Rhetorical Analysis Of I Have A Dream

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On August 28, 1963, the incredible Martin Luther King Jr. gave his influential speech titled “I have a Dream.” This speech was one of the biggest pivot points of the Civil Rights movement, and solved one of the biggest problems for Negro people at that period in time; racism. One of the strongest techniques used in this speech is metaphors with imagery, such as when he stated “flames of withering injustice” and “beacon light of hope,”which evokes an emotional response because of intense imagery used in the quotes, allowing King to influence his listeners to a greater extent. When King states he is standing under a “symbolic shadow” of the “great American” Abraham Lincoln; the memorial in which King rehearsed his speech, he alludes to Lincoln’s most important accomplishment: the “Emancipation Proclamation” - the act abolishing slavery. This led to the Lincoln Memorial’s shadow being symbolic, because he fought for the rights of a large group of people, similar to how King was fighting for Negro rights. However, the shadow was not only something literal, it was also figurative. The shadow acts as a metaphor with imagery, because it is referring to how Lincoln’s hopes for equality and peace, is spread across to all people like a ginormous shadow of …show more content…

In so doing so, King creates the feeling of sweat and exhaustion; the same feeling of injustice and oppression. However, by pairing this idea of heat with a line about transforming it into “an oasis of freedom and justice,” King brings up the idea of transforming this “heat” into a much nicer, and relaxing place for all, where everyone can take a drink from the water of freedom. By simulating this intense idea, his listeners get put into the shoes of the Negro people, allowing King to push the listener's thoughts towards equality and freedom for all in this racist

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