Curtis Long
COMM 300
MLK Analysis

This paper will analyze and discuss the “I have a dream speech” by Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. which was presented in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. The speech is about the failed promises of equality for all, focusing mainly on blacks. The speech culminated a civil rights march on Washington in an attempt to secure rights for African-Americans. The march, King's speech, and other boycotts and protests eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed many aspects of discrimination. The reason that the speech had such a massive impact is due to the tense social mood of the time and it gave black activists a vision for the future. It hit directly into the hearts and minds of white and blacks across America, and made people willing to change history. In just 17 minutes, Dr. King influenced and informed generations and generations of people about the racial inequality. According to almost all scholars, the seventeen-minute speech is a masterpiece of rhetoric usage. He referred to many other famous speeches and documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the United States Constitution, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. This is obvious when analyzing the speech as one can notice that King structures his speech to appeal to a large array of audiences and supporting it with the three rhetorical modes of ethos, logos and panthos engraving Dr. King’s name in history. The act was Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. This speech was about civil rights and was aimed towards all people in the hopes that one day everyone can live together equally. He also made many references to the economy, by stating that he refuses to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
The scene, was the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. This location helped devlier a huge advantage for Dr. King, as Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which had freed the slaves, so associating himself with Lincoln he portrayed himself as a great leader, and someone who was a champion for black's rights. This combined with his statement of 100 years later the negro is still not free and is crippled by the manacles of segregation. He also mentions many southern states who were staunchly opposed to desegregation, in particular he mentions Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification", in an attempt to point out the hate these people have towards blacks.
The agent, is Dr. King, who gave the speech. He gave this speech because he wanted equality among races, and worked in order to achieve this goal. hoped that the children that they would see that someday.“Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American, and following this game changing speech he became the face the movement.
The agency, was the change that Dr. King sought out. The change in laws which were oppressing black men and women. He continually repeats that “I have a dream”, this is to emphasis that equality is not a reality, but that there is hope to achieve his dream. He also mentions