In 1963, a crowd of over a quarter of a million people gathered to listen to one of the most famous speeches in American history. This speech, the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., gave the black community hope for a better future. At the time, segregation between blacks and whites dominated nearly every aspect of life, especially in the South (Hansen 1). Dr. King’s speech contains an abundance of excellent literary devices, which makes it an important speech to learn about to this day. To begin, King starts with an allusion and he continues to use them multiple times throughout his speech. In his first allusion, he references Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation. Paul T. Murray explains this …show more content…
King uses anaphora, a frequently repeated word or phrase, a few times in his speech. According to Murray, anaphora appears often in King’s writing. For example, King repeats, “We can never be satisfied” (3-4), “I have a dream” (4-5), and “Let freedom ring” (5-6) multiple times in his speech. He repeats these phrases to emphasize his hope for equality. King also uses symbolism in the “I Have a Dream” speech. The bad check symbol emerges as the most important symbol in the speech. King says that America gave the Negro people a check that comes back marked insufficient funds (1-2). This check symbolizes equality. Furthermore, “King employs the symbol of a bad check to describe the unrealized assurance of full citizenship . . . he claims that the government’s check has bounced owing to ‘insufficient funds’” (Murray). King also uses alliteration and assonance in his speech. For example, when King says, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” (3), he uses assonance, and when he says, “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no . . .” (4), he uses alliteration. Assonance and alliteration give the speech a poetic feel. All of these literary devices affect the speech, although they appear less than allusion and …show more content…
Most of his metaphors refer to biblical sources. King uses these biblical metaphors because of his background as a Baptist minister (Carson). For example, when King says, “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity,” he references Matthew 1:16 and when he says, “dark and desolate valley of segregation,” he references Psalm 23:4 (Hansen 101-102). Another common metaphor in the speech equates light with freedom and hope. For instance, King says, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves . . .” (1). King also says that, “Now is the time to rise . . . to the sunlit path of racial justice” (2). Both of these quotes use light to represent positive ideas. King uses this light metaphor because many people associate light with happiness and dark with sadness. In addition, nearly every paragraph of the speech contains metaphorical language. These metaphors help King express his strong feelings. For example, “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” (King 1) represents just one of the many descriptive metaphors in his speech. The combination of metaphors and other literary devices make King’s speech so powerful and memorable. To conclude, King’s powerful language in the “I Have a Dream” speech about the unfair treatment of African-Americans tremendously
Martin Luther King Junior’s “I have a dream speech” is an important and famous speech in history, and even still a today a wonderful speech. What makes kings speech so grate? It’s his knowledge of figurative language. By using figurative language, he made people know how bad segregation was. King’s use of figurative language makes excellent examples on the effective use of metaphors.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important voices of America, who used non-violent methods to fight for freedom and equality for all in his nation. On August 28th, 1969, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., King delivered his most iconic speech “I Have a Dream.” In this speech, repetition, ethos, pathos, and logos are used to persuade the audience about the importance of the Civil Rights Movement. To create the greatest demonstration for freedom, he used these literary devices to “dramatize a shameful condition” (“I Have a Dream”). Although his life was taken away, his legacy continues to live on today.
The author of the “I Have A Dream” speech is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King, known for his work in Civil Rights during the 1960s. In this informative speech, Dr. King inspires individuals to have a change in both white and black citizens during the Civil RIghts era in the United States. Moreover, the premise of the speech is that both sides of the discussion must accept change in a non-violent yet effective way. He spoke about the injustices of segregation and discrimination of black citizens that was occurring in our nation. As he opened, “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” he explained what he was there to do for all citizens. He is
The “I Have a Dream” speech given and written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was and still is one of the most powerful speeches given. Because of the literary elements used in the speech is gives the audience something to think about and relate to and mixes with their feelings to possibly change their stance on the subject. Because of the serious issues that went on during the civil rights movement, such as separation of public services and unfair treatment to African Americans, something had to be done to end the racial injustice. People did try to prevent the discrimination by gathering marches and leading protests. But one of the largest impacts on this time period was the “I Have a Dream” speech and Dr. King’s use of literary
Civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr, in his powerful speech, “I have a dream” indicated that even though we own the Emancipation Proclamation, we also had been suffering the discrimination. King’s purpose is to invert the current unfair situation and make the Negros have the same rights as white people. He adopts a poignant tone in order to claim that Negros should have their own rightful place and appeal the Negro people who have the same inequity experiences.
