Martin Luther King Essay

the States was experiencing a attitude of chaos in the 1950s when the African Americans and the people of color began to rise for the fight of equality and independence, and racial differences were realized. Initi whollyy, blacks and dour were widely discriminated. There were separate restaurants for white and the colored separate educational institutes and likewise, separate hotels and motels and other public places. moroses were non given employments on the basis of race and color and the ratio of black functional men was al or so negligible.They were not eventide given the justly to vote. Cases of police force violation on blacks were tremendous. As a result, gradual frustration began bottling up in the blacks. Fin wholey, much to their relief, a decision by the Supreme Court, brownish v. Board of Education was issued in favor of the blacks. This decision given on May 17, 1954, recognized the discrimi ground against blacks in the field of education and declargond tha t separate educational institutes resulted in unequal educational opportunities. Thus, it hoste lead all states to combine the blacks and white into equal classrooms.However, the country, lead officularly the S let onhern part of America, was averse(p) in mobing out the court order and hence, numerous a(prenominal) years passed al atomic number 53 the order failed to be put into operation. That is when Martin Luther mogul Jr. appe bed. male monarch had been work for equality and justice of blacks for a spacious time and was angiotensin converting enzyme of the great(p) leaders in this movement. In order to sp take a hop the court order into action and protest for supererogatorydom, faggot along with other more than 250,000 individuals led a march to Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, besides known as the March on Washington.This lambast included compositiony other eminent characters such as actor Sidney Poitier, and labor leader Walter Reuther. All these influ ential heads addressed the audience and expressed their feelings individually however, it was Kings reference I score a hallucination marked a landmark in civil right movement history. (Wikipedia, 1) astir(predicate) Martin Luther King Jr Born in January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Martin Luther King was the son of noble-minded Martin Luther King, Sr. and a brother of two siblings. He earned his Bachelors mark in 1948 in sociology and consequently completed his Bachelor of Divinity arcdegree afterwards.In 1955, he did his PhD from Boston University. Afterwards, he became a Baptist minister precisely then turned his focus towards the civil rights movement and fighting for the freedom of the blacks. He contributed to the establishment of the grey Christian Leadership Conference and excessively led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was the orator of the memorial linguistic process I deport a ambitiousness. He received Nobel intermission Price for his efforts to eliminate racial discriminations. He was to a fault declared world of the Year by Times Magazine. King was shot dead on April 4, 1968 in Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Martin Luther King Jr.Day was later constituted in his memory. (Wikipedia,1) Analysis of the Speech Style There is an element of randy appeal in Kings speech. Rich in vocabulary, it is drench in symbolism. The speech begins with an attention-grasping phrase and positive connotations. In accompaniment, in the stainless speech, whenever the future of blacks is mentioned, King has used strong and healthy words reflecting anticipate and an optimist approach. The first half of the speech however, exposes the horrible reality the blacks faced. It narrates the story of thousands of blacks who were divested of their staple fiber rights because of their coloring.King has made use of several phrases to describe the gloomy career of African Americans such as the life of the Negro is still deplorably crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. (Alvarez, 339) Kings accent as Baptist also came useful in his speech as it reminds m some(prenominal) of the blacks Baptist sermons. It contains references from Bible for example, his sentence, It came as a joyous daytimebreak to end the long nighttime of their captivity in the second stanza indicates to Psalm 305. different allusions are found from Amos 524 and Isaiah 404. (Wikipedia, 1) At the same time, the speech also reflects the Abraham Lincolns style in his Gettysburg apostrophize when he uses the term, Five score years ago. (Public broadcasting service,1) here again, the purpose of alluding to Lincoln in the commencing lines of speech is symbolic that is, he refers digest to a leader who had fought the Southern states over the issue of slavery. In this way, King is reminding the whites that the slaves of in the 19th century and the blacks of 20th century shared a similar tragedy and the same repressive indicant.After emptying out h is feelings of sorrow and despair for the African Americans, the speech then moves to the phase mirroring hold and about demanding their rights. Here, King uses the term reveal to refer to their rights. (Heath, 146) His expressions such as bank of justice and riches of freedom compel any man of heart to melt and feel their pain. (Heath, 148) They are also an plain of his literacy pic and knowledge which was rare in blacks at that time. Plus, these words depict a feeling of hope thriving in the speech.The way King demands for blacks right is purely beautiful and saintly as he says, And so, weve come to hard cash this check. (Alvarez, 352) Next, the speech emphasizes the significance of democracy and need to work unneurotic to make that state of democracy. Here, Now is the time has been accentuated four times in the finished paragraph to demonstrate the critical requirement of acting promptly, without any further delay. (Alvarez, 355) He then refers this discrimination as a im puissance of America that needs to be removed in order to achieve the nations mutual objectives.Here, King has used the technique of compass the subconscious by using such words such as children of God which itself defines that all blacks and whites are brothers. (Wikipedia 1) Hence, in this