What Is The Purpose Of I Have A Dream Speech

On August 28 of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech titled “I Have a Dream” at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. The speech’s purpose was to address racism and to motivate the civil rights activists to fight for the Negroes’ freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was rhetorically effective due to: the eloquent delivery of his speech through repetitive phrases, his reputation and reference to Lincoln, and referring to historically significant documents to back up his argument. The speech successfully appeals to the civil rights activists and influences them to act, so successfully that even the racist white people were afraid that they were losing “control” over the black populace. The exigence of this speech was communicated articulately by
By using the phrase “I have a dream”, King broadcasts his dreams for the future, where social and economic equality would be achieved. The overall effectiveness of King's “I Have a Dream” speech is overwhelming, mentioning the struggles of the Negro, the freedom promised but not given, and dreams of the future, primarily appealing to pathos. The structure of the speech influences the audience to reminisce of the past in the beginning of the speech, the importance of acting now in the middle of the speech, and dreams of the future to end the speech. Although ethos and logos are important factors in the speech, they work together to amplify pathos. Without ethos and logos, King's speech would be untenable and would only have pathos as its appeal, greatly reducing the rhetorical effectiveness of his speech. However that was not the case, ethos gives the audience reassurance to King's credibility and logos gives logical reasoning to his arguments, together, they give pathos a firm