Martin Luther King's Metaphors We Live-By

There is a reason why Martin Luther Kings, “I have a Dream,” speech stands and is recognized as one of the greatest speeches of all time. MLK’s form of rhetorical demands for justice for the indifference to the black community is a touchstone for all to express and relate to the American racial tragedies of their time. Focusing on some of the specific examples (facts) to “ground” MLK’s arguments, to help enforce the use of Metaphors to emphasize contrasting concepts, while following the theme of repetition throughout, “I have a dream.” Within the speech, through audio recordings, the solid firm voice that the preacher to the masses utilizes is a significant acceptance to the lifestyle and constant training that MLK faced throughout his entire life.

The famous “I have a dream” speech given by Martin Luther King Junior (Jr.) sent a shock wave across the United States and forever changed the meaning of freedom and equal rights for all mankind. The way in which Martin Luther went about bringing change for the black man and woman was brilliant and very effective. Even though many things contributed to the Civil Rights Movement to bring about the radical change, Martin Luther’s rhetorical and stylistic devices throughout his speeches and articles drove his audiences to participate in the movement. He possessed a mastery in the art of motivational speaking and an understanding of language and rhetoric in order to transform an audience from passive bystanders to advocates and leaders of a greater

I have a dream; the speech was carefully tailored to connect with the audience. Martin Luther King had hoped that it would be as well received from the crowd as the Gettysburg address was. He proudly used the steps of the Lincoln’s memorial to deliver his speech, referencing many of Lincoln’s quotes for freedom and equality. The subject of the speech was for jobs and freedom, but mainly for the freedom and equality of black people as it was promised by the signed Emancipation Proclamation. In this paper, we are going to examine the positive and negative impact on the nation and the world by Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, to what extend did his dream become reality.

In Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including allusion, anaphora, and antithesis. The way that King conducted his speech adds to the comprehension and gives the effect that he wants to rise above the injustices of racism and segregation that so many people are subjected to on a daily basis.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ““Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” This is just one of the hundreds of powerful quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his writing and speeches, he used his words as a way to engage his audience and keep pulling them in. Martin Luther King Jr. uses metaphors in his letter to appeal to the audience from an emotional angle; he uses other figurative language, as well as an urgent tone to make his text relatable and important.

The famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the historic March in Washington in August 1963 effectively urged the US government to take actions and to finally set up equality between the black and white people in America. Although there were many factors that contributed to the success of the speech, it was primarily King’s masterly use of different rhetorical instruments that encouraged Kennedy and his team to take further steps towards racial equality. King effectively utilizes numerous linguistic devices, such as metaphors, anaphoras, allusions, and provides an abundance of specific examples in his address and this all makes the speech more convincing and memorable.

In “I Have a Dream”, by Dr.Martin Luther King Jr persuades us to want equal rights for African-Americans through peaceful resistance. I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr is a very compelling speech to me because, he is using figurative language in order to show all the hopes and dreams he has for his people.

In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he imitates the use of metaphors to further appeal to the audience through

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was an astonishing display of language that persuaded the American nation to dissolve the barrier that stood between equality for all in our great nation. The true beauty in Dr. King’s speech rests in his ability to persuade the audience at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as, the nation to believe that it is a necessity to rid the exigence of segregation. Through the usage of metaphors that engage the reader, King uses language as an instrument to control the audience’s emotions and fuel their ideas that they can be the ones to make the change to propel our nation from one mediocrity to greatness. In his speech, King uses an eloquent blend between symbols and emotions through metaphors to persuade the audience that there is no true constraint that can hold them from achieving their goal and use the historical March on Washington as the solution to this exigence that failed to wither away one hundred years ago when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

These optimistic words by Dr.Martin Luther King Junior in his famous speech “ I have a dream” he has motivated and convinced many citizens about African American rights. In his speech Dr.Martin Luther King Junior had many strategies and one major one is the use of metaphors. What a metaphor means is a comparison of two things without using “like” or “as”. In this speech Dr.Martin Luther King Junior used countless of metaphors.

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than two score years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to all under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.

Today I have chosen two speeches which are critical to the growth and development that our nation has gone through. Two men from different backgrounds and different times with one common goal, equality for all. The Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” both address the oppression of the African-Americans in their cultures. Though one hundred years and three wars divide the two documents, they draw astonishing parallels in they purposes and their techniques.

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr delivered one of the most moving speeches in American history. His powerful oration was characterized by bold statements that provoked deep thought and recollection among members of his audience and the nation as a whole. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. King employs anaphora, allusions and strong metaphors and imagery to address the issue of racial injustice and mobilize the people towards a common cause.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” was a very inspiring and influential speech in American history and a stand for equal rights. His speech confronted racism in America. This was a remarkable moment in history for equal rights which is remembered to this day. “When all of God’s children, black men, and white men, Jews, and Gentiles, Protestants, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing,” “Free at last! Free at last!)”

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial more than forty years ago, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech demanded racial justice towards the mistreated black community of America. The theme of the speech was that all humans were created equal and that this should be the case for the future of America. King's words proved to touch the hearts of millions of people and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening to the black Americans. This did not happen by chance. Martin Luther King's speech was carefully constructed so it would have the most appropriate diction to propose his facts and ideas. His speech involved multiple different literary techniques which were very