Civil rights leader and reverend Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech on the 28th of August in 1963. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King gives this speech in the midst of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where about 250,000 African American and white civil rights activists marched, making it the largest demonstration ever seen in the nation's capital, and one of the first to have extensive television coverage (“Civil Rights March on Washington”). In order to fight for civil and economic rights and guide his fellow activists in their actions, King utilizes an extended metaphor, many anaphoras, and analogies as aids along with his confident but urgent tone. King employs extended metaphor …show more content…
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was in office and gave his Civil Rights Address which transformed the issue from a legal matter to a morality. In 1963, there are constant protests for equality in cities like Birmingham, Alabama, where thousands of African American protesters were arrested, attacked by police dogs, and sprayed with the full force of a fire hose by police officers - the very same men they are supposed to trust to protect them are using brutal force to stop their peaceful protest for an end to segregation. So, yes, it would be correct to assume that times were tough and tensions were high for the American people. King uses this to his advantage by comparing a “sweltering summer” to the current tension over racial equality and the civil rights of the African American population. Applying the negative connotation of the word “sweltering” in order to make his audience understand that the events happening around them are negative and there needs to be change. This use of extended metaphor appears again later in the essay when King says, “I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state …show more content…
“We’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. . .Instead of honoring its sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’” (King Jr.). Here, King compares the idea of this “check” to the African Americans’ right to freedom, implying that they have been neglected from their rights as citizens of America, and that they are there in Washington to gain theses rights, or “cash” their “check”. However, King explains that this has previously been attempted, and, in short, had no success. He states that the check “has come back marked ‘insufficient funds,’” referring to after the civil war when the 15th Amendment was passed, guaranteeing the right to vote to all men, in contrast with the Black Codes that were soon put into motion in the Southern states that would limit the rights to people of color. With these mixed messages of being able to vote, but yet not being able to drink from the same water fountain as a white man African Americans basically received their check back marked “insufficient funds.” The function of the analogy here is to connect current events with past events to explain how it needs to be done correctly now in order to succeed, and King wants the people who support him - and those who do not - to re-cash their check and “demand the riches of freedom and the
He compares their situation as being on a “lonely island of poverty” (2) in a “vast ocean of material prosperity” (2) which displays the atrocious position of colored people and further expands on this by describing how “The Negro is still at the bottom of the economic ladder” (2) which presents the injustice faced by these impoverished population. His adopting of these phrases is in order influence his audience to not only realize the harsh realities, but to prompt them to seek true freedom for everyone. The examples employed by King leave the reader with a sense of understanding of why King has his powerful ambitions.
...lse. “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’” Everything that Hitler did was legal, but immoral and wrong, and things that Hungarian Freedom Fighters were doing was illegal, but was the right thing. This alludes to King doing the right thing, but having it is illegal, and doing the right thing and doing the legal thing do not always go hand in hand. In addition to that, he also makes reference to the “Boston Tea Party” showing that civil disobedience as not a new idea.
“When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. That quote by King explains his fatherly struggle which he felt by not being able to provide. King is relating to the pit forming in the stomach, caused by a situation where they have to disappoint. For the Clergymen, it relates to having to upset his city when he is unable to provide their wants. For the white, it relates to having a family, wanting to provide and give them everything you can. Having to let someone down is not a positive feeling and I would not wish that upon anyone, whether black or white. The white’s could picture their own child on their favorite ride, the excitement bubbling inside of them, and the satisfaction of seeing your child so happy. That emotion was crushed and snagged away from Kings daughter before she even experienced it. He relates to the reader through love of family and wanting to provide when providing is seen as your
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.
With this intention in mind, he brings up the notion that unjust laws are meant to be broken if the person breaking them has accepted the consequences or if breaking the law is for the bettering of society. King believed that if you break a law that your conscience deemed unjust and accept the punishment in order to make people think about the injustice that the law set in place, you have the highest respect for the law. As stated in the prior paragraph, King refers to the voting system in the state of Alabama and how it is corrupt. The way laws are being voted upon make them unjust, and, therefore, set a baseline for them to be broken. Towards the end of the passage, King brings to light how the police officers were commended for their actions of keeping the protesters in “order and preventing violence”. The white community believed that all laws were just because they did not negatively affect their lives. The black community speaking out and protesting against laws they viewed as unjust were perceived as obscene by the white community. This point of view demonstrates Kings beliefs that unjust laws are breakable, because while the white community in Alabama saw such protests as obscene and unneeded, the rest of the country tuned in to watch everything unfold.
King continues to appeal to the emotion by individualizing the injustices suffered by many. He gives specifics of his young daughter crying and his son asking why white people treat him so poorly. These images work to evoke empathy for Kings cause and the civil rights movement.
In response to the clergyman's claim that his use of direct action was "untimely," King states, "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights." As you can see, this statement is in direct relation to the clergyman's "untimely" notion, but one would do good to realize his underlying audience. The "we" in this statement refers to his "black brothers and sisters" taking an active role in the civil rights movement. So what this statement does in terms of pathos is to light the fire of inspiration under his black brothers and sisters and have them realize that 340 yea...
King employs numerous rhetorical devices weaved into “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Apart from rhetorical questioning and metaphors Mr. King’s use of antithesis and polysyndeton are also noticeable. Polysyndeton is used many times, but is most evident in the following quote. “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the amusement park that has just been advertised on television…” Yes, this is a long quote, but it is the perfect use of the rhetorical device called polysyndeton. Dr. King’s abnormal and frequent use of the phrases/words brother, sisters, when, and and add a strong dramatic effect to this quote. Antithesis is also practiced many a time in Dr. King’s letter to you. Antithesis is used when King constructs two sentences with contrasting meaning in a close proximity to each other. Phrases like “moving with jet like speed” and “creep at a horse and buggy pace” completely contradict one another, but instead of using this device once King uses it twice in the same quote. “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at a horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at
Martin Luther King uses a lot of repetition in his speech. They are scattered throughout but very close. One of the repetitions in his speech is “I have a dream.” He uses this phrase to show what he sees in the future of America. One of the phrases he uses with it is: “I have a dream that one day this nation will and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Another is “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their nature. I have a dream today.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 12) Two other repetitions he uses is “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last.” (King, M. L. Jr. (1963, Aug.28) Para 16&17)
A leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful speech “I Have a Dream” to the United States of America. Where 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on the day of August 28, 1963, the March on Washington stood as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. King uses a sentimental and dramatic tone to speak for freedom, aiming to provoke a change in the hearts and minds of the people. His powerful rhetorical language strongly connects to the audience, as he hopes for them to carefully view a better sense of peace and racial equality, speaking with distress as well as displeasure towards the injustices of segregation and discrimination of African-Americans.
In his speech, King uses different types of rhetorical guidelines. He uses them to show his points in a better and easier way to understand .At the beginning he successfully uses a mythos. A mythos has a deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for the audience. In mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation he shows that our ancestors signed a contract, in which all human beings are created equal, and therefore should be treated in the same way as others. He also visualizes his ideas with visual examples, which everybody can understand. “America has given the black population a bad check, which has come back marked insufficient funds”( I Have a Dream)
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.
“Cash a check” is more grounded. So it is easy to understand that African American people came to get what the US promised to give them. Segregation and racial discrimination made it that African Americans were certainly not guaranteed these rights and were not being treated as if they were created equal. They were saying that it was time for the US to keep its promise and give them the equal rights that it had said all Americans should have in the Declaration of Independence and the
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