...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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...Title | #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...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ‘“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’” (Luther and Melvin). Martin Luther King Jr., the man with a dream, fought through discrimination to enable United States citizens to live more peacefully. Due to his work during the Civil Rights Movement and his tragic death, Martin Luther King, Jr. left a legacy of equality in America. As a child Martin Luther King, Jr. experienced racial discrimination first hand. Due to his skin color, King’s “friends” refused to play with him at a young age (Dubovoy). King stood emotionally wounded for the rest of his life, when his own best friends betrayed him. King did not want his children or anyone to feel discriminated against due to their...
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...University Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther Kings “I Have A Dream” (Revised) Introduction On August 28th 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech which was addressed to not only the 200,000 white and black Americans but people all around the world. The “I Have A Dream” speech has been considered one of the most greatest and powerful speeches in history. Why was it given? Simply to rectify that all me were created equal despite their race or color. In this Analysis I will be explaining some literary terms he used as strategies in his speech, and also explain how Dr. King used two rhetorical patterns to help him support his argument, those two patters are Ethos, & Pathos. Strategies Dr. King used many literary terms in the “I Have a Dream” speech such as Alliteration, which is the repetition of sounds. For example he says, “I have a dream that my four little 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 character.” The “c” in those three words of that sentence gives it a repetitive rhythm feel which will make that important part of the speech catch and memorable. Also from that same sentence he used Anaphora, which describes the most famous part of the speech, where in this case is “I Have a Dream”. Although he used it many times just buy naming this speech “I Have a Dream” it will make everything he say after...
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...the Lincoln Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King captivated America with his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech insisted racial integrity towards the wronged black community of America. The topic of the speech was that all individuals were created equal and from that day there needed to be a transformation in modern America. King's words demonstrated to touch the heaps of individuals and gave the country a language to express what was happening in the black community of American. Martin Luther King's speaking was cautiously created so it would have the most suitable delivery to suggest his facts and ideas. During that remarkable speech there are unseen, but apparent drops of propaganda....
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...What happened to the Dream? Dr Martin Luther King Jr wanted freedom for all colors, black and white. He wanted everybody to be consider equal. "I have a dream" by Dr Martin Luther Kings Jr is a presuasive speech because he uses appeal rhetoriacal devices and tone. Dr Martin Luther King Jr uses appeals to show emotions on how he felt and to show reasioning to tell people how life is. "One hundred years later the life of the negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination." We are still divided as a nation, balck and whites still till this day have not taken accountability that rascism still exist in the world today. Martin Luther King jr felt the American dream was nothing more that a racial experiences of life. Dr. King referced different intentices that proved that balcks are not equal. "Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horros of police brutality. Blacks were beaten, spit on and killed because of there color....
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...civil rights movement activist Martin Luther King Jr gave a speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Not for the beautiful viewing but for the remembrance of the President who tried to end segregation. Dr. King spoke in front of hundreds of thousands of colored and white people from across the nation, informing them about the change against segregation. As a writer Dr. King knows how to grab his followers attention. Dr. King used allusions, pathos, parallel structure, alliteration, juxtaposition, and imagery to not only show the future when segregation ends but to grab people attention and open their ears to faith and change. Dr. King uses allusions to show credibility of past and how people...
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...Analysis – I Have a Dream. A speech, that will be remembered by many and be passed down from generation to generation, had shaped the future of America by the time Martin Luther King had stepped off the stage on August 28th, as he called for an end to racism in the United States during the March on Washington in 1963. This was one of, if not, the most powerful speech America has seen to this day. A beautiful way to begin! Good job! Martin Luther King stood on that stage with confidence and determination to make a change in the United States of America and it was shown through this rhetorical masterpiece titled “I Have a Dream”. The first line of the speech makes the audience aware of not only how serious he is, but also how determined and sure he is that his speech will change the civil rights in the United States of America; he could not have been more right about it. From the very first line, Martin Luther King had his audiences’ undivided attention. “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” (Line 1-2, Page 1) His audience in this case would not only be his fellow Negroes who are still not free, but the rest of the Americans that attended the March on Washington. Little did he know that the whole world would be his audience… Good! In this first line we see him start off with using logos. He refers to the USA as “our” nation. We see this throughout the entire speech. It...
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...John F. Kennedy once said,”If we cannot now end our differences ,at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X have different ways to meet the need for racial equality. Martin Luther King Junior’s message in “I have a Dream” speech in the March on Washington is one of the most inspiring speech in history. King’s message during this speech was to protest peacefully instead of violently. King’s hope is to get everything integrated instead of segregated. Martin Luther King’s family was very loving and close. Dr. King’s father and grandfather were ministers. Dr . King realized at a young age that segregation was incorrect, while integration was...
