Persuasive text analysis paper - Essay Example

The use of this art has a notable effect on the public to which it is directed in that it can help to shape a group’s opinions on particular matters. One of the most important speeches in American history utilizes persuasion excellently. It is the ‘I have a dream’ speech by Martin Luther King Junior (King, 2002). King delivered this speech on August 23rd 1963, in Washington to a huge crowd of mainly African American people who had come to listen to him. This speech revolves around the injustices that the black community was continually exposed to during this period.

He devised this speech as the start of a revolution against racism that was eating into the United States making the African Americans live impoverished lives (Stewart, 2003). It was a call to not only the black community, but also to the white people to embrace justice in order to ensure equality. As much as the blacks had been freed from slavery almost 100 years back, he explains, true equality between the black and the white folk had not yet been achieved. Racism was still very much a part of their lives, and this affected their living standards significantly.

His main problem was mainly the inculcation of this mentality of racial superiority to the young children who did not know any better. It is safe to state that this speechis significant  in the eradication of racism in the United States (Price, 2006). King, in his speech effectively uses persuasion as well as other styles of language that make his speech truly unforgettable. An analysis to determine how effective the art of persuasion was and what effect it had on its audience is conducted. As previously explained, the speech focuses on the problem of racism that was affecting the African American community at that time.

King uses the analogy as a language style in order to persuade his audience when also relaying his intended message. An analogy is a style that uses two objects that seem not to be related to each other in order to bring out a point. This process is used to provoke the imagination of the listeners to which it is addressed. King uses an analogy of a promissory note that the country provided to the blacks as they were freed from slavery. He states, “America has given the Negro a bad check; a check that has come back marked ‘insufficient funds” (Lucas, 2001).

His analogy employs the use of a well-known object, a promissory note that is a business document that assures or promises and individual of payment at a specified time that both involved parties agree on. King compares the United States’ assurance of equality between blacks and the whites after the abolition of slavery as a promissory note. This promissory note is not valid since it has not fulfilled the conditions it was expected to in the first place. This means that the country has not been true to its word as such; it has given the African American community a ‘bad check’.

Resultantly, the African Americans have been forced to live in bad conditions since they do not have the same rights as their counterparts, the white people do. Through this analogy, King altered the way most if not all of his public thought of the issue of racism. It was a problem that they were facing, but they had become complacent since not all their attempts to alleviate the discrimination had been successful. However, this speech gave them a new strength to press for