On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King gave an unforgettable speech. This speech helped establish civil rights for people of color. The speech I am referring to is "I Have a Dream". In "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin luther King eloquently discusses segregation and injustices against African Americans. Kings speech uses rhetoric to captivate the audience's attention on that August day.
The first example of King's rhetoric is in the form of ethos. Dr. Martin Luther King analogizes president Lincoln in his speech, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation.” This line uses Lincoln's power and position on civil rights to develop a sense credibility with the audience.
Another archetype of rhetoric in the "I Have a Dream" speech is a pathos. On page four of his speech King says "And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” King is using the American dream to address not just colored people, but all Americans. By saying this, King letting his audience know that American dream is freedom and that is all he asking for, freedom.
One of the other rhetorical strategies Dr. Martin Luther King uses is a logo. On page two King proclaims “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’ This statement is using deductive reasoning to aid his audience in understanding that African Americans have been allowed to certain rights, but robbed of others.
Dr. Martin Luther King used rhetoric to the best of his ability. By doing so he aided the civil rights movement and helped improve the lives of many colored people. Even though American society is steal dealing with racism and discrimination without Dr. Martin Luther King's rhetorical strategies, we might have still been a segregated nation.