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...A Dream That Is Still Coming True After studying the Emancipation Proclamation and segregation is high school, I know a little bit about black suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement. However, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream” puts it into perspective just a little bit better. No one truly knows the severity of a situation until they hear it from a primary source. If I had to pick one quote to sum up what I learned, I would have to choose, “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” Learning about segregation in my high school was very different from reading about it in this speech. I went to a mostly white high school with very few minorities. Of course we touched on the subject and discussed how it was awful but there was no one to put emotion into it. There was no one to make us see just how unfairly African Americans were treated. Being from a small, slightly Southern town, I think I was stripped of the opportunity to become more familiar with black culture. That being said, I do think King’s speech was effective, however, the effects still haven’t reached some people. King had amazing intentions with this speech. He wanted nothing more than freedom and equal rights for African Americans. I do believe this speech was straight from the heart and sincere in every way. Personally, I think he was right in every way making this speech and saying things that no one had dared to say in public. No African American had been able...
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...Martin Luther king is a person who change the world by following his dream and make peace with the world and ending racism. Martin Luther King was person who ended racism and make all African American be free and do what white people can do like don't have to sit in the back of the bus no more, don't have to be slaves, they can go place where they couldn't. He made a long speech how ending racism and also made a riot where he got in trouble and got arrested. When Martin Luther King was he was playing with his friend until his mom came and told him to not play with him no more and he felt really bad and that's why he had a dream and the dream was to ending racism and he did. Then, Martin Luther king made another speech about how education is...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Paper Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream According to Aristotle, there are three ways for a speaker to persuade his audience: ethos, logos, and pathos ("American rhetoric: Aristotle's rhetoric - selected moments," n.d.). Aristotle noted that a speech should “engage both the rational and non-rational elements of the listener's soul” (Wardy, 1996, p. 63). The speaker must have credibility with their audience and appear fair, open-minded, honest, and knowledgeable (ethos). He/she must also have logical appeal with strong, valid arguments based on facts and, perhaps, with personal experience and observations (logos). And, finally, the speaker must emotionally appeal to the audience and create a personal connection to draw and hold their attention (pathos). Of the three, Aristotle believed that ideally arguments should be made with reason, or logic, alone (McKay & McKay, 2010). However, it is often a speaker’s emotional appeal that creates the personal connection, as well as captivates and motivates the audience … and few have done that better than the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. If you say the words “I have a dream”, Americans from age 18 to 80 immediately think of Martin Luther King Jr. They may not know the words achieved notoriety from a speech given at an equal rights march on Washington, DC in August 1963. They may not know that 250,000 blacks gathered at the National Mall to demand "jobs and freedom" (Hampson, 2013). Additionally, they...
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...Why did I choose this subject? I choose this subject because I think Martin Luther King is a special and interesting character. I am admiring the fights he fought and the way he fought with peace. He kept his opinion though all the adversity and just that, showed what a strong man he was. Human’s rights have always been in my interest. Especially when it´s racial segregation. I am an opponent of the people who are judging based on the skincolour. The same position as King, that’s also why I choose this subject. The beginning of Martin Luther King Jr. life: Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, January the 15th 1929. He was actually named Michael, but when he was 6, his father – Michael Luther King senior - decided to change both of their names to Martin. He did it in tribute for Martin Luther. Martin Luther, King Junior and King senior had something in common. They were all trying to change and abolish the old systems. Luther did it in the churches and Luther King did it in the society. The Bus boycott in Montgomery: In 1953, Martin Luther King becomes a priest in a Baptist church in Montgomery. Two years later a black woman in a buss, called Rosa Park, refused to leave her seat for a white man. She got arrested. It was the starting signal of one of the first and biggest campaigns in the American history. This campaign was to tell the world that the blacks weren´t treated right. The day after Rosa Parks´ arresting, King was leading a meeting in the church. The...
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...Martin Luther king Jr. and Fredrick Douglass both use their own skills in their speeches to prove how their freedom is nothing without equality. In Kings ” I Have a Dream” and Douglass’ “Address to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society” they both use rhetorical and literary devices to express their thoughts of freedom and equality. Martin Luther king Jr. wanted not only blacks freedom, but to have equal rights like the rest of American citizens. A rhetorical device found in King's speech is an anaphora to make the listeners emphasis and remember what is being said. Martin Luther king states,” I have a dream “ about 8 times to demonstrate to the audience to get it through there head what his dream is, to have the world in the future to come...
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...Human Equality Kaleigh A. Butler ENGL-113-ND Willmore Kanyongo, PhD March 1, 2014 The analysis of Martin 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...
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