...Literary Techniques of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech Literary Techniques of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream Speech Introduction Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent civil rights leader, delivered a powerful speech at the historic March on Washington. The speech uses several literary techniques to engage the listener. In the speech, King especially likes to use repetition and metaphor to convey his ideas. These devices are the foundation of King?s unique and effective style. Repetition In I Have a Dream King uses repetition throughout. Repetition is a good tool to use to reinforce an important idea. In Dorothy Seyler?s Read, Reason, Write, she states: ?Some repetition of key words and phrases will occur in well-written and unified essays. Some writers, though, go beyond this technique of unified writing and use repetition to produce an effective cadence, like a drum beating in the background, keeping time with the speaker?s fist pounding the lectern for emphasis.? (58). King?s speech is a perfect representation of this. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” was a passionate and motivational speech to end racial segregation in the United States during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Dr. King, Jr.’s speech was organized, heartfelt and credible, following the ancient appeals techniques: logos, pathos and ethos, to persuade the audience to take immediate action to end racial discrimination through passive resistance. The first section describes to organization of his speech and the use of historical references, analogies and repetition of keywords now, freedom and dream to relay the urgency to attain racial harmony. Then, the second section shows how using of the first person in his speech and describing his dream of racial equality for his children’s future life creates an emotional connection with the audience. Lastly, the third section describes how his persona as a father, pastor, victim and civil rights leader builds his integrity as a speaker. Dr. King, Jr. carefully organized his speech by first building his credibility by using historical references, then describing the trials and tribulations of the African-American community, and then ending with his dreams and hopes for freedom and racial equality. Dr. King, Jr. established the foundation of his speech with the reincarnation of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by previous United States President Abraham Lincoln, and reiteration of words from the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In addition...
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...Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech, alongside with Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg address”, reveals that both men had the same idea of human equality. What is the definition of human equality? This is a definition that was brought to the country’s attention by two great men of history. Nearly one hundred years separated two men that both had the same ideals of what human equality means in a free nation. They both came to the same ideal that was set by our founding fathers. All men were created equal and had the rights to liberty and justice, including the prosperity of the American Dream that so many fought for with demonstrations and the wars of our fathers. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln walked on the battlefield of Gettysburg and delivered the Gettysburg address. Compelled by the constitution and the Declaration of Independence, the ideals of the American nation were to be upheld to the highest regard for basic human life. The wars that were fought previously and the war that the President was going through in order to uphold the promises that the founding fathers promised all those living in the new nation. The civil war separated a single nation fighting one another based on the ideals that one man can own another man. This war lasted for 4 years in order to retain what both sides thought to be right. President Lincoln of the Union stated that we were anti-slavery, and fought rigorously in order to defeat the thought that any man is lesser than another. This speech that...
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...but the community battle goes on.”(Dorothy Day) “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is the most compelling speech. He used figurative language to help support his dream that all men will be able to be given the same treatment. Blacks won’t be satisfied until they are free. Martin Luther King Jr. uses imagery and diction to get to this point. This speech impacts all of American’s lives”...unspeakable horrors of police brutality…” (King, p2). This is diction because he uses words like unspeakable to explain that no one has any words to say about what the whites are doing and why they are doing it. “Negro in Mississippi cannot vote…”(King, p2). This is an example of imagery because it gives an example of where(Mississippi) and what(Blacks...
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...Segregation Segregation was shut down by a man named Martin Luther King Jr. by his famous speech. How the blacks’ lives were before segregation ended,the boycott against segregation,and Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech. Thanks to this speech we now all live as free people in America. This first paragraph is about background information about segregation. Segregation made black people seem like they were worse or not as good as the whites. While the whites had a good new drinking fountain the blacks had an old rusty one. When Martin Luther King Jr. started the march to fight injustice he made the group not ride the bus, especially after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus and got arrested. When Rosa parks did not give up her seat to the white man the bus driver called the police to come and arrest her. Segregation was not an enjoyable time for blacks because it still made them look like and feel like they were worse. It made them feel this way because if the white man needed to use the bus and a black was on it first and it was full the black would get kicked off. So fighting segregation was not an easy thing. They got segregation cancelled...
