“I Have a Dream” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
legend
appeals
| look | device | note | markers |
|---|---|---|---|
| text | telos | appeal to a purpose | the goal |
| text | logos | appeal to logic | comparison, examples, cause effect |
| text | ethos | appeal to creadibility | equality, values, dignity, charactar |
| text | pathos | appeal to empathy | imagery, personification, personal story |
| text | kairos | appeal to opportunity | urgency, timeliness, decorum |
| text | nomos | appeal to convention or law | |
| text | mythos | appeal to a belief systems | |
| text | oikos | appeal to a collective | family, group, patriotism |
| text | topos | strategic use of a theme | ???, ??? |
| text | jocos | appeal to humor | ???, ??? |
| text | bathos | exagerated pathos (ironic) | ???, ??? |
| text | appeal to advantage |
Structure
| look | structure | note | markers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| text | exordium | introduction | ||
| text | naratio | appeal to creadibility | ||
| text | propositio | appeal to empathy | imagery, personification, personal story | |
| text | partito | appeal to opportunity | urgency and timeliness | |
| text | confirmatio | appeal to a purpose | the goal | |
| text | reftutatio | appeal to convention or law | ||
| text | peroratio | appeal to a belief systems |
style
| look | structure | note | markers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| text | symptom | appeal to a collective | group, patriotism | |
| text | remedy | strategic use of a theme | ???, ??? |
video
Analysis
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.1
Five score years ago2, a great American3, in whose symbolic 4 we stand today 5, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great 6 of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the 7 of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak8 to end the 9 of their captivity.
But one hundred years later 10, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to . When the architects11 of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution12 and the Declaration of Independence13, they were signing a to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise14 that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness15. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note16 insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check17, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot 18 to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time 19 to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism}. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the of segregation to the of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the of racial injustice to the of brotherhood 20 Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality 21. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot 22 walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. 23 We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating for whites only. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream 24.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials 25 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 26. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 27
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” 28
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification”, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning: “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!” 29
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” 30
Taken from: Robert Torricelli, ed., In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), pg. 234
Self-Making:
- Refers to the ongoing process of creating, shaping, and presenting oneself to the world through various communicative means.
- This involves not only expressing your own ideas and experiences but also adopting certain stances, values, and identities through deliberate choices.
- Rhetoric plays a crucial role in self-making as it provides tools and strategies for crafting messages that resonate with audiences and shape their perception of you.
Voice Merging:
- Describes the act of incorporating the voices and perspectives of others into your own rhetorical practice.
- This can involve quoting, referencing, or even adopting the linguistic style of other individuals or groups.
- Voice merging can be used for various purposes, such as establishing authority, building credibility, or appealing to shared experiences and values.
The Interplay:
- Self-making and voice merging are interdependent. As you construct your identity through rhetoric, you inevitably draw upon different voices and perspectives, shaping your own voice in the process.
- Merging with certain voices can project specific identities, ideologies, or affiliations.
- The way you merge voices can also reveal a lot about your own values, priorities, and how you position yourself within a larger discourse.
Examples:
- In this speech the speaker merged his voice with historical figures like Isaiah and Jesus, alongside everyday people yearning for freedom, to construct a powerful image of himself as a leader and advocate for civil rights.
- A political candidate might quote experts or historical figures to lend authority to their claims, aligning their voice with certain perspectives.
- Social media users often merge their voices with online communities, adopting certain slang or memes to signal belonging and identity.
- Understanding self-making and voice merging helps us analyze how individuals and groups use rhetoric to construct and negotiate their identities in different contexts. It sheds light on the complex interplay between individual expression and wider social influences in shaping personal and collective identities.
Refernces:
http://rhetoric.byu.edu/
Footnotes
This short Exordium, AKA introduction, is all King needs to arrive at his point; his audience knows who he is and why they are gathered↩︎
allusion to Gutenberg address↩︎
Abraham Lincoln↩︎
metaphor use of light and darkness throughout, with Biblical resonances at play.↩︎
This appeal to the example of Lincoln is also an appeal to ethos, suggesting that King and his fellow organizers are carrying on Lincoln’s legacy and his greatness.↩︎
metaphor use of light and darkness throughout, with Biblical resonances at play.↩︎
metaphor use of light and darkness throughout, with Biblical resonances at play.↩︎
Psalm 30:5↩︎
metaphor use of light and darkness throughout, with Biblical resonances at play.↩︎
anaphora AKA repetition of “One hundred years later …”, create an increasing sense of urgency.↩︎
Here, King begins to move out of his opening statement of fact by making an interpretive claim: the rights of citizenship laid out by the nation’s founding documents should apply equally to its people of color. There are several ways to imagine the divisions of this speech’s argument, but we might say that its confirmatio, or central argument, commences here.↩︎
The idea of constitutional rights as an “unfulfilled promise” was suggested by Clarence Jones This metaphor is embedded within political context of the deceleration of independence which is named and quoted↩︎
The idea of constitutional rights as an “unfulfilled promise” was suggested by Clarence Jones This metaphor is embedded within political context of the deceleration of independence which is named and quoted↩︎
Anastrophe or reversal of order↩︎
The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”↩︎
The set of logical propositions here makes an appeal to logos, or reason: if the founding documents offer all citizens life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but people of color have not been allowed to share in these benefits, then they are owed a debt.↩︎
Here, King uses the rhetorical device of apposition, in which a phrase is added to the sentence to re-name a term (here, “bad check”) in different, more precise, or more forceful words.↩︎
allusion to the Lincoln Memorial - this is more voice merging↩︎
The extended anaphora of this passage builds into a crescendo of intensity.↩︎
This phrase is an excellent example of King’s striking sonic effects: the short, front vowels (“i,” “a”) and whispering sibilants (“s,” “z” and “j” sounds) of the first half contrast with the booming solidity of the voiced plosive consonants (“b,” “d”) and long, round back vowels (“o” and “oo”) of the second half, which give it a sense of confidence and certainty.↩︎
allusion to the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III “Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer…”)↩︎
Note King’s use of varied sentence lengths for a modulated effect: he moves from the longest sentence of the paragraph (at 62 words) to its shortest (at 4), which sums it up succinctly. This closes the paragraph with powerful emphasis on its core idea.↩︎
Like many other parts of the speech, the image King paints here makes a powerful appeal to pathos, moving the emotions of any listener capable of identifying with the exhausted traveler.↩︎
A reference to Amos 5:24, in the language of the American Standard Bible, 1901: “But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” The prophet Amos in this passage protests against injustice, economic inequality, and religious hypocrisy. We might see this reference as an appeal to ethos: it shows King’s knowledge of (and positions him as the successor to) a Biblical prophetic tradition.↩︎
Here, King appears to respond to a potential objection to his call for continued nonviolent protest: that he and his fellow activists have faced great injustice and even physical violence. How can they keep going, and keep refusing to reflect back their attackers’ violence and hatred?↩︎
Here King suggests that, like the suffering of Christ, the suffering of civil rights activists will help bring change.↩︎
Here King suggests that, like the suffering of Christ, the suffering of civil rights activists will help bring change.↩︎
This second return to the logical moves with which King opened the speech also helps contribute to the sense of completion and unity.↩︎
from secular Hymn “America” previous anthem of US, and closely resembling Archibald Carey Jr.’s address to the 1952 Republican National Convention↩︎
from free at last↩︎
Reuse
Citation
@online{bochman2024,
author = {Bochman, Oren},
title = {I {Have} a {Dream} Speach},
date = {2024-02-11},
url = {https://orenbochman.github.io/notes/rhetoric/martin_luther_king_jr.html},
langid = {en}
}