I have chosen the speech of Martin Luther King I Have a Dream for the analysis, as it is on the top of the ranking list. Martin Luther King is a widely known politician, who wanted to bring the equality to the American society and make the United States a pleasant place for all nations (Bruns 46).
In turn, Martin Luther King had a high understanding of the subjects due to his cultural and political backgrounds. The problem about the unity and the essentiality of freedom strongly refers to the American nation and speaker, as every individual wants his/her rights respected and his/her contribution appreciated.
According to the speech, the problem has a vehement impact on the living conditions on the different social classes of the United States of America for a long time, since Martin Luther King strongly often starts the sentences with the phrase “One hundred years later” (King par. 3).
It could be said that it was necessary to perform the speech during these years, as the rights of the different minorities were violated. Finally, Martin Luther King had a high referral to the topic of the speech due to his belonging to the cultural minority.
Martin Luther King proclaimed his speech during the March for jobs and freedom in Washington (Echols x). The occasion was the best time to deliver the speech with the similar content, as the event supported the origins of the respect of freedoms of the individuals. The audience were the regular working class, who belonged to different ethnicities (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”).
It remains evident that the audience is excited about the occasion, as they have a chance to protect their rights and improve their living conditions in the American society. As for me, I have chosen this speech, as it was able to change the attitudes towards different ethnicities in the United States of America. I was a fundamental aspect, which contributed to the cultivation of multiculturalism and equality in the American society.
It could be said that the purpose was to underline the unity of the nation and bring the equality to the American society. He wanted to cultivate the dynamics towards the multicultural and integrated nature of the American culture (Vail 51). Nonetheless, the core purpose lays in the necessity to bring the equality to the ethnic minorities, as King mentions “Negro” several times (King par. 3).
As for the supporting materials, he highly refers to the past by addressing that nothing has changed in the past one hundred years. It remains evident that Martin Luther King starts his speech with the introduction, as he thanks the audience and mentions “we” to underline his unity with the people (King, par. 1). It creates the friendly relationship with the audience quickly.
The next point is to present the primary goal of the speech by claiming that the discrimination still has a tendency to exist. The presentation of the fundamental aspect is rather long, and it could be noticed that a high number of repetitions is implied. Despite this negative aspect, Martin Luther King was still able to deliver the main point and colors and motivate the society.
Lastly, the speaker finishes his speech with the referral to God and the proposal for action by the phrase ““Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King par. 30). These words add the final point to the discussion by the creation of the necessity to change the world.
As for the delivery of the speech, Martin Luther King mastered the language and the verbal delivery of the speech to the audience. In this instance, the speaker actively uses sequential transition “and so” to attract the attention of the audience to the conclusion (King par. 3).
Additionally, he often uses the word “but” to address the problem, for instance, in the phrase “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”, he emphasizes that the issue of the recognition of human rights has a tendency to exist (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”). Lastly, the speaker actively utilizes parallelism but repeating “one hundred years later” constantly (King par. 3).
All these transitions emphasize the significance of the subject, and he underlines these words with the intonation. As for the body language, he acts confident and emotional simultaneously and expresses his emotions on his face (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”). It could be said that Martin Luther King makes the audience believe in his words by using a combination of these speech delivery techniques.
The audience seems supportive at the end of the speech, as they scream in joy and happiness after the performance (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”). It remains evident that Martin Luther King was able to touch their feelings and woke up the nature of the fighter for freedom in every individual.
In conclusion, it could be said that the speech was effective, as Martin Luther King was able to implement a sufficient combination of speech delivery techniques, structure, and sentence parallelism to deliver the critical ideas to the public. Nonetheless, the primary aspect, which underlines a high efficiency of the achievement, is the ability to change the thinking of the American society by cultivating the essentiality of equality and respect to the minorities in future.
Works Cited
Bruns, Roger. Martin Luther King, Jr: A Biography, Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006. Print.
Echols, James. I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Future of Multicultural America, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004. Print.
King, Martin 2015, I Have a Dream.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream Speech.” Youtube. Youtube, 2013. Web.
Vail, Mark. “The “Integrative” Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.’S “I Have a Dream” Speech.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 9.1 (2006): 51-78. Print.