...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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...The speech “I Have a Dream” have 78 sentences in total, included 9 sentences with over 30 words in each. The longest sentence has 77 words; the shortest one has only 4 words. The whole speech consists of the mid to long length of sentences, which clearly stated the claim: improve the human right for African Americans. In a peer article written by Joe Ciesinski, he stated that Martin Luther King Jr. contrasts light and dark metaphors in his speech” (Ciesinski, p.18). In the first paragraph, the phrase “beacon light”, is a metaphor that referred to the Emancipation Proclamation that gives hope to the Negro slaves suffering from the injustice. The joyous daybreak is another metaphor of the and end the long-term of captivity. King chose the words...
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...confusing to me, because I didn’t know if it was talking about a woman or a job. But it seems like he would take his job over anything. This poem has a little bit of rhyme scheme and rhyme. The poetic devices are repetition and personification. The repetition is how they are repeating over and thorough. The personification is the cowslips tall her pensioners are, in their gold coats spots you see. The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost (contains Imagery & Rhyme Scheme don’t know how to say it) “ The Road Not Taken ” by Robert Frost is about a ‘ Road ’. The Road is used as a metaphor and as an extended metaphor of choices we have to make in life. The form in the road is used as a metaphor throughout the poem, it is termed as an extended metaphor in line 6 where the person is thinking of taking one road but takes another. This could be a metaphor for thinking of your choices before deciding. This could be a metaphor of making decisions during the fall of your life or when you are getting older. In the beginning, the woods are yellow meaning in the autumn. Nature is also used as a metaphor in the poem. A poetic device used in this poem is personification: “ Because it was grassy and wanted wear ” He means, The grass wanted wear but the grass does not have feelings or needs...
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...Is the American Dream a Delusion? The idea of the American Dream is rooted deep in every Americans heart. The American dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and the idea that life should be fuller, richer and better for everyone regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. But this view on the American dream is challenged by gender studies and college teacher Courtney E. Martin in her article ”Is the American Dream a Delusion?”, in which she questions the value of the American Dream. Courtney E. Martin is a gender studies professor at Hunter College which is one of the most ethnically diverse schools. This gives her a sense of credibility; that she knows what she is talking about. In this article she is addressing teachers and professional educators like herself, because of the complex and formal language used by E. Martin, for example “I want to give my students an intellectual tool that can serve as an emotional cushion”. This is not only an example of the complexity of the language, but also an example of the many metaphors E. Martin uses in the article. Metaphors are mostly used to emphasise a point or so there is a sense of clarity. Another example of a metaphor could be “I don't want to be the pinprick that lets the air out of the swollen balloon of hope”. By using this metaphor, E. Martin clarifies that she is not trying to beat the immigrants down or take their hope away. Later...
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...apart. Then during the 1960’s, Martin Luther King began to speak up. He was a simple minister from Alabama, until he became the figurehead of the Civil Rights movement. King had witnessed racial injustices for many years, but even he couldn’t have imagined the impact he would make by standing up to those injustices.He organized boycotts, led rallies, and gave speeches; however, he is best known for one speech. The "I Have a Dream..." speech was given during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Over 250,000 civil rights supporters witnessed one of the most famous speeches in history. King used powerful, emotional metaphors, repetition, Logical appeal, and Emotional appeal to rally the audience by painting a picture of what the world could be. At the time King gave his...
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...A Rhetorical Analysis of MLK Jr.’s “I have a dream” Speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one hundred years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which outstandingly furthered the civil rights movement. At that time, racial segregation, police brutality, and other forms of racial inequality were terribly prominent in America. The speech successfully focused the country’s attention at the need for racial equality “Now” (King, I Have a Dream). King gave the speech in order to motivate his followers to peacefully continue to demonstrate, protest, and boycott until they were fully granted the equality and privileges that any other citizen was allowed to have. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech is his most notable, and one of the most influential of Twentieth-Century-America because of his excellent rhetorical use of repetition and anaphora, contrasting metaphors, and appropriate quotations and allusions throughout the speech. Martin Luther King Jr. used a profuse amount of repetition and anaphora throughout his speech. A subtle form of repetition, the repetition of singular words, was mainly used to emphasize key themes in the speech and keep them in the minds of the audience. Such repeated key themes were “freedom”, “justice” and “injustice”, “America” and “American”, and plural nouns such as “we” and “our”. Since the preceding words were repeated so frequently...
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...Beginning on the steps of 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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...Is the American Dream a Delusion? The idea of the American Dream is rooted deep in every Americans heart. The American dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and the idea that life should be fuller, richer and better for everyone regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. But this view on the American dream is challenged by gender studies and college teacher Courtney E. Martin in her article ”Is the American Dream a Delusion?”, in which she questions the value of the American Dream. Courtney E. Martin is a gender studies professor at Hunter College which is one of the most ethnically diverse schools. This gives her a sense of credibility; that she knows what she is talking about. In this article she is addressing teachers and professional educators like herself, because of the complex and formal language used by E. Martin, for example “I want to give my students an intellectual tool that can serve as an emotional cushion”. This is not only an example of the complexity of the language, but also an example of the many metaphors E. Martin uses in the article. Metaphors are mostly used to emphasise a point or so there is a sense of clarity. Another example of a metaphor could be “I don't want to be the pinprick that lets the air out of the swollen balloon of hope”. By using this metaphor, E. Martin clarifies that she is not trying to beat the immigrants down or take their hope away. Later...
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...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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...English 101 “Dreams Converted to Reality” In “The Symbolic Language of Dreams”, Stephen King speaks in depth about his writing process. King has written over fifty novels and sold over three hundred and fifty thousand copies worldwide. Most of us cringe at the thought of re-living some of our worst nightmares, but that’s not the case for novelist Stephen King. He uses his dreams and nightmares to sculpt his stories to his liking. King believes that dreams are the way our minds translate the nature or solution to our problems, and speaks in depth about this connection with his writing process. In “The Symbolic Language of Dreams”, Stephen King reveals that writing and dreaming are closely correlated, and writers prefer routine to achieve a semi-dreaming state. King uses dreams extensively in his writing process. He believes that dreams have a precognitive effect on the story and uses those experiences to bring the eerie feelings to life in his novels. When he was writing “IT”, King reveals that he came to a halt in writing, and needed to come up with something. He fell asleep and had a very scary nightmare; he awoke terrified and delighted, all at the same time. It would be safe to say that we’ve all had dreams reflecting on a current situation or problem, especially ones that weigh on us the heaviest. We can draw a conclusion to our problems from dreams, which is also what he relates to his readers. King describes the writing process similar to digging...
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...Langston Hughes’ “Harlem: A Dream Deferred” What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun Or fester like a sore- And then run? Does it stink like rotten mean? Or crust and sugar over- Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? ______________________________________________________________________________ Trevor B. Taylor A Dream Deferred, The Heartbeat of Harlem For the residents of Harlem, until the later half of the twentieth century, “wait” is all they ever heard. Wait! Wait for the laws to change before you can fulfill your destiny. Wait, until you’re allowed to go to college. If any of the people of Harlem were a shining gem just waiting to be polished, it might not ever happen, or it would have had to of been postponed. Because the residents of Harlem had black skin, their dreams were deferred. L. Hughes shines light on the minds of Harlem past and everyone else’s, who’ve experienced a dream that never came true or hasn’t yet. He effectively uses similes, metaphors, and rhetorical questions to express how he feels about a dream being postponed. The “dream” is a goal in life, not experienced while sleeping. an expected goal. The poem, in its’ current form leaves the dream up to the reader. But the poem was originally titled “Harlem”. Hughes since then gave this title to another one of his poems that more clearly states was happening there. That poem in black ink, clearly states...
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...The Everyday Life of Metaphors “To be aware of metaphors is to be humbled by the complexity of the world, to realize that deep in the undercurrents of thought there are thousands of lenses popping up between us and the world, and that we’re surrounded at all times by what Steven Pinker of Harvard once called ‘pedestrian poetry.’ ” --David Brooks When having a conversation with family, friends, or a colleague, are you aware of what you are saying? Are you aware of the devices that you use to shift the conversation in your favor or even to make your point more relatable? Contrary to popular belief, metaphors are a part of our everyday life; they are ubiquitous. We use them in everyday conversations more often than we may realize. Metaphors are powerful devices; often times we use them subconsciously, but they still manage to deliver the same validity. The aim of this paper is to bring the metaphors in our everyday life to light, by showing their explicit and implicit use in different areas of our daily life. Metaphors go beyond literature and transcend to other realms such as storytelling, spoken art, government, and advertisement. Before examining the everyday life of a metaphor, it is important to present its meaning and history to best explain how it became such an important part of our speech. Aristotle was the first to provide a scholarly treatment of metaphors and gives a detailed definition of the term ‘metaphor.’ He reports that a metaphor ”consists in giving...
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...the American Dream “I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.” -Bruce Springsteen Through the use of metaphors and analogies, Fitzgerald creates a reflective and logical conclusion to The Great Gatsby. In this concluding passage, the narrator, Nick, provides an explanation regarding the extinction of the American Dream, the theme of the novel. The American Dream is not shown to be the American reality in this emotionally and figuratively colorful novel. Fitzgerald uses the analogy of the American Dream in comparison to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The green light represents Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald) This quote describes the metaphor of the green light being Gatsby’s glimpse of hope that he and Daisy will be together in the future. Gatsby’s ignorance caused him to lose touch with the reality that year by year Daisy is moving further and further from Gatsby. This is similar to the American Dream because the green light is being compared to the continent of America. The Dutch sailors mentioned in the passage see American as a glimpse of hope for mankind. With this the American Dream is created, but as time goes by the American Dream seems to fade into a fantasy, just as Daisy fades into an element of Gatsby’s fantasies. At the end of this passage Fitzgerald uses a metaphor to compare humans...
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...supported by concepts from the course. In addition, discuss witnessed practices that you wish to incorporate and avoid along with a rationale. Your paper should be 3 - 4 pages in length, and incorporate course references as part of your analysis. This assignment represents 6% of the course grade. The artifact itself, I consider to be one of the most influential pieces of literature ever produced. From his enthusiastic delivery, Dr. King switch from reading a manuscript into speaking extemporaneously half way through the speech. Dr. King used an extensive amount of metaphors. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered “I Have a Dream” in transformation speech; even with limited hands motion. Dr. King delivered his speech with enough clarity for his audiences. Defoe (2007) explains about the importance of clarity and how “having a substantive message is important. ” Dr. Kings speech articulated his wording and it is very understandable to others like me (Defoe, 2007). To give the audience vivid images of what he is speaking about, King uses metaphors that contrast the racial situation in America in the past and present to the situation in the future. For instance, he uses the metaphor. "signing the promissory note" to refer to the promise given to all Americans...
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...I Have a Dream: Critique ‘I Have a Dream’ is a 17 minute speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on 28 August, 1963 in Washington D.C. during the ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom’. Addressing more than 200,000 both, Black and White American civil rights supporters, from the steps of Lincoln Memorial along with the thousands of Americans viewing the live national broadcast, King effectively got his stance as a leading civil rights activist in the American Civil Rights Movement across: an end to the prevalent racial discrimination in the country; an end to the inequality, inferiority, oppression and injustice; a ray of hope for a free, prosperous and bright future for the Black Americans. Even though King relies too heavily on emotional reasoning rather than logic and does not provide the audience with any practical ways of achieving his goal of eliminating racial discrimination, he still succeeds in persuading them through a well structured and researched speech, the use of the Aristotelian appeals of ethos and pathos, visual metaphors, repetition of phrases and words and identification with the audience using a ‘we’ oriented approach. His entire speech is so well structured that it could be broken down into two visible chunks; presenting a wonderful transition from ‘what is’ to ‘what ought to be’. Initially he brings to light the harsh reality being lived by Black Americans from the past to present; their poor, deplorable plight, the grave oppression and...
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