The Rhetoric of Redemption applies Kenneth Burke's theory of guilt-purification-redemption in a close, critical analysis of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'I Have A Dream' speech, developing and examining the implications of Burke's redemption drama in contemporary public discourse. Bobbitt studies the impact of the speech over time, arguing that while King's speech contains an inspirational vision of national redemption, it does so by omitting the real difficulties of overcoming America's racial divisions.