Allusions In I Have A Dream Speech

Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and a Civil Rights activist, became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is widely known for his speech that took place on 28 August 1963, “I Have a Dream.” This speech aimed toward the entire nation. King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice and for them all to stand up together for their rights. In this speech, King uses emotional and logical appeal to gain the audience's support. He applied many rhetorical devices to his speech to connect with the audience’s emotions, and to logically support his arguments.

The “I Have A Dream,” speech at first glance called for Negro rights. With a more in-depth reading the speech called, for the rights of all people and, for the friendship and unity of all Americans. King used this speech to summarize the hopes of the Civil Rights Movement, of the American people. His use of repetition in his speech on the phrases “I have a dream” and “let freedom ring,” enabled him to create an emotional dynamic with his speech. Before embarking on the most emotional part of the speech, King gave a synopsis of the history and the current state of the African American people.

One hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to stop slavery, Martin Luther King, Jr. presented the “I Have a Dream” speech to thousands of people. The day Luther King, Jr.’s speech was the day of the March on Washington, which was for the support of the rights o colored citizens, and for the termination of segregation. King delivered this speech with a tone of hope and determination in order to convince colored people to fight for their rights and persuade the citizens that all lives matter and should be treated equally. He also delivered it in order to urge the rights these people deserved. Luther stood before all these people to express his thoughts on equality and the rights his people were stripped of. Kings’ audience consisted of the citizens of America that believed in equality for all races. In the “I Have a Dream” Speech, Martin Luther King, Jr used many metaphors, similes, analogies, Pathos, and Mythos to connect with his audience on a superior level and develop his tone.

"I Have A Dream" is a mesmerizing speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was delivered to the thousands of Americans on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. 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 African American 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.

In “I Have a Dream”, by Dr.Martin Luther King Jr persuades us to want equal rights for African-Americans through peaceful resistance. I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr is a very compelling speech to me because, he is using figurative language in order to show all the hopes and dreams he has for his people.

Dr. Kings speech contains numerous persuasive devices of repetition and metaphors which reinforce the call for ending discrimination. Dr. King repeats the phrase “I have a dream” numerous times towards the end of the speech. Dr. King uses repetition to influence the audience that there is a hope for the future of minorities within the United States of America, and they someday will be equal to white people, causing them to no longer be persecuted. Dr. King also uses the metaphor “the manacles of segregation” during his speech. Dr. King has used this metaphor to entail that the hands, portraying the white people and the minorities, are unable to touch or interact with each other. This metaphor allows the civil rights protestors and the racist whites to be able to interpret the situation and be enlightened on the issue. Dr. King has used the persuasive devices of repetition and metaphors to effectively bring forward his goal of civil rights

The I Have a Dream speech was able to cultivate people around the country. Dr. King used persuasive and strong words, or pathos, to preach his beliefs on segregation in the United States. ¨Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!¨ (King,264). This, like many other statements from his speech, rials up the audience by using exciting words to make them engaged. In the Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. King writes to ignorant clergymen and establishes his stance by using facts and previous events, also known as logos. ¨We should never forget that everything Adolf

King wrote one of the most influential speeches ever, and to be able to see if it was effective, an analytical tool could be used called The Rhetorical Triangle which helps the identify the speaker, the audience, and the subject in the speech. The speaker in “I have a dream” is Martin Luther King, Jr. The audience of the speech would be anyone during that time period who believed in the idea of cultures mixing. And the purpose of the speech was to encourage hope in people. He wished to unite white people and black people in peace

King also uses allusion to augment his point in his speech. Throughout his speech he makes many references to the Bible. “…justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King). King alludes to the bible verse Amos 5:24. Through the allusion, King depicts that he wants justice to overtake the injustices of discrimination, and for justice to not only overcome discrimination, but for it to flow through America forever. King believed that humans live in a world where God does not judge people by their race and that people should not judge each other off of the color of their skin. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (King). This line in King’s speech alludes to the bible verses Isaiah 40:4-5. Although he does not quote the verses verbatim, this connects King’s message with the religious sides of people, as the majority of people practiced Christianity in America at this time. King dreams that one day

Martin Luther King, the man most remembered for his “I Have a Dream” speech. He was a very influential and impressive man and his speeches were the same. They challenged the listeners to make the changes they wanted, even if it involved a hard fought battle. Not only was he an impressive speaker, but he also was a biblical man and committed christian. He provided credit to God and included his mercies and miracles in his speeches.

In his article The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech, Kakutani described the different small events that took place during the induction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream” speech. He also describes the topic of Dr. King’s speech; he breaks it down into different parts and the reference Dr. King’s speech addressed, such as biblical, The Declaration of Independence, Shakespeare, and popular songs. Kakutani states that Dr. King’s reference in his speech added amplification and depth to his speech.

“[The] Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation,”.stated Martin Luther King, Jr. in his speech “I Have A Dream,”.which he gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, during a march on Washington (1).King’s purpose in his speech was to expound on the need for change in civil rights, especially for black Americans. By utilizing repetition, an extended metaphor and light and dark imagery,King connects logically and emotionally to his audience to evoke a sense of power to overcome racism.

I Have A Dream Literary Analysis The Martin Luther King speech is a well known, powerful speech. It was given to fight for the black Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. had a huge impact on the change of that time period due to his famous speech. But what did Dr. King do to make his speech so memorable? “I have a dream” was one line that stood out the most.

The speech I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. expresses its purpose with absolutely no force, no harshness of demand, but with such clarity that it pleads to convey compassion and understanding. This speech is considerably one of the most iconic and influential speeches during the Civil Rights Movement. King’s tone, use of literary devices, and organized structure all accentuate the urgency that is shown throughout his entire speech. Certainly, no one can deny King’s persuasive devices in I Have a Dream that impacts American History.

“I Have a Dream” Speech Literary Analysis August 28, 1963, 250 thousand people, who had previously participated in the March on Washington, listened to MLK give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. This speech went on to inspire thousands of African Americans to join his cause to earn themselves rights. His philosophy of nonviolence and his determination which he outlined in his speech, eventually helped create a United States with no segregation laws in place. To effectively get get his message across, MLK used many different literary elements, such as alliteration and allusions. These literature elements made MLK’s speech much more effective and strong.