Rhetorical Purpose of the Speech: “I Have a Dream” Essay Example

4, that “in a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check,” the use of this metaphor directly illustrates the call for freedom and refusal to accept discrimination, and stand up to face “the palace of justice” mentioned in paragraph 6. When he uses this literary device, the effect is to make the hearer as well as reader to understand how the promise of freedom actually relates to reality.

They have waited for one hundred years, and now the time is definite for freedom! Throughout the entire text, the appeal to the reader’s sense of ethos, logos, and pathos is likewise tremendous. In the metaphor of cashing a check, is encrusted a much deeper symbolism of right and wrong-thus appealing to ethos. When King includes his “four little children,” the twist on the strings of the heart is powerful indeed. It relates to the purpose, in that even though his dream is not yet fulfilled, Martin Luther King will not accept things as they are.To know that an innocent child is wrongfully judged because of how they look, evokes pity, and hence promotes an opposition to discrimination with an appeal to pathos.

An example of logos is expressed in the twenty-first paragraph where the following is spoken: “if America is to be a great nation this must become true,” referring to the preceding text. In other words, the only way that America is going to progress, is if all are given true equality and freedom. This is the perfect example of the use of reason and logic.It is an effective appeal to the reader’s sense of logos. With the conclusion, it may

be noted that the use of these stylistic as well as persuasive, and widely used literary devices effectively support the purpose of the essay. The audience is able to grasp visible illustrations of why freedom is to be prioritized over the darkness of discrimination-which should not be accepted as the status quo, and stand up to face that opposition with “faith” and perseverance.