TOW #20: Written Text: I Have A Dream

One man had a dream. A simple one, yet powerful enough that it could forever change the status of racial equality in our nation for eternity. In his “I have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King first builds his ethos with his location of the delivery (being the Lincoln Memorial) because of President Lincoln’s contributions to the equality of African Americans. With his audience being Civil Rights activists and also racists and an extended audience of people throughout the world, MLK also alludes to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by saying “Five Score years ago” in order to build his sense of ethos, and furthermore broadcast his purpose of demanding racial equality for African Americans in the United States of America. With that said, King does stress the importance that Blacks will not rise through conflict, and they “must not be guilty of their wrongful deeds”.

MLK achieves his purpose by uniting his audience as Americans. Dr. King references some of the most prolific American documents that are the foundation of our nation such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Not only will it boost King’s ethos as well as use our founding father’s own words about equality to stress the need for racial equality, but it also unites the audience as one American people as these documents represent our existence. Therefore, by uniting his audience as Americans, (and to an even further extent, “Children of God”),  it only makes sense that racial equality is essential and deserved if we are all American people.

Likewise, King uses repetition to emphasize the need for racial equality in America. King states “Let Freedom Ring” many times while adding a diverse region of our nation, which illustrates how he wants there to be equality among all citizens in all corners of our country. He also states “I have a dream” which is followed up by an idea that could be possible if all citizens in America had the same rights. Both of these examples of repetition become a list by the time King stops repeating each of these phrases, which ultimately allows the audience to truly see the benefit and also the obligation it is for all citizens within the U.S. to have equality.