rhetorical analysis of dr. king's "i have a dream" speech

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Oden 1 Lance E. Oden Michelle Glenn WRIT 3037: Advance Writing 04 August 2010 Ethos, Logos, and Pathos: A Rhetorical Analysis of a Venerated Vision Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entered the world January 15, 1929, the eldest son of a Christian minister. Not surprisingly, the career path undertaken by his father became one in which he excelled. Possessing a brilliant mind and strong leadership potential, the call of the ministry came naturally to Dr. King. However, the unexpected turns which that path would take reflect a motivation and determination unique to this man. At age 15 he entered college and at age 25 he became one of the youngest ministers ever hired at a prominent black church in Montgomery, Alabama. These accomplishments stand as precursors to his future role as an influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The common factor in both his work in the ministry and his efforts to reform civil rights in America, the power of oration, marks him as a man worthy of remembrance and respect. One

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An analysis of the pathos, ethos, and logos used in the speeech and their overall effectiveness.

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Page 1: Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

Oden 1

Lance E. Oden

Michelle Glenn

WRIT 3037: Advance Writing

04 August 2010

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos: A Rhetorical Analysis of a Venerated Vision

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entered the world January 15, 1929, the eldest son of a

Christian minister. Not surprisingly, the career path undertaken by his father became one in

which he excelled. Possessing a brilliant mind and strong leadership potential, the call of the

ministry came naturally to Dr. King. However, the unexpected turns which that path would take

reflect a motivation and determination unique to this man. At age 15 he entered college and at

age 25 he became one of the youngest ministers ever hired at a prominent black church in

Montgomery, Alabama. These accomplishments stand as precursors to his future role as an

influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The common factor in both his

work in the ministry and his efforts to reform civil rights in America, the power of oration, marks

him as a man worthy of remembrance and respect. One crowning achievement, his speech in

Washington, D.C., given on August 28, 1963, to a crowd in excess of two hundred thousand

people, signified his emergence on the national civil rights scene. In his “I Have a Dream”

speech, Dr. King uses the rhetorical principles of ethos, logos, and pathos in calling upon the

audience to unite and maintain their ongoing efforts to forge a nation that lives up to its

expressed ideals of liberty and justice for all.

Using specific language and allusions, Dr. King coordinates his efforts supporting ethos,

or the audience’s acceptance of his credibility and authority, and therefore his argument. This

begins with the opening line of the speech when Dr. King states, “I am happy to join with you

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today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of

our nation.” With just one sentence, he manages to convey both that he and the audience stand

together in mind and action, and that their efforts hold historical significance. Even deeper

credibility flows from the combination of the site of the speech and Dr. King’s diction choices.

Protestors calling for equality make up the audience, and the speech occurs in the shadows of a

monument dedicated to the memory of an iconic American president who struck the first major

blow towards racial equality in the nation. Further invoking Lincoln’s spirit, Dr. King employs

the line “Five score years ago,” which echoes those of Lincoln in his “Gettysburg Address.”

Connection to Lincoln enhances Dr. King’s perception as a leader and helps him to have his

message heard by the audience which will associate him with this historical president. Additional

support for Dr. King’s credibility comes in his stating to the audience, “some of you have come

here out of great trial and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.

Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms

of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of

creative suffering.” Highlighting an understanding for the difficulties of the journey the

protestors have embarked upon, these lines also mark Dr. King as one of them, as his audience

knows he has faced the same obstacles. By declaring those with such experiences “veterans,” Dr.

King testifies of his own history and establishes legitimacy in his leadership.

Logos in Dr. King’s argument comes from the arrangement of his presentation and its

steady progression to a climactic peak. Building his argument through logic, Dr. King juxtaposes

the line “Five score years ago” with the line “But one hundred years later.” Presenting it in this

way, Dr. King underscores the unfulfilled promise of yesterday. Another diction choice

supporting logos comes in Dr. King’s anaphoratic use of the word “now,” which grounds the

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speech in the present and denies the possibility of waiting another hundred years for justice.

Using the metaphor of cashing a check, Dr. King presents another link in the logical chain of his

argument. Accepting that the decree of freedom for slaves created a binding contract with the

people, logic demands that when that “check” remains unredeemed, those in possession of the

note must act to claim its promise. Moving from the cry of “now,” Dr. King presents the

argument that this event does not represent a one time effort, but an ongoing revolution. He

points out that “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and

underestimate the determination of the Negro,” and, “Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a

beginning.” These lines assure the audience that their efforts have value and that, as a group,

they can achieve their objectives. Next, Dr. King moves to define that group as a peaceful one

made up of all races with lines like “In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be

guilty of wrongful deeds,” and, “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro

community must not lead us to distrust all white people…We cannot walk alone.” Having

defined both the group and its purpose, Dr. King calls upon the audience to take the feelings of

this moment and “go back” to their homes throughout the nation and continue the fight for

justice. Completing the logical chain in his argument, Dr. King looks for more than simple

appreciation of his words; he enlists those present to work on achieving the dream. When Dr.

King uses the “I have a dream” anaphora, he outlines the mission objectives, and his dream

transforms into the collective objective of all those who hear his words.

Crafting the pathos of his speech, Dr. King invokes allusions to Christianity and the Holy

Bible to increase the emotional appeal of his argument. Ministering to the audience, he calls on

them to “lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood,”

referring to Jesus Christ’s parable about the foolish man who built his house upon the sand and

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the wise man who had a foundation of rock. Christians will immediately connect to this allusion

and to its championing of equality and brotherhood as the “wise” choice for the nation. Building

on that sense of wisdom, Dr. King cautions against physical violence and counsels his listeners

to “rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Those familiar with

Christ’s admonition that his followers “turn the other cheek” will see a clear parallel in Dr.

King’s words and more readily accept that spiritual guidance. Taking a less subtle approach,

direct quotations from the bible appear in Dr. King’s determination to hold out “until justice rolls

down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream,” which comes from the book of Amos

in the Old Testament. Also from the Old Testament, in the book of Isaiah, Dr. King quotes, “and

the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.” Together, these

instances represent clear attempts by Dr. King to connect to the strong religious feelings of his

audience. Religious fervor, a powerful emotion, ties into the quest for a better world, and Dr.

King concludes his speech with what he hopes will become the prayer of gratitude on the other

side of the struggle for racial equality; he quotes “the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! free at

last! thank God almighty, we are free at last!’”

In a clear demonstration of his prowess as an orator, Dr. King combines the rhetorical

principles of ethos, logos, and pathos to give his argument power and resonance with his

audience. The logical aspect of the argument allows the listeners’ minds to find common ground.

The authority and legitimacy of the speaker forces the audience to invest their hearts in the

experience. And finally, the emotion tied to religious allusions pulls the souls of all those

addressed into a place of community and integrity. Mind, heart, and soul, Dr. King leads his

audience to the only possible result, support of his argument and its objectives. All those

assembled cannot help but understand that the time for racial discrimination has passed and a

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new age of tolerance, equality, justice, and freedom must make its way to the forefront of the

nation.

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Work Cited

King, Martin Luther Jr. “I Have a Dream.” Elements of Argument. Ed. Annette T. Rottenberg

and Donna Haisty Winchell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 529-532. Print.