1000 word Essay Dr. King " I Have A Dream" Speech

"I HAVE A DREAM": A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

Author(s): Durthy A. Washington

Source: The Black Scholar , Winter/Spring 1993, Vol. 23, No. 2, BLACK CULTURE 1993 (Winter/Spring 1993), pp. 16-19

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

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"I HAVE A DREAM": A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

by Durthy A. Washington

Martin Luther King, Jr., - minister, speaker, and renowned civil rights leader

whose philosophy of peaceful resistance cap- tured the hearts and minds of millions during the turbulent sixties - is perhaps best re- membered for his eloquent speech, "I Have a Dream," in which he expressed his deep de- sire for peace and racial harmony.

This analysis of his speech focuses on three key objectives: (1) To examine the qualities that make it a highly effective piece of persua- sive rhetoric; (2) to illustrate its adherence to the pattern of classical oration, and (3) to an- alyze some of its stylistic elements.

Dr. King delivered this speech on January 1, 1963, during a ceremony at the Lincoln Me- morial in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the centennial of the Emancipation Procla- mation. His aim was deliberative: to emphas- ize that - one hundred years after the signing of this historic document - black Americans are still not free, and to inspire people to rectify this gross injustice.

The opening words of the first paragraph, "Five score years ago," echo the opening words of the Gettysburg Address ("Four score and seven years ago"), immediately establish- ing the identity of the "great American" who "signed the Emancipation Proclamation." And, just as the Emancipation Proclamation, delivered on a day of jubilation for newly-freed blacks "came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice," so the Gettysburg Address, delivered at the scene of a Union victory, engendered hope for a nation devastated by the atrocities of civil war. In this powerful opening paragraph, Dr. King compares the Declaration of Independence (which meant freedom for the thirteen origi- nal colonies) to the Emancipation Proclama-

tion (which meant freedom for nearly four million black slaves).

In the second paragraph, "But one hun- dred years later, . . . the Negro is still not free," Dr. King draws a sharp contrast between "then" and "now" by abandoning the formal rhetoric of the past, which con- notes dignity and idealism, for the informal diction of the present, which implies disap- pointment and stark realism.

first two paragraphs also set the tone for the remainder of the speech, which

uses powerful metaphors to paint graphic pic- tures of the horrors of slavery. For example, "the flames of withering injustice," which evoke images of cross burnings by the Ku Klux Klan, also evoke images of blacks who have been emotionally and psychologically "burned" by painful encounters with racism. In both instances, the graphic language rein- forces the overall theme of destruction.

A grim reminder of slavery, the metaphori- cal "manacles of segregation and . . . chains of discrimination" echo the accusation that "the

Negro is still not free." And the depiction of black Americans living "on a lonely island of poverty" and standing "on the warm thresh- old which leads into the palace of justice," reinforces the devastating isolation and ostra- cism left by the legacy of one hundred years of racism.

To advance his theme, Dr. King relies pri- marily on comparison /contrast, circumstance, and testimony. For example, he compares the actual and the perceived status of blacks then and now, and contrasts the views of the minor-

ity with those of the majority. He also points to the need for immediate action, saying in essence, "we can no longer tolerate this injus-

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tice. Given these intolerable circumstances, we must act now to alleviate these appalling conditions."

Dr. King also relies heavily on the authority of laws and precedents. For example, to empha- size the historical traditions of freedom inher-

ent in America from which blacks have been

systematically excluded, he cites the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and - the underlying authority of our Chris- tian nation - the Bible. As further testimony that blacks are being denied their inalienable rights as free citizens, he cites incidents of police brutality and points to discriminatory practices in the electoral process.

Dr. King's primary means of persua- sion is pathos, as he relies heavily on

"loaded" language geared towards engaging the emotions of his audience. The tone of his

speech conveys the underlying message that since neither an appeal to logic nor ethics has convinced people that freedom is an inherent right for all Americans, perhaps a direct and unabashed emotional appeal will touch their hearts and compel them to take action.

Dr. King's speech closely parallels the pat- tern of classical oration. The first two para- graphs comprise the exordium (introduction). Here Dr. King gains the attention of his audi- ence by pointing to the abject failure of the Emancipation Proclamation to live up to its promise of freedom for black Americans. Hav- ing firmly established his credibility, Dr. King establishes a rapport with his audience by entreating them to join in his endeavor to "dramatize an appalling condition."

In his narratio (narrative) - paragraphs 3 and 4 - he reemphasizes the urgent need for immediate action: "Now is the time to make

real the promises of Democracy." Dr. King states his propositio (theme) in

paragraph 5: "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights."

He divides his partitio (argument) - para- graphs 1 through 6 - into four major components:

(1) Historical gains to date: "... a great American . . . signed the Emancipa- tion Proclamation . . . [and] the ar-

chitects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitu- tion and the Declaration of

Independence." (2) Unfulfilled promises: "The Negro is

still not free."

(3) The need for immediate action: "Now is the time to make real the promise of Democracy."

(4) An appeal for non-violence: "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative pro- test to degenerate into physical violence."

In his confirmatio (summary), Dr. King pre- sents two key arguments to support his plea for non-violence:

( 1 ) We must continue to strive for racial unity: "... their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our free- dom. We cannot walk alone."

(2) We must focus on the future: "We must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back."

In the confutatio (refutation) - paragraphs 5 through 8 - Dr. King addresses three groups of people most likely to discredit his arguments:

(1) "Those who hope that the Negro [simply] needed to blow off steam and will now be content. . ."

(2) "Those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, 'When will you be satisfied?'"

(3) Those whose quest for freedom has left them "battered by the storm of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality."

He then systematically demolishes these ar- guments by pointing to the flaws inherent in each which makes it insubstantial:

( 1 ) "There will be neither rest nor tran-

quility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights."

(2) "We can never be satisfied as long as (a) the Negro is the victim of un-

speakable police brutality (b) [we] cannot gain lodging in the

motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities

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(c) the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one (d)a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York be- lieves he has nothing to vote for."

(3) "You have been the veterans of cre- ative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffer-

ing is redemptive."

there is no digressio (commentary), the confutatio leads directly to the peroratio

(conclusion). Here, Dr. King summarizes his key points and presents his climactic conclu- sion: ". . . in spite of the difficulties and frus- trations of the moment I still have a dream."

He stresses one crucial point: We cannot give up the struggle for equality. He also advocates action: "Go back [to the South] knowing that somehow this situation can and will be

changes." Finally, he holds out vision and hope for the future: "Let freedom ring! . . . Free at last."

The speech employs numerous stylistic de- vices. As previously noted, Dr. King draws a sharp contrast between the promise of the past and the disillusionment of present by his transition from formal to informal rhetoric.

And through the effective use of transitions and skillfully crafted paragraphs, - a state- ment of fact followed by a qualification (but) and a resolution (so) - his speech progresses logically from past to present to future, as il- lustrated in the following examples:

(1) " [A] great American ... signed the Emancipation Proclamation, But . . . the Negro is still not free. So we have come here today . . ."

(2) "It is obvious today that America has defaulted . . .

But we refuse to believe . . .

So we have come to cash this check."

(3) "There will be neither rest nor tran- quility . . . But ... we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. [So] let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

This progressive cycle is also evident as Dr. King urges his audience to move steadily up-

ward and forward, from darkness to light ("rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial jus- tice"); from oppression to freedom ("open the doors of opportunity ..."); and from instability and isolation to stability and unity ("lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood").

King's powerful use of organic metaphor pervades his speech, painting vivid im-

ages of America as a nation characterized by injustice, racial tension, and the continuing struggle for equality. In the eyes of its disen- franchised black citizens, America is a bank which has "defaulted" and "given the Negro people ... a check marked 'insufficient funds"; it is a troubled nation "sweltering [in the] summer of discontent" and caught in "the whirlwinds of revolt."

Dr. King uses a variety of rhetorical schemes, such as parallelism ("to work to- gether, to pray together, to struggle to- gether"; "black men and white men, Jews arjd Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics"); antith- esis ("not an end, but a beginning"; not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character") and alliteration ("symbolic shadow"; "sweltering summer"; "dignity and discipline.") But one of his most effective lit- erary devices is his use of anaphora, the effec- tive repetition of key phrases ("one hundred years later"; "Now is the time"; "I have a dream.")

The key tropes he employs are metaphors and similes: the authors of the Declaration of

Independence are depicted as the "architects of our republic"; procrastination is the "drug of gradualism"; and Americans are urged to envision "justice like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." In addition to the Bible, Dr. King also incorporates various literary allu- sions, such as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Steinbeck's (or Shakespeare's) Winter of Our Discontent, and Donne's "No Man is an Island."

Dr. King's speech consists of 1,567 words, 79 sentences, and 27 paragraphs. Each sen- tence averages 19.83 words, while the average paragraph length is 58.03 words or 2.92 sentences.

The word ''freedom" occurs nineteen

times.

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On studying a random 200-word sample, I found that it contained 138 single-syllable words (a total of 69%), and 56 nouns and pronouns, of which only nine (16 percent) were abstract nouns. Of the remaining 47 concrete nouns, 21 were used metaphorically, supporting the contention that the speech re- lies heavily on figurative language.

In conclusion, it seems ironic that although Dr. King takes great pains to illustrate that the Emancipation Proclamation did not fulfill its stated purpose, he fails to point out - perhaps to support his philosophy of non- violence - that the "great American" who signed this document did so not to ensure freedom and equality for all, but to preserve the Union. But since Dr. King himself became a victim of the senseless violence he so ab-

horred, perhaps the ultimate irony is the tragic fact that the relentless struggle for equality continues to this day.

REFERENCES

Holman, Hugh C. A Handbook to Literature. 4th Ed., Indianapolis, Indiana: The Bobbs-Merril Co., Inc., 1980.

Fahnestock, Jeanne, and Marie Secor. A Rhetoric of Argu- ment. New York: Random House, Inc., 1982.

Kennedy, George A. Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Caro- lina Press, 1980.

King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr. "I Have a Dream." Black Writers of America: A Comprehensive Anthology. Edited by Richard Barksdale and Keneth Kinnamon. New York:

The Macmillan Co.,1972. McDonald, Daniel. The Language of Argument. (Third Edi-

tion) New York: Harper & Row, Inc., 1980. Träger, James. The Peoples Chronology. New York: Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, 1979. Woodson, Linda. A Handbook of Modern Rhetorical Terms.

Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1979.

THE BLACK SCHOLAR VOLUME 23, NO. 2 PAGE 19

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