Analyzing King’s “I Have a Dream”
What do we know about the TEXTUAL author of this piece – not the man Martin Luther King, Jr., but the speaker within the four walls of the speech itself?  What ethos does the speaker establish, and how?

What is the speaker’s primary intention in this speech (inform/persuade/convince – of what)? To find this, find the stasis – the statement of the essential controversy – the “whether”).
Stasis of fact – African-Americans are treated in particular ways in Jim Crow America 1963.
Stasis of definition – these ways constitute injustice.
Stasis of quality – these ways are commonplace, and constitute a fundamental betrayal of American political culture. 
Stasis of policy – What should we do about this?

Is King deliberating or bargaining? 

Note King’s proximate and distant audiences – a supportive proximate audience (those actually at the speech/participating in the march), and a more hostile (or at least confused), distant audience, receiving the speech through TV (Telstar) and other media.  How does he deal with each of these audiences?  How do we know when he’s talking to one or the other?
(Note the prolepsis at the beginning of the 13th paragraph.)

What are the major topoi in the speech?

What evidence does King give that his recommended course of action is rationally correct?

What emotional appeals does he make, and how do these tie into his logical appeals?

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