Martin Luther King did not know that his “I Have a Dream” speech would still be iconic 50 years later. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. He was facing the problem of racial injustice for himself and everyone like him. He needed to create a speech that everyone could and would understand, could learn from, and could draw inspiration from. He had to address blacks and whites, he had to say things that everyone could relate to and he had speak in a way that he get the
In his speech he also uses many assonances and consonances. They are most occurring and mostly found at the end. One of them is “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 17) Others are “molehill of Mississippi”, “Lookout Mountain”, “curvaceous peaks of California”, and “Rockies of Colorado.” They all have the poetic feeling to them. (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 16)
King uses in his speech is Pathos, which is the appeal to someone 's emotions or beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented a strong feeling towards African-American people about how they were treated as equal individuals “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (King par. 3). Another example of pathos that Dr. King used was when he uses vocabulary and phrases, such as “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (King par. 12). He uses the appeal of emotion, especially the word of choice and diction to let his audience’s know what he would like to see in the
King conveys his audience by the type of context he uses. He chooses the best time frame to speak, it wasn’t too early, and it wasn’t too late. People were ready to listen and see what the future had in store. King uses many methods to connect to his audience, but he uses over 60 metaphors that were easily related to so people could relate and understand. The “I Have a Dream” made the speech more welcoming because he wasn’t trying to demand something, he was just saying what the ideal situation would be and what he wishes it would be. Throughout the speech, King deftly repeats key phrases, including "Let freedom ring" and "I have a dream." Though in some situations using the same words and phrases would be considered “redundant”, in this speech, it is used to emphasize and get the point across to the listeners.
In his speech, he proclaimed a free and better nation of equality and that both races, the blacks and the whites, should join together to achieve common ground and to support each other instead of fighting against one another. King’s vision is that all people should be judged by their “personality and character and not by their color of skin”(‘I Have a Dream”). All points he made in his speech were so strong that lots of people were interested in his thoughts. He dreamed of a land where the blacks could vote and have a reason to vote and where every citizen would be treated the same and with the same justice. He felt that all Americans should be equal and that they should forget about injustice and segregation. He wanted America to know what the problems were and wanted to point out the way to resolve these problems.
On the day of his “I Have a Dream” speech, King stood upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial located in the heart of our nation’s capital. This location was essential to King’s success because it was a symbol of our nation’s historic efforts to abolish the enslavement of African-Americans; an act which was made possible due to the valiant efforts of Abraham Lincoln. As the preponderance of the speech began, King made reference to the former president in what Peter Paris said was a “Declaration proclaimed to America on behalf of all African people”. King stated, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice” (I Have a Dream 2). Through these words, he was able to mimic the tone and style of Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address while also evoking remembrance of the nation’s harsh past. The signing of one such bill, the Emancipation Proclamation, was the first time in history that African-Americans were able to progress in the social order. King tied this into his argument by introducing the concept that other laws could be enacted in order to allow the African-American population to continue
In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the comprehension and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis.
From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than two score years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to all under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this
Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech describes the past, present, and future lives of African-Americans. Racism of African-American was a huge issue of the time, which created kairotic moment for the speech and motivated Dr. King to demonstrate the racial problems of the time. The propose of Dr. King’s speech was to inform people about racial equality and fairness by providing hope and a vision of the future. Dr. King’s speech was intended for different types of audience especially for racial supremacists and African-Americans who were discriminated against.