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I Have A Dream Rhetorical Essay

Decent Essays

Contrary to many other politicians, Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech sparked inspiration within his nation and other countries such as Britain who were also facing racial inequality. From his use of political rhetoric and his confident body language he was able to kick start a future where everyone was treated equally and through powerful rhetorical devices he was able to change the world’s perceptions on racism and inequality. Throughout a large section of the speech Martin Luther King uses powerful and vivid metaphors to ignite an emotional response from his audience. He starts the metaphor by saying ‘We have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check’ and in the following paragraphs uses jargon such as ‘insufficient funds’, …show more content…

The eye contact also affects the audience by making them feel involved, it allows the audience to see the emotion and the passion within King’s eyes and allows them to feel inspired by what he is saying as it makes the speech more personalized. Martin Luther King also creates strong visual imagery to go hand in hand with his speech by standing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln. This emphasises his speech on inequality as Abraham Lincoln played a vital role in gaining equality in America by setting free the American slaves. Near the end of the speech Martin Luther King recognizes the positive feedback emitting from his audience and as a result of this repeats the phrase ‘I have a dream’. The emotional effect this has on the audience changes their perceptions as the powerful repetition and the anecdote that comes along with it makes the audience relate to one another as the audience begin to share the same dream. King as well as using metaphors, similes and imagery to make his speech powerful he also uses a lot of hyperbole’s to impact upon the audience such as ‘ one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight.’ Although this may not be physically true it provides hope within the audience and gives them something to look forward

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