Dr Martin Luther Kings I have a Dream Speech - Assignment Example

Written Critique: “I Have a Dream”The “I I have a dream” speech was Dr. Martin Luther King’s articulation of his marvelous militancy for the Negroes of America to be in brotherhood with the rest of the Americans whatever the color of their skin may be. In this speech, he enunciated that all men, regardless of the color of their skin, should be guaranteed of the “unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness” as contained in the Declaration of Independence which is the bedrock of American Democracy.

The “I have a dream speech” is the act of cashing a check of the promise for equality in the bank of justice. It seeks to redeem the promise for the Negroes of America to also equally enjoy the “riches of freedom and the security of justice”. The speech became very effective that it became one of the greatest speech of all time because it effectively used the rhetorical devices of pathos, ethos and logos. The speech begun by agitating the audience through the use of ethos or emotion by first mentioning the broken promise of the Emancipation Proclamation which should have freed the Negro slaves and yet the Negro is still enslaved.

They are still being discriminated not only in the buses and restaurants but also in opportunities which America had promised to give everybody an equal access. He elaborated the plight of the Negro as he languished in poverty and misery which his audience could relate. Further, he fanned this flamed emotion (ethos) by appealing to their desires to be free and equal by the speech’s main theme of his dream which is also the dream of every Negro. As Dr. Martin Luther King enunciates his dream, he called for restraint and unity as they struggle for equality with everybody.

This sobriety despite mass support reinforced his ethos or integrity of character. He could have called for a revolution and with his popularity, his supporters and people would have heeded. But Reverend King chose to protest and air his grievance peacefully. It has to be remembered that Luther King is a Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Being such, Dr. King is highly respected and embodied the ethos of his speech. His speech, while it calls for activism when he mentioned “now is the time” supports the loftiness of his character as he pursue that dream of his saying “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”.

The Logos or the logic of the speech is undeniable. While it seeks for the end of segregation and equality, it did not call for violence and that he is only cashing a check which America has promised.  “This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. And it is only logical that he, together with all the Negro should demand “the riches of freedom and security of justice” as guaranteed by the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

This speech which extensively used the three rhetorical concepts of ethos, pathos and logos had a profound effect on the American society that it started the end of the discrimination against the Negroes.