Martin Luther king is one of the most celebrated personalities. His words, quotes and speech have had an impact on people for a very long time since the 1960s.His speech has however been the most dominant and known speech ever that has had people talking since then. He spoke out this speech to all different kinds of people and was never at any point discriminative. The blacks and whites got the opportunity to hear about this speech of the famous man. The content was deep hence making the speech great and effective to listen to (American rhetoric, 1). This speech has further contributed to various forms of writing that including other forms of language like repetition, pathos, ethos and logos.
The speaker of this speech is martin Luther king who is an American who was an activist and was known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence tactics. He qualifies to deliver the rhetorical message because he was a very respected person in America, his purpose was to give America hope of an amazing country. His tactics were well thought of since they were also Christian based. His main point was to show Americans that they have a bright future and that years to come it will be a better country specially in terms of equality. He was actually emphasizing on unity and togetherness amongst all the people of America. His audience included the whites and the blacks since the speech revolved around them.
Forms of rhetorical appeals
There is a form of repetition in this speech. “I have a dream, “is a phrase that is repeated severally in that it is scattered in the speech. This is a form of emphasis of what the speech is talking about. This phrase talks about having a dream in what the future looks like. He places this phrase in having the best for America since he insists that he has a dream that one day America will be a great country free from all the discrimination. People will unite despite the race and there will be unity and togetherness. People will treat each other equally and put it in their mind that everyone is equal in their own way and that is why everyone should be appreciated the way they are (Americanrhetoric, 1). This single statement is repeated to emphasize these important points to Americans which is of great use to them.
Logos is a rhetorical appeal that means reason.in this speech, Martin Luther king uses logos to show his audience why he wants to bring change to the people of America. The speech he is delivering is also depicting how and why blacks are treated in America. He wants to show the people why whatever is happening is bad and should be avoided in future to making America a better nation for all to live in. He has supported his claims by stating that, if Americans wanted to be a free nation, that would happen if they accorded the blacks equal rights to loving right in the American nation. He also added that, it was not fair for the blacks to be treated as outcasts as they too had played an important rule in building the country to where it is now (Americanrhetoric, 1). These are to show what actually happened and made American why it. These evidences are also more reasons that are pushing martin Luther to talk about the injustice instances that have been taking place in the country. He has gone ahead and listed several ways that the blacks have been discriminated against. there is a solid connection between the evidence and the claims. The evidence serves as a s reason why there is need to create awareness and preach equality and unity.
When it comes to ethos, there are so much reasons that make the speech credible to the subject matter. He is a Christian that also Christian based values from the Bible of equality terms that need to be applied as a church minister. He states that “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all God’s children.” “And this will be the day – this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: “(Americanrhetoric, 1). With this evidence, he has strong faith that justice will prevail in the new future. Martin has a deep knowledge when it comes to the Bible. He knows when exactly to use it and states where everyone deserves an equal living chance in a particular nation. The speech presented is definitely believable after quotations from the bible are made. Religion is a very strong doctrine and when a Holy Book like the bible is used, there there is no room for doubt. The sources he derives his content from are credible as first it is all about history and the bible. These sources are authoritative and that is the reason for his crazy faith of the dream that he has for the country will one day come to pass. There are experiences that he has come across that have given him the ability to talk about the fact that the black need civil rights. He justifies that the march to Washington was a good move and a historic moment and that it is time the blacks were treated right. The writer seems a very kind and passionate person. He also seems calm since he does not advocate for violence but peaceful negotiations regarding the unity and equality campaign.
Lastly, martin connects in a so special way with the audience. He uses biblical knowledge whereby he associates all the claims with credible and authoritative sources. Since most of the Americans are Christians, the fact that he appeals to them as Christians is just so perfect. You find that Christianity is all about positive values, fairness and equality as a whole. He also appeals to the audience that America might not reach where it is if it does not make corrections concerning the equality in the country (Americanrhetoric, 1). It might not be just peaceful if the country does not correct these flaws. The writer further appeals to the black people’s self-esteem since they had almost lost it due to the constant unfair treatment by their fellow whites. With this speech they felt that there are still good people around who care and are kind hearted. The writer here perfectly knows what they are feeling and is passionate to make sure that their self esteem is raised and they feel better again.
Conclusion
This is one of the best speeches that uses one of the best and recognizable rhetorical appeals namely ethos, logos and pathos. These rhetorical appeals are amazing as they make the writing credible and connect to the audience in an amazing way. There is maximum relevance when these appeals are used. The overall strengths of this writing are the supporting evidences of the claims. The evidence is well researched and connects with the situation that the subject matter is addressing. These appeals are effective in that they greatly persuade the audience and any other stakeholder in the making. The appeals are also used to discuss the topic in detail and not just the tip. The appeals give the audience the ability to identify the subject deeper. The speaker or rather the writer is well conversed and is just the perfect person for this case.
Works cited
Americanrhetoric.com. (2018). Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric. [online] Available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm [Accessed 23 Jul. 2018].
