Running head: MARTIN LUTHER KING 1

MARTIN LUTHER KING 5

Martin Luther king

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Introduction
One of the famous speech to be delivered and still lingers in history is the speech by civil rights activist Martin Luther king junior in 1963 on “I have a dream “The touching lines in the speech is the is where he says that “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged on color of their skin but the content of their character.” The speech was so persuasive as it touched on discrimination in the society, and the line about the children was also very significant since no one would want to harm an innocent child. Martin, in his speech, touched on America being the land of freedom where equality would be the order of the day and way of life. He used rhetorical strategies and repetition to drive the point home in which he sees the country where equality would prevail, touching on the innocence of children.
Audience

In the speech by Martin Luther king junior in the 1960s, the audience of the speech, “I have a dream, ” The audience was the general population. The speaker in the speech intentions was to connect with the majority of the people in the society (Martin Luther King,2007). He was communicating with the general population consisting of the majority and minority.

Social and historical context for the speech

During the time of the speech, the slaves were freed but were still not treated like other Americans. There was rampant discrimination evident by the differences in payment. They were paid less compared to their majority superior counterparts. The minorities were not allowed to integrate with the rest and were denied some fundamental privileges.in that period, and there was a string of demonstrations and boycotts.

Purpose of the speech

The speech served to motivate those who were fighting for equality and social justice and encourage them not to give up. The speech helps to deter them from violence and embrace peaceful demonstrations (Martin Luther King,2007). The speech encourages them to adopt brotherhood by treating one another with equality. The speech helped discontinuation of white supremacy and treated one another equally in every aspect of life.

Examples of the speaker’s credibility

The speaker is credible in his speech since the minority are still not free, evident by the fact that they are still discriminated and denied some privileges which their counterparts enjoy, Though the minority and marginalized were freed from slavery they were still denied privileges’ period of the speech was characterized by boycotts and demonstrations which were rampant to the extent that it was reaching the government officials. He motivated his followers that they should carry on with peaceful protests without violence when knowing that he might not be there to lead, which is a fact and a credible statement.

Arguments and evidence

There is rampant evidence that there are inequalities. The minority were treated not like normal citizens of America. They were denied the right to mingle with the dominant population while also being denied some privileges in their association. Racial discrimination was also an argument since the minority were discriminated against on skin color and then denied rights and privileges to mingle with the majority, they could not associate fully with their majority counterparts (Martin Luther King,2007).

Does the speaker anticipate the other side of the argument?

The speaker acknowledges even the majority and don’t have a right to be discriminated against. He advocates for the peaceful demonstration, which is violence-free since violence could cause damages to both parties. Violence could bring about more damages and widen the gap and not heal the differences.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the speech that was delivered in America by Martin Luther King was so persuasive that people started to view things differently. He advocated equal rights and violence-free demos since the use of violence could bring on at her problems. The speaker used a lot of figurative languages and poetic aspects to deliver his intended message. There was the use of repetitive phrases like I have a dream which carried the theme of the speech. The use of children signified innocence and inability to defend oneself. There is also the use of rhetorical phrases, which makes the speech attractive to listen to and engage the audience.

References

Martin Luther King, J. (2007). I Have a Dream. St. Louis, MO: Turtleback Books.