Good Essay About Martin Luther’s I Have A Dream Speech

The turbulent sixties saw the rise of Martin Luther King as the champion of civil liberties and an eloquent speaker. He had borrowed the concept of non-violent resistance from Mahatma Gandhi and civil disobedience from Henry Thoreau. King was a source of inspiration to millions of people within the United States and thousands of tormented souls across the globe. Martin Luther King delivered his most revered speech from the steps of Lincoln Memorial calling for the end of racial prejudice and social inequality. He was addressing a quarter a million civil rights supporters during the 1963 Washington march. Martin Luther’s speech can only be described as the masterpiece of rhetoric. Luther has masterfully employed the use of logos, ethos and pathos to ensure that the speech was as persuasive as possible.
Martin Luther’s primary form of persuasion was pathos. Pathos is a communication device that is geared towards creating an emotional appeal to the audience. The loaded language of his speech is meant to persuade the people emotionally that they need to take action since negotiation had failed to come to fruition. The first two paragraphs of King's speech have a close resemblance with classical oration. Luther argues that the emancipation proclamation had terribly failed to deliver the promise of prosperity to the African Americans. King smoothly establishes a rapport with the audience requesting them to join him in demonstrating the appalling social condition. King states that, ‘the Negro is still not free’. He urges his fellow civil rights activists to march ahead and make real the promises of democracy. In paragraph, eight of the speech Luther addresses the people who against the civil rights activists. He argues that those whose primary thought was that the Negro was satisfying with blowing off steam should prepare for a rude shock. Ten-second group of people that Luther addresses are those persons who pester the civil rights devotes on when they shall be satisfied. Luther argues that the civil liberties devotees will never rest if the Negro resides on a lonely island of destitution in the middle of ‘a vast ocean’ and material wealth. Luther acknowledges that among the civil rights devotes in the March; there are some of them whose presence in Washington had been preceded by the torture and other inhumane experiences of police brutality. King's arguments and statements are well crafted to create an emotional appeal to the audience. The weight of the pathos seems to increase as the Luther continues to speak. Luther finally summarizes his pathos with the statement that ‘even if we have to face the challenges of today and tomorrow I still have a dream.’ Luther makes a sharp contrast between the past promises and present suffering. He uses keywords that would emotionally overwhelm his audience. The word ‘freedom’ is employed in the 19 times in the speech.
Ethos appeal to the character. In this context, they were used to refer to the guiding beliefs and moral ideals of the American nation. Martin Luther is well educated on the history and of African Americans. He has a succinct grasp of facts and historical events. He easily quotes the constitution and other the emancipation proclamation to support his argument. In addition, he is well versed with patriotic songs and he uses them to further his agenda. Luther further augments his speech with moral character. He urges his fellow demonstrators not to fight a moral wrong with another moral wrong. Prior to the March king had established himself as the leader of civil rights movement. He uses his position to urge fellow demonstrators to achieve their end through peaceful means. The message of nonviolent resistance amazes both his supporters and his critics. He was introduced as the moral leader of the nation just before he began his speech. His character on its own spoke volumes, he was a preacher from the south and he had graduated from Boston University. King began his speech by reminding his audience of the time that had passed since Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, the executive order that freed the African-Americans from slavery. Luther states that the ‘bank of justice is not bankrupt’ and, therefore, the African Americans expect to get justice in American. On the topic of truth King argues that there is a need to make justice accessible to all ‘God’s children’. Martin Luther urges the devotees of civil liberties who not to inflict harm of their fellow white brothers and sisters. He argues that the struggle for social justice is not limited to the Negros alone but white people who were with them during the march. ‘Let us not be guilty of wrongful deeds,’ is Martin Luther’s Clarion call urging his fellow demonstrators, not to engage in violence. Luther adopts a prophetic tone while addressing his audience. The country during this time was predominantly Christian and, therefore, when Martin Luther quotes from the book of Isaiah in an attempt to invoke the force of the gospel to be on his side. The profound use of ethos is perfectly merged with Christian scripture to remind the Christian nation of the values it had forsaken by persecuting the African Americans. Some commentators argue that the ethos employed in the speech arose from the fact that Martin Luther was a Baptist minister. However, when interpreted in the light of the whole speech it they appear as well-placed communication devices ready to persuade his audience.
Logos is the appeal to logic as a tool of persuasion. Luther employs the use of logos to depict the specific changes that have to be effectuated in order to achieve racial equality. He reminds the marchers of the importance of the emancipation proclamation at what is sought to make. He tells his audience that one hundred years after the document was signed the African Americans are not yet free. The African Americans are segregated and both in the political sphere and in the economic sphere. The access to opportunities is limited in a country that promises equality and social justice. Luther further argues that racial discrimination is a blatant violation of the Constitution of US. He claims that the founding fathers left the country a promissory note. When African Americans cashed the bill, it came back written ‘insufficient funds’. King insinuates that the government treats its citizens of color differently from the other citizens, and the disparity had caused the African Americans despondency.
King refers to the founding fathers as the architects; the deliberate description communicates the idea that the founding fathers did not envision the current social inequality. He later mentions the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which support his argument that the government should not discriminate against its citizens of color. The bad cheque analogy is used because his audience is familiar with money. They understand the struggles that people go through when they receive a bad check. He compares the same experience with the frustration that accompanies racial prejudice. When King mentions that, he still has a dream his trajectory of thought becomes apparent to the audience. They logically conclude that the social change is urgent, and their situation is not permanent.
King’s speech was delivered during the early years of the Kennedy Administration. It sought to bring groundbreaking changes and reverse the oppressive legal regimes that suffocated the African Americans opportunities for development. Martin Luther’s speech is a web of pathos, logos and ethos. They are masterfully crafted to persuade his audience to continue with the clamor for change, encourage those who are going through torture to endure because ‘justice shall flow down like a mighty stream’. The speech is lauded to be one of the most successful speeches in the 20th century. The speech was carefully written to persuade all those who heard it or read it.