luther King Jr. uses a lot of repetition in his “I Have a Dream” speech. They are scattered throughout the speech but in very close proximities of each other. One of the repetitions in his “I Have a dream”. Not only is this the name of the speech of the speech but in today’s world it has become a common phrase used in everyday life as people announce their dream to either themselves or loved ones. The phrase is even used by children who dare to dream big. Martian Luther King Jr. uses this phase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have dream the one day this nation will and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Another is “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 nature. I have a dream today.” That part of the speech was very personal and touching. Using his own children as an example helped to touch people where the heart is. Repeating “I Have a Dream” helped people to start thinking about their own personal dreams that they might have had also. Two other repetitions Martin Luther King Jr. uses is “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last”, but I will be using those



Cited: "The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change." The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. "Rhetorical Analysis of the "I Have a Dream" Speech." Teen Ink. Web. 13 Feb. 2014 "Free Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Essays and Papers | Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Essays and Papers | Sorted by Rating. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Laconi, Ally. "How to Write a Primary Source Analysis | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 16 May 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The speaker of the well known speech, ‘I Have a Dream’ was its very own author, Martin Luther King Jr. This speech was mainly about freedom and equality for African Americans. King emphasized on African American history, and how him and his people have been treated. The argument he used was that the African Americans have gone through enough and they deserve freedom and equality as much as white people. To support his argument he uses three appeals; emotional, ethical, and finally logical.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King, Jr., a Civil Rights Activist of the 1950s, delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 to advocate for equal rights for all ethnicities and to convey the message that unity is essential to the strength of society. Martin Luther King, Jr. starts his speech by uniting the audience under a similar belief that, “all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the prominent speech “I Have a Dream” at the Lincoln Memorial to over 250,000 civil rights supporters. King’s speech was compelling and potent; it moved everyone. Furthermore, he helped change the world where there is justice. He believed in the equality between whites and blacks and died believing it. In addition, he strongly believes freedom exists for the blacks. He states, “[The white’s] destiny is tied up with [the black’s] destiny.” This quote emphasizes the problem of injustice in this world, and it makes the audience move into action. King’s speech was widely known, due to the effective tone he creates throughout his speech. His use of literary tropes and syntactical schemes help make this formidable tone. King’s speech influences the whites and blacks to listen by using extensive anaphora, metaphor, and diction to create a tone of necessity in his “I Have a Dream” speech.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Repetition in Martin Luther King’s speech is used overall to evoke emotion within the audience members. He often repeats the using sentences that begin with “go back to …”. The repetition of this phrase expresses his passion and relates it to the audience by showing that is just as worked up over the situation they are in just as much as they are, if not more. By repeating the phrase “I have a dream that …” Martin Luther King gets the audience emotionally involved and , and gives them the same dream and hope that it will one day be a reality, not just a dream. The more the phrase is used the more emotion it evokes. The more emotion that is evoked, the more the audience want to make change in the nation.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr.'s in his I have a Dream speech. Like Washington, Martin Luther felt the need for a peaceful revolution which can be seen in the lines: "Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul..." whereas in Douglas's slave narrative he takes a more physical approach. Another difference between Martin Luther's speech and Douglas's slave narrative is the way Martin Luther writes using repetition seen in the lines:"I have a dream that one day...i have a dream today...i have a dream...". Douglas on the other hand doesn't repeat any specific word of phrase to achieve his point. Some similarities include the appeal to humanity and way to feel bad for one and also a desire and hope for freedom. The plea to humanity can be seen i Martin Luther's speech in the line "...the negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality" depict how terrible things were for African-Americans making people feel bad for them. Also, in Douglas's narrative in the lines "I scarce had strength to speak. He then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up. I tried to do so, but fell back in the attempt. He gave me another kick, and again told me to rise" he achieves to make one feel sorry for him and for all slaves through the way he describes how slaves were treated. In addition, both pieces display a longing for freedom. "I have a dream that this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed" is a line spoken by Martin Luther depicting his own thirst for liberty. Douglas expresses his own longing for self-determination in the line: "It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free". Through many varying and alike methods of writing and speaking tactics Martin Luther and Douglas set African-Americans closer to the ultimate goal of equality for…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introduction: I have a dream, by Dr. King. Background: Martin Luther King Jr. made one of the most famous speeches known to mankind, “I Have a Dream”. Thesis: The most effective rhetoric appeal in the “I Have a Dream” speech is pathos, show by how serious he is, it makes you motivated, and it can make you feel sad.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the greatest speeches of all time. He achieves this status because the speech is brilliantly written and flawlessly presented. The speech’s clear purpose is to persuade the audience of the problem that is segregation and to call people to fight for civil rights. King’s language is simple and direct, yet very powerful and well-chosen. The speech itself appears to be easily understood. However simple, it very impactful. He uses analogies throughout the speech, these prove the speech to be more accessible to everyday people. He also treats his audience with a huge amount of respect, acknowledging their troubles, as well as, encouraging them to keep going. His use of the phrase “I have a…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "I Have a Dream" was a speech given by Martin Luther King. King was the last to give his speech for the event. He gave his speech on August 28, 1963 on the Lincoln Memorial. The speech was said in the" March on Jobs and Freedom" to approximately 250,000 people were present. King's main purpose for his speech was to end racial inequality throughout the country. More so to get African Americans as much opportunities as anyone else.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. “I have A Dream Speech” (Primary Source Document) 1. Master File Complete, ESBCO host. Assessed April 17, 2013…

