Jacqulyn Dubidad
Ms. Brannon
AP English
12 September 2013
King Jr.’s
Speech
The
civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech years after the
Emancipation Proclamation was passed on August 28, 1963 to an audience of many
races. Whether you were white, black, a reporter, or even the president this speech
was intended for everyone. This speech was told to acknowledge the unfair
treatments that African Americans had endure during this time period. All great
leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. himself knew that when writing a speech
you would have to engage the crowd as well as persuade them that what you are
saying is true, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic
shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous
decree came as a great beacon of light of hope to millions of Negro slaves…”
(King). In the Emancipation Proclamation it proclaimed that those enslaved with
now be forever free, and it also made slavery illegal in the United States. He
uses metaphor to make his point about how the emancipation had given the
African American a sense of hope that something might change. King also has automatic
credibility due to the fact that he is an civil rights movement leader, in other
words he automatically gains the trust of the crowd.
Martin
Luther King Jr. uses emotion to connect to his audience in a more personal
level, one way he uses emotion is by bringing his children into the situation
and explains that he is a father facing the same struggles, “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 by their character.”
(King). Once an audience member hears this they will notice the confidence in
his tone helping them gain a feeling of hope that something better will come
not only to King’s children but to all families. By using this quote the other
black families would have an understanding to what he is saying due to the fact
that they are too feeling the same pain for the children while the white
families would feel sympathy due to the fact that he mentioned children and
they know how precious children are. Being able to show them that they all have
the same shared values that shows them that they should not only see him as a
political man but as a friend who wants a change for them all.
Also
by repetitively repeating “I have a dream..” known as an anaphora or
parallelism, without King even saying how important each of those lines were they
would automatically know due to the repetition and engage themselves more into
what he is saying. Martin Luther King
Jr. shows reasoning through proving these points that blacks are still being
treated unfairly, “But one hundred years later the Negro still is not free…the
life of a Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination” (King). This allows the listeners to see the reasons
behind his claim, in this argument he believes that although we are supposed to
be free and equal it is not so, blacks are living in
discrimination because of the color on their skin.
King
showed his credibility making it easier for the audience to believe that they
have a reason to listen than believe that this is a man who may be wasting
their time. He also showed them that they have the same shared values so they
are on the same page. King was able to “trigger” some of the audiences
emotional side making it easier for him to develop a relationship type of level
with them. Then comes logic, which helps the audience understand his reasons
behind every point he makes. Using these rhetorical choices Martin Luther King
Jr. was able to connect to his audience in more then just a “politician and
voters” type of a relationship however more like a friend talking amongst other
friends.
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