way, he didnt have to say it directly and the message was also conveyed. While he duologue of brotherhood and the need to put aside the differences and work together, he also issues a warning for the conflicting parties of the consequences if such circumstances failed to occur and promises the nation that they will make out to fight and rebel until they were not granted their rights.This is evident from this sentence, The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. (Alvarez, 338) Nevertheless, King was against violence and sermonized the message of peace. Hence, the main objective of King in this rally was also to communi cate his message in a non-violent manner. After encouraging the blacks to continue the fight, the speech moves to its second half the part about his reverie an American dream.Here, I have a dream today is repeated at intervals to indicate that the dream must be accomplished immediately and not in some future time. The most popular phrase of this speech I have a dream is repeated eight times. (Wikipedia, 1) In this part of the speech that is about his dream, he has offered the image of a united country a country free of discrimination and hatred a liberal state. This part is highly rhetorical and lulls the audience into another world the world he yearns to create.His words carry such weight that the audience is bound to share his dream even if they deny it. At the end of the speech, he has named several different states of America. The yard was to make it clear that they want respect, dignity and equality in not just some parts of America but in fact, the entire country. This poi nt was explicitly a clear indication for the Southern states. The cerebrate stanzas contain a stimulating phrase, Let freedom ring and waive at last (Alvarez, 351) The absorbing aspect of this speech is its rhythmical flow.The speech begins with a background of the black citizens existing situation and the crisis they are facing. It then proposes the final result to their dilemma followed by the explanation of the reason of why this solution should be implemented. For this part, King uses number of tools such as facts and emotional appeal. At the end, in order to provoke the feeling of urgent execution of his solution, he shares with the audience a stirring dream i. e. his vision of the ideal situation that would prevail if his proposed solution was put into practice.Techniques Used The climax of the speech is grim yet uplifting. The beginning stanzas reveal the sad state of blacks in America but the approach of the speech is highly optimistic and inspires the blacks to contin ue their struggle and the whites to bury their axes and embrace their black brothers. The technique of anaphora has been widely employed. anaphora is the repetition of same word or phrase again and again at the beginning of sentences. For example, the most largely used anaphora, also the call of this speech, is I have a dream.Similarly, other examples of this tool are One hundred years ago, Let freedom ring, and With this faith, along with many others. (Wikipedia, 1) The speech is filled with metaphors. For instance, long night of their captivity refers to their sufferings and nations capital to cash a check points to their purpose of protest. At the same time, this nation will rise up is again an indication of the coming revolution. Similarly, I have a dream that my four children refers to the black community in reality and the word my gives it a personal touch.(Heath, 160) In fact, King has personalized the entire message by using the words you, my and me. The wealth of this s peech is its exquisite vocabulary. Words are skillfully manipulated in such a way that they attach a new meaning to every phrase. The popularity of this speech also owns to this factor. In addition, the mensuration and quality of information and words reveal Kings extensive research done before delivering the speech, plus his vast knowledge since it contains references from the Bible, The Gettysburg palm and the US Declaration of Independence.(Public broadcasting service,1) Hence, King has used various techniques and tools in this address including facts, anaphora, metaphors, motivation, visualization, arguments and persuasion. The entire speech is highly figurative and symbolic. In fact, the rally outside the Lincolns Memorial is symbolic in itself they were stand outside the steps of Lincoln Memorial i. e. the memorial of a leader who abolished slavery in the Southern states. (Wikipedia, 1) Conclusion The most distinguished fact about this march was its non-violent approach and this speech is its leading example.While its legal age of audience was black its main target was the white people. While he talked of revolution his speech contained a message of peace. It was able to answer the nonsensical questions of the opposing parties and warn them of the consequences of denying the blacks their rights without any form of hostility. In other words, it instilled in the whites a feeling of guilt and humbleness which proved to be bountiful to achieve their objective. At the same time, it prodded the colored citizens to keep their hopes high and not to rest until they were free at lastIt also motivated chair Kennedy to extend his support for this issue. The context of the speech and of the surroundings also became one of the reasons for the popularity of the speech. His speech articulated the feelings of all colored citizens and his voice became the voice of all black citizens. To sum up, Kings speech I have a dream touches the depth of the hearts and capture s the minds. Its words were able to lead tears in the eyes at that time and carry a captivating effect on the readers even today.With tools such as anaphora and metaphors employed, the speech holds an air of charisma. It shakes the souls of the slumbering and the unjust alike. All in all, the linguistic power of the speech is what makes it stand out from the rest and gain the status of one of the most influential speeches ever delivered.BibliographyAlvarez, Alexandra. Martin Luther Kings I take a shit a Dream The Speech Event as Metaphor, Journal of Black Studies 18 1988 337-57.Heath, Robert. Black Rhetoric An Example of the Poverty of Values Southern Speech Communication Journal 39 1973 145-60