Analyzing King's 'The Gettysburg Address'

Alliteration – the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

By using allusion to historical leaders and documents, he reminds the audience of the past and strengthens his argument the time for change was long overdue. Repeating the phrases “I have a dream”, “Now is the time”, “Let freedom ring” and “Free at last”, King used anaphora and repetition to bring the speech to a great climax and leave the audience completely energized. King also used parallelism to unify the movement’s effort into one group of equal parts by urging the audience to “Go back to” Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, as well as “the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities”. He also used parallelism to send a message of unification to all parts of the country by repeating the phrase “Let freedom ring” combined with names of many of our country’s mountain ranges, just as in the song “America” by Samuel Francis Smith (My Country! ‘Tis of Thee). Perhaps it was King’s use of metaphors that made the speech draw in the audience. He described the circumstances of racism and inequality with phrases descriptive of slavery including “flames of withering injustice”, “chains of discrimination” which connected the audience to their past while inspiring them to change their future.

a metaphor, which is the comparison of two things by just stating that one thing is the other.

To start off his attempt to control the minds of the people he used the rhetorical strategy of allusion which, however, is also considered ethos. The Declaration of Independence is how he brought across authority within his speech. He quotes, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” His attempt do this was to stress the feeling of importance given to him by the founding fathers’ idea of freedom. Another way authority was invoked was by him using the Declaration of independence. King uses Lincoln in the quote, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” Lincoln was mentioned because he

Allerations that were stated by King in the speech were " Symbolic shadow we stand today" this was in reference to standing on the steps of the Lincoln memorial to the president who defeated southern states over slavery. " Being behind a great leader" meaning the father of Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln. Another alleration is " We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of the self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating"(M.L.K.).The repetitition in the speech is with rhythm and was actually not even in the original speech the whole part of the speech when King states " I Have A Dream' was add libbed the day of the speech. King uses repetition to touch on main points that King wants to express the most and generate strong emotion to and among leaders. When king keeps repeating " I Have A Dream, Let Freedom Ring".it is merely a technique to aid in memorability. Allegory in the speech is " Negro being free", and Persuading you to see and want the same. The Forecasting King used in the speech was stating in the beginning of the speech

Analogies/Metaphors: When you can relate your scenario to something that the prospect already accepts as true.

Metaphor, (stated or implied or extended) (balcony scene): But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? (Rom. 2. 2. 2). This is a stated metaphor because Romeo is comparing Juliet to the sun without using “like” or “as”.

While what King refers to throughout his speech creates an emotion that spreads through the crowd, he realized the power of words and their effect on people. He uses “horror,” “distrust,” and “brutality,” to represent what their past and present consisted of. “Glory,” “hope,” and “dream,” are used in his speech to show what their future would be like after that day. King starts of the speech retelling why the audience is there, fighting for their rights, and

In his speech, King demanded that African Americans were entitled to the same right as any other citizen as stated in the Declaration of Independence. With his speech he was able to captivate his audience with a testimony of peace and truth rather than given a regular speech. His language was skillful, creative and executed perfectly and up to present day has inspire many people all over the

Metaphor: a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar.

King makes good use of ethos, pathos, and logos in his speech. His confidence is the use of ethos which shows his knowledge and trustworthiness. He also used a reliable source, President Abraham Lincoln. In his speech, he states, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”(Jr). His use of President Lincoln shows that he respects and admires what he has done for America. He also uses a reminder the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in his speech. “This note was promised that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’” (Jr). This shows that the government has failed to keep their promises to their citizens. His voice and sources make the audience rely on

One technique that King uses is repetition, especially at the beginning of sentences. For instance, he repeats “One hundred years later” four times at the beginning of his speech (1).This highlights how little has changed from the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. Employing repetition like this makes his statement more memorable and”gives a greater” impact on the audience.Later in his speech, King replays eight times in successive sentences: “I have a dream” (3).The use of this statement forges a connection with the audience as they too have similar dreams. By presenting his desires this way, he unites the crowd, and they dream together of a future characterized by freedom.Finally, he ends with several statements of “let freedom ring” (3). His use of repetition here reminds the assemblance that he wants freedom for everyone in “every state and every city”(4). King is trying to inspire the listeners to act on the issue and peacefully fight for freedom and equality for all. In short, he utilizes recurrences as a pervasive feature in his address.

Martin Luther King Junior’s famous speech “I have a Dream” has many amazing memorable references. For example one reference is “let freedom ring” which is in the last sentence before the last paragraph of his speech. Another reference according to Standord.edu is borrowed from a speech given by a minister by the name of Archibald Carey which was a politician and family friend of Mr. Kings. That speech was delivered on 8 July 8, 1952 at the Republican National Convention. One of the best references that Mr. King mentions in his speech is from the United States Constitution itself, he said “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the

King is extremely emotive in his speech, and uses incredibly descriptive and poetic phrasing to demonstrate the eloquence of his argument. His use of words like "Now" and "today" imply a great need for immediate action regarding civil rights; the fact that he is so well-spoken is intentionally utilized in the speech to lend credence to his words. Given the stereotype at the time that blacks were unintelligent and uneducated, King 's responsibility to show the capabilities of black rhetoric was great. King, as a religious man, brings spirituality into the speech itself, but not in a self-aggrandizing way; he merely states that racial justice should be done as it is according to God 's will.

An example : “you are like a red rose”, a red rose is a metaphor for beauty.