    • 2009 Words
    • 58 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ihaveadreamessay

    • 319 Words
    • 1 Page

    Martin Luther King’s intention for giving his famous I Have a Dream speech is to encourage his audience to recognize that all men are created equal. King supports his argument through a critical tone and through the use of the following rhetorical strategies: repetition of phrases and theme words.…

    • 319 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On August 28, 1963, people around the nation tuned into hear several civil rights speeches going on in Washington. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those civil rights speakers, and that day he gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. In Dr. Martin Luther King Juniors speech, he spoke about unifying the nation, to create a place where Americans “will not be judged by the color of your skin but by the content of your character.”(2) He shocked the nation into actions advising that they’re will be a “rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.”(1) Thankfully, many people in America were changed, and wanted to make a difference after hearing the speech. Through appeals to pathos, “a strategy in which a writer tries to generate specific emotions in an audience, to dispose it to accept a claim;” (1042) and appeals to ethos, which is “the self image a writer creates to define a relationship,” (1042) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to use his passion and character to help open American’s minds, and motivate them to make a nonviolent change towards equality.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dr King

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The ' I have a dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King is a speech recognized as one of the best speeches ever given . Just a little over 40 years ago Dr. King set America into a moving blaze with his momentous Speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His amazing rhetoric demanded racial justice. It also became a mantra for the black community and is now more familiar to younger generations as the Declaration of independence is. This speech has been described as poetry, and masterfully delivered.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 at Washington D.C. in front of the Washington Monument. Dr. King gave his to help promote the idea that all men should be treated equally. He developed his speech by saying that “100 years later, we must face the tragic fact that the negro is still not free,” (King). Another way he shows that the African Americans are not free yet is by saying “One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the comers of AMerican society and finds himself an exile in his own land,” (King). His goal throughout his speech was to show how the African Americans were still not free and how that this is not the end of their fight for freedom, but the beginning. His speech was intended…

    • 163 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Distinctive Voices

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Dr. Martin Luther King challenges American society in his speech I Have a Dream for the right of his own race. His strong use of anaphora creates a distinctive voice throughout his entire speech. King’s use of anaphora is most likely what led him to name his speech I Have a Dream. He continues to repeat “I have a dream” and “I have a dream today” in a large chunk of his speech. This is emphasising what he truly believes in for America. He is emphasising that a change is needed to be made to placate a population of African-Americans. The change is to also unite everyone as a nation. King’s distinctive voice depicts his determination. Pathos is created with King’s strong priest like tone of voice and appears as if he is preaching to his audience of his message. His preaching of repetitive, memorable words are those that lead his audience to think about the issue he is talking about.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King was leading the fight alongside a scheme in which he saw his people as second class citizens. A society that would “lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” (EMP, Rachel’s 153); this is the system he was struggling against. His objective, on the other hand, was to carry fairness to people universally, and to display that he could do it minus the fierceness. Kings request for non-violence and his movements through civil disobedience put him and his supporters on the right high ground during the course of the Civil Rights…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays