Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech

            With the increasing rate of racism in the United States, there was the emergence of civil activists whose aim was to change this system of victimization and merciless treatment. Martin Luther was among the civil activists who boycotted and protested for a change in the system. It is through this act of fighting for their civil rights that Martin Luther King came up with a speech on March 1963 on “I have a dream” which created a greater impact and gained him and the movement popularity.  The speech remains memorable even to date as he used exclusively great literary tools which enhanced his speech to be outstanding and this technique has been used by so many writers today (King 1986).

            In his speech he has used several literally devices in order to pass on meaning.  These literally tools formed the basis of his unique and successful writing style. One of the tools he applied was the use of repetition during his work so as to create emphasis. He repeated phrases such as I have a dream, go back, let freedom reign, we can never be satisfied and with this faith.

            He has also used metaphor so as to make direct contrast between two unlike stuff where one thing can substitute another. Martin Luther has thus used several metaphors in his speech such as in Chapter 4 and 5 where he describes a promissory note as a check and insufficient funds to mean bouncing. He uses imagery where he especially uses the imagery of feelings such as comparing their suffering with that of heat so as to enable the listener to form an image of this kind of suffering. He also used suggestive and commanding voices so as to draw emotional connection to his audience.

 

 

References

King, M. L., & Washington, J. M. (1986). I have a dream: Writings and speeches that changed the world. New York: HarperCollins.