This calling for forgiveness, as Jesus forgave humanity for its sins and a Christian seeks forgiveness in a church, is a more difficult ethical request of King's audience. It is hard to forgive those who use violence and use nonviolence, hence the use of the religious language to make a strong ethical appeal. This metaphor it is also effective given the hot, long day, and the physically thirsty audience, thirsting for both water and justice.
Rhetorical Strategy 2 -- Alliteration
King's appeal is reinforced by his effective use of alliteration as well as language. The words of his speech often make use of the same first letter, causing the words to remain in the listener's mind long after the speech has finished. For example: "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation." The symbolic shadow of Lincoln, who attempted to end slavery and suffering of African-Americans over the course of the Civil War, is a physical as well as a spiritual presence during King's speech. King stands literally and symbolically near the statue of the greatest president the United States has every known. It is a more intellectual, factual use of history, on the part of King, to command support (logos).
King also shows wit as well as sorrow and determination during his speech, through the use of alliteration. He speaks of how his people have come to "cash a check" for justice. Long ago, African-Americans were promised legal and social parity with whites. The use of alliteration makes this phrase, and what King's followers are asking seem deceptively simple, but logical -- African-Americans were promised justice, and under American law, they are entitled to their rights just as surely as someone who is given a check deserves payment.
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther. "I have a dream." American Rhetoric. http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther. "I have a dream." American Rhetoric. http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Related Documents
Study Document
Rhetorical Strategy Rhetoric Identities Burned: A Rhetorical
Rhetorical Strategy Rhetoric Identities Burned: A rhetorical analysis of a modern adolescent novel in verse The book Burned by Ellen Hopkins examines how being raised in a fundamentalist religious faith can make it difficult for an adolescent to establish an independent identity. All adolescents must go through a struggle in our society to establish a positive sense of self, but the protagonist's circumstances make it particularly difficult. In Burned, Pattyn Scarlet Von
Study Document
Rhetorical Cyberschool by Clifford Stoll
He explains how the lessons can be morphed into a fun, interactive experience for the student. This plays on recent theories of improving learning through morphing it into a form of education, as seen in video games created for learning purposes. He exemplifies this idea, until it cheapens the experience of learning. Stoll also explains how classroom interruptions cause by unwanted student interactions through the implementation of a prison-like
Study Document
Rhetorical Criticism Narrative and Dramatic Criticism
Rhetorical Criticism-Narrative and Dramatic Criticism Forms of Criticism Narration as a Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument The corrective of the scientific rationalization would seem necessarily to be a rationale of art -- not, however, a performer's art, not a specialist's art for some to produce and many to observe, but an art in its widest aspects, an art of living. Kenneth Burke. Central Claim: A narrative paradigm is one way
Study Document
Kid Kustomers -- Rhetorical Analysis Kid Kustomers:
Kid Kustomers -- Rhetorical Analysis Kid Kustomers: Rhetorical Analysis Outline Writing Strategy #1: Language The essay 'Kid Kustomers' assumes a casual, almost-informal tone to reflect the nature of the essay itself, which is about popular and consumer cultures, and to also make the essay appropriate for its target audience -- the general public (specifically, parents and children) The essay, from the kind of casual, informal language and usage of terms and names that are
Study Document
Rhetorical Analysis Ethos Pathos Logos
Ethos, Pathos, Logos About the Author -- Ethos Thomas L. Friedman, the winner of 2002 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, used to work as chief White House correspondent. He then joined Washington Bureau as chief economic correspondent. In 1995, he was selected as the foreign-affairs Op-Ed columnist of The New York Times. His fabulous work made him win the Pulitzer Prize 3rd time for The New York Times in 2002. Later on, in
Study Document
Rhetorical Analysis of Alicia Garzas Herstory
In “A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement,” co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter Alicia Garza writes about the history of the organization/social movement, the movement’s objectives and core philosophies, and also where the movement fits into the history of social protest in America. Garza covers a lot of ground in a relatively short space, tackling issues as diverse as queer politics, the misappropriation and hijacking of the contributions made by women of color,