R.A.

One of the most amazing speeches of our day, one of the most influential discourses in our country is Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “I Have a Dream Speech.” This speech is what I want to analyze for my rhetorical analysis. His audience, is the entire country. His WATCO is equality of all races, and religions, and peoples and the American country. His credit is that he is black, he is also a man of faith, as a Reverend in Christendom. His appeal to emotion was incredibly set by how he used such imagery and parallelism in his speech. He would say phrases over and over, such as, “100 years later,” “Now is the time,” “We can never be satisfied,” “Let freedom ring,” and of course, “ I have a dream.” He also uses power words, such as, Liberty, justice, brotherhood, etc, to propagate his message and strengthen his argument. He also uses imagery and alagories that carry emotion along with his message. He individualizes the message by talking about his own children being able to be judged by the content of their hearts rather than the color of their skin. He says that he wants a “Nigro in Mississippi” to be able to vote and a “Nigro in Alabama” to have something to vote for. He establishes logical arguments and authority by quoting the documents that Americans hold as most authoritative. He quotes the constitution of independence, he quotes our National anthem, and he quotes the emancipation proclamation. I love this speech!