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Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Rhetoric

gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure (116).

The occasion for each communication dictates the form and manner selected by Dr. King. In the opening lines of "Letter from Birmingham Jail," King notes first that he is presently in the Birmingham city jail, that he is writing to fellow clergymen who have criticized his actions leading to his jail term, and that he intends to answer those particular criticisms because "I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth" (114). King here speaks directly to the clergymen-critics addressed in the salutation of the letter, and throughout he makes use of "you" to draw those readers into the argument and to assure them that he is speaking directly to them and to their concerns. Similarly, he refers again and again to himself and links himself with these other leaders because all are religious men and all are presumed concerned about the plight of their people--he indeed states that he is answering them because he believes they "are men of genuine good will" (114).

The "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered in Washington, D.C. before a crowd of more than 200,000 black and white civil rights marchers near the Lincoln Memorial. In this case, there is no doubt that the immediate audience is in support of the ideas expressed by King, though the wider audience that will see

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Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Rhetoric. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:21, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1704147.html