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...Now recognized as one of the most powerful speeches of the 20th century, Dr. King’s speech was a masterpiece of political rhetoric. In Dr. King's I have Dream Speech the use of rhetorical strategies is seen throughout his speech with metaphors, Allusions and anaphora being most useful in getting his whole point around. With these rhetorical strategies Martin Luther king Jr. uses anaphora to emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more memorable, and, by extension, makes’ King’s story more memorable. Another rhetorical strategy he uses is allusion from the great Gettysburg’s address to show the equivalent worth of both cultures. The last major rhetorical strategy martin Luther king Jr. uses is metaphors, which he uses to this strategy to make point in his speech. Dr. king uses anaphora throughout his speech to gain momentum with each line to erupt in cheers after a few repetitions. For instance dr. king uses the phrases” one hundred years later, the negro is still not free” throughout his speech. Dr. King uses thus phrases...
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...------------------------------------------------- I Have a Dream From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the Martin Luther King Jr. speech. For other uses, see I Have a Dream (disambiguation). Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering "I Have a Dream" at the 1963 Washington D.C. Civil Rights March. | "I Have a Dream"30-second sample from "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. | Problems listening to this file? See media help. | "I Have a Dream" is a public speech by American activist Martin Luther King, Jr.. It was delivered by King on August 28, 1963, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.[1] Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863,[2] King examines that: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free".[3] At the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme of "I have a dream", possibly prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!"[4] In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become the most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.[5] The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars...
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...------------------------------------------------- AMERICAN DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Civil Rights Movement Deyana Faraj On the 4th of July 1776, 56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed a document that would not only declare independence of America from British colonial power but less than 200 years later, become the backbone of a new established America where the walls of discrimination and segregation would finally begin to deteriorate. The Declaration of Independence is a powerful document that has led to the development of equal rights and social justice within societies on a world context. More specifically, principles in this document were instrumental when argued by African American Civil Rights leaders in achieving equality and abolishing racial segregation and discrimination against African- Americans in the United States, during the African American Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). Before the American Civil Rights Movement, laws known as Jim Crow laws had forced racial segregation of facilities and the prohibition of intermarriage. These laws were similar to the apartheid legislation and it became the law mainly in the south of America. Where there is inequality and injustice within a government, the people of the nation demand change. Since the Jim Crow laws were enacted, the laws that mandated racial segregation in public areas and the prohibition of intermarriage in the Southern United States were socially and morally unjust and this fuelled...
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...speeches Public Speaking The context of this speech is extremely important for what took place on August 28th, 1963. It the height of a race war going on between blacks and whites in America this speech really hit home to a lot of people. It took place in Washington D.C., United States, approximately mid-day. The reason he must have chosen to speak in that location and time was because of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This was a huge demonstration to create support for the civil rights movement, as purposed by John F Kennedy. The audience he was speaking to were protesting for the civil rights movement that day in Washington. White and blacks joined together to listen to the speech that Dr. Martin Luther King was presenting. He had obviously done his homework. He originally was paying homage to Abraham Lincoln’s centennial of the emancipation proclamation. He had observed that even though 100 years later the black people were still not free. Forced to sit in designated areas and be a lower class of people during the time. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very bright man, he had studied his audience and also the social heartache the Civil Rights Movement was putting the black people through. His background, growing up in Mississippi, had shown him there was a problem with the culture and misrepresentation with the black people of America. He had realized even being freed from slavery did not essentially make them free. He wanted equality for blacks, whites, Protestants...
