AdriannaShoemaker

4/2/14
Ms.Brookshire
Speech140
AnExtemporaneousCalltoAction

DuringthefirstnineparagraphsofDr.MartinLutherKingJr.sspeechonAugust28th,

1963,Dr.Kingreadoffofapage.Heknewhisspeechwell,spokeslowlyandclearly,and

conveyedhismessageeffectivelytotheaudience,andyethewasstillreading.Hispassionwas

there,andpeoplewerelisteningandattentive,yetKingsfirewasnotyetlit.Thespeechwasnot

touchingthecore.Yet,MahaliaJacksonswordsTellthemaboutthedream,Marvinmay

havebeensomeofthemostimportantwordstobeuttered(Davies2011).Inhisline,Dr.King

utilizedlogos,ethos,andpathostodeliveranextemporaneouscalltoaction.Themomentthat

Dr.Kingdecidedtopushhismanuscriptawayandspeakfromhisheart,hismind,andhiscore,

theaudience,andtheworld,immediatelyreacted.

Duringhisinterview,ClarenceB.JonessaidthatwhenhesawDr.Kingpushawayhis

manuscript,hesaidthesepeopledontknowitbuttheyreaboutreadytogotochurch.(Davies

2011)EveryonewhoknewDr.King,oreventhosewhohadheardhimspeakbefore,knewthat

hewasaphenomenalextemporaneousspeaker,andhespokedirectlyfromhishearttohis

audiences.Heusedlogic,ethics,andemotiontodeliverapassionatespeechthatresonatedwith

people.Mr.Kingdidnotattackthosewhoperpetuatedinjustice.Instead,heusedelementsof

persuasiontoresonatewithpeople,andtheresponsewaspowerful.
 Dr.Kingswrittenspeechcontainedmanyofthesamerhetoricaldevicesthathis

extemporaneousspeechdid.HisrepetitionofIhaveadream,wasanaphora,justasNowis

thetimeandWecannotbesatisfied(RhetoricalAnalysis2012).Inallcases,Dr.Kingsuse

ofanaphorawasmeanttobuildsuspenseandurgencywithintheaudienceandconveyhispoints

inastrikingmanner.Whenheisreadingfromthemanuscript,Dr.Kingusesanaphoratodisplay

urgencyforthepresent.Wecannotbesatisfied,meansthatthefightmustcontinue,now.Now

isthetime,meansthatthereisnotimetowait.Heevendirectlysays,Itwouldbefatalforthe

nationtooverlooktheurgencyofthemoment.Yet,Ihaveadream,whichheuseswhenhe

pushesawayhismanuscript,isananaphorausedtodisplayurgencyaboutthefuture.Itlets

peopleknowthattheproblemswillnevergoaway.Theactionstakenin1963wouldaffecttheir

children,theirgrandchildren,andevenfivegenerationsortengenerationslater.Histransition,

betweenreadingandspeakingextemporaneously,andalsobetweenspeakingaboutthepresent

andhisdreamsofthefuture,isaninterestingone.Inthistransition,hetellspeopletogoback

wheretheycamefrom,knowingthatsomehowthissituationcanandwillbechanged.Hetells

hisaudiencenottowallowinthevalleyofdespair.Thisnoteseemsabitstagnant.Heisnt

givinghisaudienceacalltoaction.Heisntrequestinganythingdrastic.Instead,italmostseems

asifhehascometoastandstill.Thatis,ofcourse,untilDr.Kingbeginstospeakfromhissoul,

ofhisdreamsforthefuture,sothathisaudiencewilltrulybelievethatintime,therewillbe

change.

Inhisextemporaneousspeaking,Dr.Kingbringstheideaofimagerytoanewlevel.

LinessuchasIhaveadreamthatonedayintheredhillsofGeorgia,sonsofformerslavesand

sonsofformerslaveownerswillbeabletositdownatthetableofbrotherhood(King1963)
conveyasimpleandyetsoughtforimageforthefuture.Thisonelineprovidesaplace,onethat

in1963wasinherentlyracistandsegregated,itprovidesadistinctdivideinthegroups,andyetit

bringsthemtogetheratametaphoricaltableofbrotherhood.ThisonelineconveysDr.Kings

passionsandhopesforthefuture,andyethecontinuestobuildonitandonhisidea.Ihavea

dreamthatmyfourlittlechildrenwillonedaynotbejudgedbythecoloroftheirskin,butbythe

contentoftheircharacterisanotherlinethatstrikestheheart(King1963).Inthis

extemporaneousline,Dr.Kingmakesthetopicpersonal.Throughoutthewholespeechhe

developedethosbysayingWeandunitinghisaudienceandhiscausewithhimself,butthisis

hisfirstdirectreferenceofhisownchildren.Thislineestablishessuchstrongethosandpathos,

andhelpshisaudienceconnecttohim,aswellasthinkabouttheirownchildren.Ithelpsthe

audiencerememberthatoneday,theirchildrenwillfacethesamestrugglesasadultsandthey

werecurrently,unlesschangehappenedsoon.

Whenreadingfromthemanuscript,Kingcouldfeelthattheaudiencewasalready

connected,ashesaidtheaudienceresponsewaswonderfulthatday(StanfordEncyclopedia,

n.d.)Hesaidthatsomethingjustcameoverhim,andhewantedtotellthemaboutthedream.For

analreadyattentiveaudience,thedisplayofpassionandchangeinatmosphereforKingonly

excitedtheaudienceevenmore.AccordingtotheStanfordEncyclopedia,theaudienceleft

feelingthatthelongjourneyhadbeenworthwhile.Theaudiencecamelookingforhope,for

courage,andforoptimism,allofwhichwasdisplayedbyDr.MartinLutherKing,especially

whenhewasspeakingextemporaneously.However,hewashonestinthefactthatchangewould

notbeeasy,andpeoplewouldhavetoworkhard.
 Inhiswrittenspeech,Dr.Kingmakesmanypoliticalreferences.Hebeginshisspeech

withFiveScoreyearsagoandcontinuestoreferencetheEmancipationProclamation,andthe

stridesmadeduringthisera,aswellashowthisideaeffectedthenegroin1963.Hisspeaking

remainspolitical,ashetalksaboutmarches,civilrights,andmore.However,whenDr.King

pushesasidehismanuscript,justasClarenceJonessaid,hedidtaketheaudiencetochurch.In

hisextemporaneousspeaking,Dr.Kingswitchestomoreofanationalitystandpoint.Hequotes

Americasmostbelovedsongs,suchasMyCountryTisofThee,hereferstoAmericabecoming

thegreatnationitissupposedtobe,andhetalksaboutthefaithhehasthatallofthiswill

happen!Dr.Kingpullsonheartstringsalloverthecountry,andattemptstouniteeverybodyin

thepresent,bycreatinganimageofthefutureinwhicheverybody,regardlessofrace,isunited.

Dr.Kingsdecisiontolookawayfromhismanuscriptandspeakfromhisheart,wasadecision

thatchangedthecourseofthatday,aswellasthecourseofAmericanhistory.

WorksCited

"FreshAirInterviewWithClarenceJones."InterviewbyDaveDavies.17Jan.2011:n.pag.

Print.

"U.S.Constitution."TheIHaveaDreamSpeech.N.p.,n.d.Web.01Apr.2014.

"RhetoricalAnalysis:IHaveaDream."WorkandProgress.N.p.,Published03Nov.2012.Web.

02Apr.2014.

"IHaveaDream(28August1963)."IHaveaDream(28August1963).StanfordEncyclopedia,

n.d.Web.31Mar.2014.<http://mlk
kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_i_have_a_dream_28_august_1963

/>.