Jain 1

Dhruvit Jain
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
23 February 2016
The Speech to Remember
On August 28, 1963, Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to all
of America including the ones listening on the radio and watching it on television; however,
there were mostly African Americans in the crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. This
speech is a respected piece of literature and is indulged by many across the world, not entirely
those in America. Martin Luther King wanted African Americans to have hope of a stronger
tomorrow and Americans to be heedful and reverential for the equality that African Americans
have a right to. Repetition, pathos, and ethos in Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech
emphasized the inequality taking place in America and encouraged his followers (mostly African
Americans) to keep fighting for the freedom they deserved.
Repetition was used a great deal throughout Martin Luther Kings speech in order to
convey his message. For example, in the beginning of his speech King states one hundred years
later and then gives an illustration on how African Americans are still lacking equality (par. 3).
He does this a total of four times and in each instance he gives different examples. King does this
to show that a hundred years later African Americans still do not have equal rights, and he gives
a current description about the tough life of an African American in gracious prominent America.
King vocalizes about how African Americans are discriminated; Kings claims that African
Americans are still not free one hundred years later after they earned their freedom. By saying
this in front of the substantial crowd of African Americans that have a corresponding feel of heart

Jain 2
brings them all closer together due to them having the same feelings of mutilate and deceit.
Majority of the African Americans who were present at the Lincoln Memorial were in ache and
wanted a solution. In order for a solution to arise there must be a leader which in this case was
Martin Luther King. King brought countless number of African Americans together in one
location which is Americas Capital City and showed them that they were not in the fight for
equality alone however with countless number of others. This brought faith in one another, and
was one of Kings purposes in delivering his speech. The repetition he incorporated in his speech
created a connection with the listener and speaker. King showed that he understood what was
happening and by using repetition it tied all his thoughts onto one string which engraved the
message into the mind of his audience. It shows that he is in this together with his fellow African
Americans and also witnesses the same despair and anguish as them. King also shared his
thoughts on what he dreams of America being in the future. By repeating I have a Dream in
paragraphs seventeen to twenty-four King shares his many different visions of succeeding
America. An example of a distinct commodity King wants is located in paragraph eighteen
where he talks about how he wants the children of old slaves and slave-owners to sit at the same
table. King is essentially emitting that he wants racial segregation defunct. King repeats I have a
Dream eight times to force in the heads of those that do not have faith to hope like King there
will be a change (par. 17). Additionally by repeating it eight times King shows that he truly
believes a change will come about. This part is also towards the end of his speech which will
carry on with the audience even when the speech is over and with it the gob of affection. That
section of Kings speech truly summed up what King was looking for which was to end
segregation and for everyone to be equal.

Jain 3
Pathos is one of the most important techniques Martin Luther King uses in this speech in
order to create a connection with his audience and express himself. King says that the life of the
Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination
which helps create a connection to those who have actually felt discriminated against (par. 3). By
asserting this he acknowledges that African Americans still do not have the freedom that they
deserve. That is why King says still to show that even after the Declaration of Independence
and Bill of rights African Americans are treated poorly (par. 3). King uses very distinct words for
the sole purpose of hitting his audience right in the heart which will bring out the emotion of
gash and agony in both African Americans and whites simultaneously. The words he chooses
have deep and heartfelt meaning for African Americans which drastically helped emphasize the
inequality taking place and will motivate them to keep fighting until they obtain what is
rightfully theirs.
In Kings famous speech ethos was also used to establish credibility. In paragraph four
Martin Luther King refers to the constitution and to the Declaration of Independence where he
says that the documents would secure the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness (par. 4). After referring to the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights King
speaks about how America has retracted their word and gave African Americans a check to a
bank that has no money. By saying these things about America King hurts the ethos of the
documents that the founding fathers of America signed. He implies to the many listeners that
America has deceived them. This ruins the credibility of the great nation and can make African
Americans incensed due to them losing their earned rights. America must oblige to the rules that
were signed and give the equality that was signed in the documents created by the founding
fathers of America.

Jain 4
Kings speech was very accomplished and it did make a difference. It is still one of the
greatest ever written due to the way it was written with the considerable number of literary
devices used. King used repetition, pathos and ethos thoroughly throughout the speech which
had a positive impact in getting his message across. It remarkably helped convey his message to
his audience and momentously has had a positive impact in todays world.

Jain 5

Work Cited
King, Martin Luther. "Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech. American Rhetoric.
AmericanRhetoric, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.