Literary Techniques of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech demanded racial justice towards the mistreated black community of America. The theme of the speech was that all humans were created equal and that this should be the case for the future of America. King's words proved to touch the hearts of millions of people and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening to the black Americans. This did not happen by chance. Martin Luther King's speech was carefully constructed so it would have the most appropriate diction to propose his facts and ideas. His speech involved multiple different literary techniques which were very significant in persuading the audience as well. The structure of his speech was an important part of the fluency and persuasiveness of his speech. Sentence lengths, paragraph lengths and the grouping of his ideas drew the audience into his speech. King also used excellent diction throughout his speech using some important literary techniques. One of the techniques which King used was repetition. This helped to drum his points into the audience's mind. King also used figurative language very frequently to persuade the audience. However, none of these literary techniques would have been convincing without some sort of factual evidence backing it up. King used facts to shock the audience and evoke empathy from the white Americans, as well as evoking anger from the black people about how they were treated. He then spoke of not letting the anger cause violence but inspire them to speak out and meet, "physical force with soul force."

The structure of Martin Luther King?s speech is one of its most persu...

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... big mark on American culture and this as no coincidence. King spoke using careful diction to present his address in the most persuasive way possible. The structural aspects of his speech were carefully crafted to draw the audience in to the address hence allowing him to persuade them very effectively. On top of structural aspects, the literary aspects of his speech were also very carefully designed. He used many literary techniques throughout his speech to help convince the audience of his arguments. All of this would be almost useless without sufficient evidence backing it up and King used facts extremely well to reinforce his points and ideas. King used many persuasive literary techniques throughout his speech to help convince the audience of his ideas.

Bibliography:

Seyler, Dorothy U. Read, Reason, Write. Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill College, 1999.