'I Have a Dream' ~Martin Luther King, Kr.


The speech 'I have a dream' by Martin Luther Kind, Jr. persuades Negros to their freedom of racial justice in the American society. This was achieved with the use of inclusive language, rhetorical devices such as anaphoras, metaphors and diacope.

To begin with, MLK speaks about American history where the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and thus, made millions of African Americans hopeful. The metaphor present here says "a great beacon of light of hope to millions of Negro slaves". This sentence provides a visual of the great significance the Proclamation held for Black Americans, and how much dependency was put onto it. Later on in his speech, he mentions how all hope was destroyed as the lifestyles of Negros declines, subsequently exposed to discrimination. The presence of anaphora "one hundred years later, the negro..." exemplifies the frustration of the Negros when their lives aren't getting any better. They're still outcasts and in poverty, with the use of European Americans' unjustifiable power they claim to have over the African Americans. The repetition of that particular phrase, continuously grabs attention of the audience (African Americans) in a context that they can relate to, that is the environment of poverty and racial discrimination. 

Comments

  1. Milly VermeulenNovember 25, 2017 at 5:31 AM

    Your blog post was very nicely written! It provided a clear topic sentence which was explained in the body paragraph. If you went deeper into how this relates to the African-Americans then it would justify your topic sentence better. To disagree with your argument, I would say that the speech was written for all Americans, not just the blacks. Martin Luther King wanted equality for all including the whites.

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  2. UnknownNovember 25, 2017 at 11:03 PM

    Clear topic sentence stating that MLK used inclusive language and rhetorical devices to persuade. I will have to agree with Milly just because you should step back and see the bigger picture? He announces the speech to all American citizens as a way to unite and break down the wall of segregation and injustice towards black people - this is so they are all treated equally. I guess the speech would have different effects on certain people. A call to action to all but mostly to African -Americans and their freedom.

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