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...The Road to Justice We are not created equal, but we all are born free regardless of our ethnicity, religion, gender or social classes. We all deserve to have equal civil rights to life, liberty, and justice. In America, all black and white people of different nationalities and religions are supposed to have the same opportunities for education, better life and happiness. When we do not receive those civil rights, we start to think to protest. Historically, the "Civil Rights Movement" refers to African- Americans in their struggle for freedom and racial justice. Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged during the Montgomery Bus Boycott movement and became the most effective non-violent leader. He brings his nation to freedom on the basis...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- preacher, orator, and acclaimed civil rights leader -- is possibly the best remembered for his effective speech, “I Have A Dream,” in which he expressed his ambition for peace and racial equality. The 17-minute speech was given to thousands of people at the Lincoln Memorial and televised live to millions on August 28, 1963. King urged America to acknowledge people of all races to be united and free. He used his knowledge as a preacher and used anaphora, parallelism, and historical references to grab the attention of his audience. King’s experience as a preacher and as a civil rights activist was evident in the artistry of the speech. With King’s experience as a preacher, he has given numerous sermons in his lifetime. He has formed a technique that he continuously practices in his sermons, so his audience can relate to him and make the sermon more effective. His technique includes rhetorical devices such as anaphora and parallelism. An essential element of a preacher is being charismatic. This is a part of his technique because that charm is so compelling that it inspires devotion in others. King’s charisma also affects his...
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...| #2 Group AssignmentMartin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream | Due Date | Week 8 | Date Received | | DECLARATION | To be completed if this is an individual assignment: I declare that this assignment is my individual work. I have not worked collaboratively nor have I copied from any other student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgment is made explicitly in the text, nor has any part been written for me by another person. | Student ID | Student Name | Student Signature | Student 1 | | | | To be completed if this is a group assignment: We declare that this is a group assignment and that no part of this submission has been copied from any other student's work or from any other source except where due acknowledgment is made explicitly in the text, nor has any part been written for us by another person. | Student ID | Student Name | Student Signature | Student 1 | 4240138 | Danushka Nirmal De Silva | | Student 2 | 4235150 | Ngu Ing Sung | | Student 3 | 4237293 | Dashilla Ladaey | | Student 4 | 4237323 | Ahmad Akmal Afiq | | Student 5 | 100070566 | Lasse Svenning Jensen | | MARKER’S COMME Total Mark | | Marker’s Signature | | Date | | EXTENSION CERTIFICATE | This assignment has been given an extension by Unit Convenor | | Extended due date: | | Date Received | | Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream An analysis of a historically important leadership speech Words: (excl. front-page and references)...
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...RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1 Rhetorical Analysis of “I Have Dream” Speech Alfonso Gonzalez Itt Technical Institute Instructor Deana Schoneberg EN 1320 RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2 The main point of Dr. Kings speech was that an injustice had been done to the black people. They were promised freedom from the emancipation proclamation and up to that point they still were not free. They were segregated and treated like second class citizens. Were they suppose to sit down and let white men at that time humiliate them, beat them, bomb their houses, and strip them of human dignity? No! Dr. King was preaching to all who listened, that now was the time to metaphorically cash this check, a check that will give them upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. But to do this, not with violence or retaliation, “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” (Carson, 1998, p225) This would be the way Dr. King would want to see his dream played out, with non -violence. Were all his efforts done in vain? On August 28, 1963, The March on Washington was organized by Bayard Rustin and led by union leader A. Philip Randolph. The backdrop ironically took place on the steps...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most memorable and most powerful speeches in History. The speech was titled “I Have a Dream”, and was recited in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. No one could have imagined that forty-eight years later, we as Americans would be referring back to this speech as an important breakthrough in History. Martin Luther King Jr. uses anaphora and allusions to help portray his idea of racial equality for everyone, and a better future for America. Martin Luther King Jr. used the rhetoric device called anaphora to emphasize his theme of equality. There are several examples in this speech that we could use as examples. One example is the line or phrase, “And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let Freedom ring from the mighty mountain of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania” (324). King emphasized the words “let freedom ring” over and over again because he wants us to remember that certain phrase. He used these words to state that freedom should be from coast to coast for every person, and not just found in some states. He says “let freedom ring” and uses different geographic areas that are spread apart throughout the United States. King exclaims that freedom should be everywhere in the United States of America, and is an essential part of a better future for America. King wanted everyone to be treated equal, no matter what race you were or how...
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...Luther King Jr. showed up to fight for racial equality. During his fight for racial equality he made several significant speeches including his most famous one “I Have a Dream”. That speech was his final one but yet the most important speech of all. Even though Martin Luther’s speech was 54 years ago, his meaning still stands today as a “new age” for America. In his speech he uses rhetorical devices, ethos, pathos, and logos to help add meaning to his speech, and he also gives a patriotic tone to highlight the importance of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”...
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