Martin Luther King's Inspiring Speech: End Segregation, Obtain Equal Rights - Essay Sample

In 1963, over 200,000 rights supports had a gathering at the Lincoln Memorial centre to listen to a man that was fighting for the civil rights of all citizens. Dr Martin King Jr. is the man that made a famous speech on the 28th of August with the plan of obtaining equal rights and ending segregation for women, children and men of all racial backgrounds. The paper will elaborate more on the success of Martin’s Luther King’s speech by the use of inspirational tone and style.

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Martin Luther King was known as the leader of civil rights because of his dedication to ending racial equality for African Americans. During this year, King made the “I Have a Dream” speech to share his opinion on equality and freedom and how the blacks could stand up for themselves. It was during this time that King expressed his emotions and opinion to many listeners.

The reason why King’s speech was successful was that it was logically written and well organized. King also used a sweet, pace voice to persuade the listeners. In the statement, there were smooth bridges that came with examples to support his argument. For instance, the first method he used is by stating what Abraham Lincoln said. King noted that “Five score years ago, America was great, and this is the symbolic shadow that was used to sign the Emancipation Proclamation (King).

King also used ethos to get the attention of the audience. He made it clear to everyone that he was not fighting for his right alone, but every person. This is why he said that “I am glad to join everyone today to form the history through our great demonstration of freedom in our nation” (King). King used his voice in presenting and writing the speech to the supports that agreed on civil rights. For instance, his address was attached to his emotions to show that he is determined to fight for everyone.

The use of metaphor made King’s speech to have the remarks of supporting civil rights even though there were insignificant funds. King did this by comparing with the Declaration of Independence a promissory letter that promised all blacks and white men their pursuit of happiness and rights of liberty and life. In his speech, he said, “We should not agree that the bank of justice is bankrupt” (King).

King also uses repetition to show how he wanted the civil rights to be passed immediately and not later. He claimed that “This is the time for the promises of democracy to be passed. This is also the time to raise form the desolate and dark valley of segregation that facilitates racial justice. It is now time to make justice a reality for God’s children (King). Other repetition examples as used by King include, “Let Freedom Ring,” “Free at last,” “I have a dream” (King).

King also uses references from religion and the bible on several occasions to sensitize his agenda. For instance, he said that “it is time to rise from the desolate and dark valley” (King). King also plays a religious song that stated, “Justice should be made a reality to the children of God” (King). The speech also had pathos used when King was threatening people. He said, “We are going to have a rude awakening if people decided to do things the old way” (King). In this quote, King was emphasizing that if his request was ignored, then the nation will not have peace.

King also urges the supporters not to resort to violence and hatred because a few white people also wanted the civil rights to be implemented. When addressing the whites, King said, “We will not walk alone, and we will not look back” (King). The idea behind was to urge people to be healthy and use faith to fight this battle to avoid violence. He even added that “Physical force does not align with the soul force” (King).

Martin Luther King’s speech was made public to everyone to favour his point of fighting for the freedom and rights of people. He did this by showing how sensitive this topic was through his emotions. King also used religion and the word of God to elaborate more on his list. The style used by King is evident that he was successful in getting the attention of the audience.

Works Cited

King, M. L. "Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric." American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States, 28 Aug. 1963, www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm