rhetorical precis of i have a dream speech

I Have a Dream Speech Rhetorical Analysis

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A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Have a Dream’ is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

If you’ve ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation you’re due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered.

He reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give his ‘I Have a Dream’, writing it out in longhand. You can read the speech in full here .

‘I Have a Dream’: background

The occasion for King’s speech was the march on Washington , which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial.

They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans.

1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation , in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

‘I Have a Dream’: summary

King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it’s a century, or ‘five score years’, since that ‘great American’ Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination.

America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the ‘magnificent words’ of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence . King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls ‘inalienable rights’: namely, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.

King asserts that America in the 1960s has ‘defaulted’ on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a ‘sacred obligation’, but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn’t there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough ‘funds’ to ensure everyone is prosperous enough.

King urges America to rise out of the ‘valley’ of segregation to the ‘sunlit path of racial justice’. He uses the word ‘brotherhood’ to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God’s children. He also repeatedly emphasises the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America. However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline.

Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognises that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalised feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. Police brutality against Black Americans must be eradicated, as must racial discrimination in hotels and restaurants. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws.

Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora ). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes.

His dream, he tells his audience, is ‘deeply rooted’ in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States. King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into ‘our hope’: a collective aspiration and endeavour. King then quotes the patriotic American song ‘ My Country, ’Tis of Thee ’, which describes America as a ‘sweet land of liberty’.

King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase ‘let freedom ring’ several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn : ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.’

‘I Have a Dream’: analysis

Although Martin Luther King’s speech has become known by the repeated four-word phrase ‘I Have a Dream’, which emphasises the personal nature of his vision, his speech is actually about a collective dream for a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

Nevertheless, in working from ‘I have a dream’ to a different four-word phrase, ‘this is our hope’. The shift is natural and yet it is a rhetorical masterstroke, since the vision of a better nation which King has set out as a very personal, sincere dream is thus telescoped into a universal and collective struggle for freedom.

What’s more, in moving from ‘dream’ to a different noun, ‘hope’, King suggests that what might be dismissed as an idealistic ambition is actually something that is both possible and achievable. No sooner has the dream gathered momentum than it becomes a more concrete ‘hope’.

In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, King was doing more than alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years earlier. The opening words to his speech, ‘Five score years ago’, allude to a specific speech Lincoln himself had made a century before: the Gettysburg Address .

In that speech, delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in November 1863, Lincoln had urged his listeners to continue in the fight for freedom, envisioning the day when all Americans – including Black slaves – would be free. His speech famously begins with the words: ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’

‘Four score and seven years’ is eighty-seven years, which takes us back from 1863 to 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, Martin Luther King’s allusion to the words of Lincoln’s historic speech do two things: they call back to Lincoln’s speech but also, by extension, to the founding of the United States almost two centuries before. Although Lincoln and the American Civil War represented progress in the cause to make all Americans free regardless of their ethnicity, King makes it clear in ‘I Have a Dream’ that there is still some way to go.

In the last analysis, King’s speech is a rhetorically clever and emotionally powerful call to use non-violent protest to oppose racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination, but also to ensure that all Americans are lifted out of poverty and degradation.

But most of all, King emphasises the collective endeavour that is necessary to bring about the world he wants his children to live in: the togetherness, the linking of hands, which is essential to make the dream a reality.

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Subject Material

A Rhetorical Analysis of I Have a Dream

When we analyse a speech we need to identify the literary and rhetorical devices the author has used, give examples from the text, and comment on what is achieved by using these devices.

When we analyse a political speech, there are some questions we need to ask. These questions can serve as a way of structuring our texts, and they help us remember to touch on the most important issues. These questions are:

Who is speaking?

Where and when are they speaking, why are they speaking, who is the target audience, how are they trying to convince their audience.

Before you read the analysis, you should familiarise yourself with Dr. King's speech. You can find it by searching for it online, or by following this link to National Public Radio's webpage. (Here you can also find an audio recording of the speech, which you can listen to while you read.) Link to NPR's webpage: transcript of the speech I Have a Dream

We have included the questions that you should answer in a rhetorical analysis as subheadings in the text, to show how you can use the questions to structure your own text.

Remember that it is not necessary to include the questions as subheadings. The questions are just a tool to show you what to include in the different parts of the text. You can skip subheadings altogether, or you can make subheadings that fit the content of your text.

A rhetorical analysis of the speech I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr.

When King was introduced to the crowds on 28 August 1963, he was described as 'the moral leader of our nation'. Martin Luther King jr. was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, making him 34 years old at the time of the speech. He was an ordained minister, and he was the leader of the civil rights organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The following year, he would travel to Oslo to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. That year, however, he had served time in jail in Birmingham, Alabama. He was arrested for leading a civil rights march intended to force the desegregation of lunch counters. He was also put under surveillance by the FBI. So, to some people he was a moral leader, while to others he was a dangerous criminal.

When delivering a speech, the speaker will appeal to ethos, to convince the audience that they are credible. In the US of the 1960s, Christianity was important, and being a minister was a respected profession. When we listen to King giving this speech, we can easily hear that he is a preacher, and we can imagine him standing in a church. It does not stop there. When he talks about his dream, he quotes Isiah from the Old Testament: 'Every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low (…) and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed'. His closing words are words from a spiritual (a religious hymn sung by slaves): 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' The religious allusions could both strengthen his personal ethos as a man of God and perhaps make him sound less scary to people outside the movement, while also contributing to the idea that they had God on their side in their justified struggle.

To increase the support from the people of the movement, King indirectly reminds them that he is one of them and has suffered in the same way as they have: 'Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. (…) your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and the staggered by the winds of police brutality'. This also contributes to his ethos.

In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the end of slavery. One hundred years later, several civil rights organisations joined efforts and organised a mass demonstration. It was named the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and between 200,000 and 250,000 people attended. All these people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

At this point, the Civil Rights Movement had become a mass movement. It was centred on the South, where they were fighting for desegregation of public spaces such as buses, restaurants, and beaches. In a ruling nine years earlier, the Supreme Court had desegregated schools, but the Southern states and school districts were dragging their feet, turning schools and colleges into battle grounds. Civil rights activists were fighting for voting rights in the face of violent terrorism at the hands of white supremacist groups. So, when they choose this time for a momentous rally, it was in itself an appeal to kairos – the right time at the right place. A mass movement, meeting exactly one hundred years after the freeing of the slaves, at the Lincoln memorial.

King shows how aware he is of this in his speech, and not only when he said that they are standing in Lincoln’s symbolic shadow. He also alludes to a speech that Lincoln made: The Gettysburg Address . King starts his speech with an old-fashioned way of counting, saying 'five score years ago' instead of 'one hundred years', mirroring the first line in the Gettysburg Address of 'four score and seven years ago'. Calling on other important leaders and historical people is also a way of borrowing ethos, to strengthen your own.

Sometimes we have to dig deep to find the message in a speech, and look for clues in the subtext and context. In this case, the main idea is easier to uncover, but it is a good idea to look for minor messages as well.

This speech is a call for equality and freedom. Despite slavery having been abolished for one hundred years, there is still no equality, and African Americans did not have the rights they were promised.

There is a clear message of unity as King paints a picture of a future of racial harmony, with black and white children joining hands and sitting at the same table. He emphasises that there are white people in the crowd as well, joining their struggle. They all share the same destiny and the need for freedom, and he argues that 'we cannot walk alone' if we are to succeed.

King believed in the idea of non-violence, and this speech was no exception. His message to his followers is that they need to conduct their struggle 'on the high plane of dignity and discipline', and without physical violence. Physical force shall be met with soul force.

This speech is often portrayed as bearing a message of love, optimism, and non-violence. However, it is important not to overlook a warning he gives to the secondary audience, to the white men in power: 'It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment'. King declares that there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until Black people are also granted their rights as citizens, and he promises that 'the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges'.

It should not be left out that while the South was the main battle ground at this point in time, they were also fighting racism, poverty and unemployment in the North. King refers to this several times in his speech, for instance when he speaks of 'the slums and ghettos of our northern cities'. However, the message of anti-racism, equality and justice applies to all of the United States.

When analysing speeches we often speak of a primary and a secondary audience. The primary audience are the people at the place where the speech is delivered, in this case up to 250,000 people, caught in the adrenaline of an enormous mass gathering and a sense of togetherness and shared ideals. King knows he is speaking to his fellow activists and supporters.

However, there is also a secondary audience: the people who will listen to this on the news, or read the transcript, in the days to come. This includes the political leaders of the country. So, when King speaks, he is also mindful of his words being heard by people who do not agree with him, and by the people who hold the political power to change the laws and thus change the country.

King uses rhetorical devices, but also literary and linguistic devices, to get his message across.

First, repetition. The most famous words from this speech are of course 'I have a dream'. It is repeated nine times, and when a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses it is called anaphora. So, what is this dream about? In US politics, there are a lot of references to the American Dream, which is the myth that anyone can succeed if they just work hard. King starts off by saying that his dream is deeply rooted in the American Dream. This implies that when all the things he dreams about come true – black and white children joining hands in Alabama, Mississippi transforming into an oasis of freedom and justice etc. – then Black and white people will have the same opportunities in the United States.

Another example of anaphora can be found when King repeatedly declares 'Now is the time'. He insists that now is the time to make real the promises of democracy, to lift the nation, to rise from the dark valley of segregation, to make justice a reality. Using anaphora instills in the listener a sense of urgency.

A third example is the answer to the rhetorical question of: when the civil rights activists will be satisfied? King uses this occasion to emphasise how much they must amend in society and responds to this by saying that 'we can never be satisfied' as long as motels are segregated, Black people in the South cannot vote, Black people in the North do not see any point in voting, social mobility is not available to African Americans, and police brutality exists.

Sometimes it is interesting to simply count how often a word is being repeated. Even if it is not anaphora or a part of a famous quote, repeating a word says something about the importance of it. In this speech, King mentions 'freedom' twenty times; repeating the word makes it clear that it is an important part of his message.

There are several allusions to historical documents in this speech. As mentioned earlier, King alludes to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by choosing to begin his own speech with 'five score years ago'. He speaks of the Emancipation Proclamation, he refers to and quotes from the Declaration of Independence, as well as from the US Constitution. This is both an appeal to logos, justifying his claim to civil rights with historical facts and important documents, and to ethos, as it shows that he is an educated and therefore trustworthy man. This adds to the ethos he has established through the allusions to the bible and other religious texts.

Pathos is always useful when trying to get the audience to sympathise with your message. One of the easiest ways of awakening emotions in an audience is to talk about children. King does this when he talks about the black and white children in the future joining hands, but he also strikes a more personal note and tells the audience about how he dreams of his four little children one day living 'in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character'. Not only does this make the listener emotional because children are symbols of innocence, and everyone has a child, has been a child, or knows a child, but it also strengthens King’s ethos, as he has a vested interest in the future through his children.

Emotions are also stirred with his choice of words that have negative connotations: crippled, lonely, poverty, languishing, shameful, bitterness, hatred, brutality, horrors, fatigue, suffering . Sometimes these words are used to create contrasts, such as the 'lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity', or how we need to 'rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice'. Contrast can be used to highlight terrible conditions, but to also make it clear that we can make different choices.

This speech reminds us that literary devices are not only found in fiction. In this speech, there is a lot of imagery– a term which includes both metaphors and similes. King creates sets of imagery that go together. He speaks of how the Emancipation Proclamation 'came as a great beacon light of hope' to the slaves who had been 'seared in the flames of withering injustice', but how they are still not free today, but rather 'crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination'. While withering injustice does not literally burn, the fire metaphor of 'being seared in flames' makes the audience think of how some of the slaves were marked with a branding iron. While African Americans had not been slaves for a century at that point, and therefore no longer wore physical manacles and chains, King creates this image to explain how segregation and discrimination stops them from living their lives as free citizens.

A set of metaphors revolve around the check, a method some people in the US still use to pay their bills. A check is a note where the person who signs it promises to give the bearer the stated sum of money, and this can be cashed in at a bank. King states that they have come here to Washington to cash the check that had been written when the Founding Fathers wrote in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence that all men were created equal, and promised everyone the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. This promise has not been kept – or as King puts it – the check was bad and had come back marked 'insufficient funds'. Despite this, he does not believe that the 'bank of justice is bankrupt', he believes that there are still 'great vaults of opportunity', and now it is time to cash the check that will give them the 'riches of freedom'. This is an image which merges high ideals and allusions to historical documents with the everyday action of paying your bills. Writing a check if you do not have the money in your account to cover it is illegal, so he gives the impression that the government is either lying or doing something unlawful.

People in the Civil Rights Movement were accused of being unpatriotic, of being communists, and of being ungrateful for their country and their freedom. King counters this by striking a patriotic note in his speech. First, he refers to the American Dream as an ideal to strive towards, and therefore signals that he is just like any other American and does not question its values. Mentioning the most well-known historical documents of the nation is also a way to give this impression. He ends his speech by chanting a patriotic anthem: "'My country, 'Tis of Thee', and uses the line 'let freedom ring' to list mountains from various states from north to south, east to west. This shows his intent to spread freedom and equality to the whole country, but it also reminds us of his knowledge of and love for the United States of America – despite its imperfections.

What sources should you include in a rhetorical analysis?

In an analysis, you don't have to use any other sources than the text itself: what matters is that you study the text and use what you have learned about rhetorical and literary analysis to analyse it. If you don't use any other sources it is enough to include information about the text you have analysed in the source list.

However, if you look things up and find information that you do use in your analysis, you must list those sources.

Levison, S., Jones, C., King, M.L., 1963, I Have a Dream. Link to the speech on NPR's webpage

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom", Stanford . Link to article on Stanford University's website .

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Tasks related to the resource Example of a Rhetorical Analysis.

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4 Ways to Analyze Rhetorical Devices in MLK’s “I Have a Dream”

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is known for his powerful speeches – in particular, his “I Have a Dream” speech. Ripe for rhetorical devices analysis and inspired by seminal documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, this speech has become a staple in many ELA classrooms. 

Observant teachers of American literature courses should note some similarities between King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and another famous speech on the rights of blacks – Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth July?”. It is certainly worth noting that the speeches, written almost 100 years apart, address many of the same issues.

With Martin Luther King day just around the corner, and Black History Month following soon after, many teachers are turning to this revered speech for analysis, particularly of MLK’s rhetorical devices. This is the approach I’ve taken in my own classroom in years past (although earlier in the year due to district curriculum maps).

Looking for some structure for your dive into King’s rhetorical devices? Search no further.

rhetorical devices

All good lessons and units begin with ensuring that students are familiar with the vocabulary and terminology (both general and domain-specific) that will be used. At its most basic level, a rhetorical device is “any language that helps an author or speaker achieve a particular purpose”. This purpose is usually persuasion since rhetoric is often referred to as the art of persuasion.

When you hear the words  rhetorical devices , many of us automatically picture what I think of as the big three – ethos, pathos, and logos. During my lessons with my students, we start by reviewing the definitions of these terms and several examples of each. We then view several commercials and/or ads and determine which of the devices (also often called appeals) is being used AND how it impacts the commercial and/or ad.

A little deeper

Once your students have mastered the art of these three, then it’s time to move on to some other devices. Some of these devices will be familiar to your students as they are often taught as literary devices while others may be completely foreign. The devices you choose to cover will depend on the focus of your unit and your anchor text(s). Commonly taught devices include:

• alliteration
• anaphora – repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive clauses (“… we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground.” The Gettysburg Address)
• epistrophe – repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive clauses (“of the people, by the people, for the people” – The Gettsyburg Address)
• hyperbole – extravagant exaggeration
• synecdoche – a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole ( creature  for  man )

Merriam-Webster has a list of the 31 most common rhetorical devices that can be found here.

rhetorical devices in MLK's "I have a dream" speech

Once students have a grasp of the different types of rhetorical devices, it’s time to apply that knowledge to King’s speech. First, have the students annotate for the different devices. Depending on your students’ level, you can assign them specific devices to look for or turn them loose and see what they find. I personally like to color-code all of my annotations. Here’s what my master copy looks like:

Devices and their frequency are easily seen with this method.

From here, students can begin to break down and analyze the devices. There are four ways to do this.

Rhetorical Devices Chart

The easiest way to collect and analyze the devices is a simple chart. Students can list the device in one column, the quote from the text in the second, and an explanation of the device’s effect in the third.

Rhetorical pyramid

The second way to analyze King’s use of devices is to create a rhetorical pyramid. For this activity, students simply draw a large triangle in the middle of their page and label each point with a different rhetorical device. I’ve used the tried and true ethos, pathos, and logos, but you can choose any three. Or, let the students choose and have them justify why they chose those three devices. From there, students provide examples of each of the devices. A rhetorical pyramid is especially helpful for visual students by helping them see connections between the devices.

Rhetorical Precis

A rhetorical precis is a type of writing that summarizes a text or speech. It includes not only the summary of the text or speech but also an analysis of its content and delivery. A rhetorical precis has four parts:

• 1st sentence – presents author’s name, title, and genre of work. Uses verbs such as “argue”, “claim”, or “assert”
• 2nd sentence – explains development and evidence of thesis. Done chronologically
• 3rd sentence – state author’s purpose and WHY the author composed the text
• 4th sentence – tell about intended audience

SOAPSTone/SPACE CAT Analysis

The final option is for students to complete a SOAPSTone analysis of the speech. SOAPSTone stands for

Examine the speech in light of these different areas. 

An alternate to SOAPSTone would be SPACE CAT, which stands for: 

So there you have it. Four ways to analyze “I Have a Dream” rhetorical devices. What’s your go-to rhetorical analysis strategy? Reply below. 

Want to incorporate all these activities? Check out my “I Have a Dream” Rhetorical Devices Mini Flipbook.  

Looking for more American lit teaching ideas? Check out 7 Units for a Complete American Literature Curriculum. 

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Copyright l Windows into Literature l All Rights Reserved 

• DOI: 10.1080/00064246.1993.11413090
• Corpus ID: 142252274

“I Have a Dream”: A Rhetorical Analysis

• Durthy A. Washington
• Published 1 December 1993
• Political Science
• Black Scholar

2 Citations

Pro-black doesn't mean anti-white: the structure of african-american group identity, social comparisons and life satisfaction across racial and ethnic groups: the effects of status, information and solidarity, 4 references, classical rhetoric and its christian and secular tradition from ancient to modern times, a rhetoric of argument, a handbook to literature, a handbook of modern rhetorical terms, related papers.

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Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.

Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a transcript of his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Talk of the Nation aired the speech in 2010 — listen to that broadcast at the audio link above.

Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders gather before a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. National Archives/Hulton Archive via Getty Images hide caption

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check.

Code Switch

The power of martin luther king jr.'s anger.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

Martin Luther King is not your mascot

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

Civil rights protesters march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Kurt Severin/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Throughline

Bayard rustin: the man behind the march on washington (2021).

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

How The Voting Rights Act Came To Be And How It's Changed

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

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. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

People clap and sing along to a freedom song between speeches at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Express Newspapers via Getty Images hide caption

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

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This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

Correction Jan. 15, 2024

A previous version of this transcript included the line, "We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." The correct wording is "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now."

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — I Have a Dream — Speech by Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream: Rhetorical Analysis

Speech by Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream: Rhetorical Analysis

• Categories: I Have a Dream Martin Luther King

About this sample

Words: 907 |

Published: Oct 22, 2018

Words: 907 | Page: 1 | 5 min read

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King, Dream speech, Dr. King’s earlier speeches, African Americans, first rhetorical devices King, stone of hope, part of the civil rights movement, jangling discords of our nation, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, important rhetorical devices Dr. King, beautiful symphony of brotherhood, Civil War, King’s audiences, civil rights movement

Martin Luther King Jr Essay Outline

Introduction

• Overview of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech and its historical significance
• Mention of King’s use of rhetorical devices to influence and inspire his audience

Use of Allusions

• Discussion of King’s allusions to the Declaration of Independence and their impact on the audience’s patriotism and sense of moral values
• Emphasis on how these allusions contribute to the vision of equality

Use of Metaphors

• Explanation of King’s metaphors, particularly the banking metaphor, to convey the need for civil rights and justice
• Analysis of how metaphors strengthen King’s argument and call to action

Repetition for Emphasis

• Examination of King’s use of repetition in phrases like “we can never be satisfied,” “let freedom ring,” and “I have a dream”
• Explanation of how repetition builds intensity and reinforces key ideas in the speech

Tone and Passion

• Discussion of the emotional tone of the speech and King’s careful balance between passion and dignity
• Emphasis on the lasting impact of King’s words and his role in inspiring change
• Recap of Martin Luther King Jr.’s influence and legacy
• Affirmation of the importance of addressing social issues and striving for change, as demonstrated by King
• Weitzel, A. (1994). King’s “I have a dream”; speech: A case study of incorporating orality in rhetorical criticism. Communication Reports, 7(1), 50-56. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08934219409367583)
• Zheng, S. (2014). A Stylistic Analysis on” I have a dream”. Journal of Studies in social Sciences, 9(1). (https://www.infinitypress.info/index.php/jsss/article/view/931)
• Weitzel, A. R. (1991). A Pedagogical Treatment of King’s” I Have a Dream” Speech: Toward Incorporating Orality in Rhetorical Criticism. (https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED344248)
• Lei, E. V., & Miller, K. D. (1999). Martin Luther King, Jr.’s” I Have a Dream” in Context: Ceremonial Protest and African American Jeremiad. College English, 62(1), 83-99. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/378900)
• Alvarez, A. (1988). Martin Luther King’s” I Have a Dream” The Speech Event as Metaphor. Journal of Black Studies, 18(3), 337-357. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002193478801800306)

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Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety

Updated January 16, 2023 at 10:32 AM ET

Monday marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Below is a transcript of his celebrated "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. NPR's Talk of the Nation aired the speech in 2010 — listen to that broadcast at the audio link above.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, when will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

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. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.