Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech
Imagine what it would be like to walk down the sidewalk and see most of the shop windows having a sign that said “Whites Only”. Imagine what it would be like to have to go to a different school, restaurant, and grocery store just because you weren’t white. This is how it was for most people of color felt in 1968 and is precisely the problem that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to present a solution for in his “ I have a dream” speech. Dr. King wrote “I have a dream” to show that segregation is an injustice that needs to be taken care of, but can be resolved in a peaceful manner. I think that the “ I have a dream” speech is very compelling for simple reasons; it has a decent amount of pathos, imagery, and figurative language.
King’s
main reason for writing the “I have a dream speech” was to raise awareness about the fact that the africans were free from slavery but they weren't truly free. King uses imagery and allusions to help support his main idea. The allusion helps to show how long the segregation has been afflicting the people. The imagery used helps the listener to understand how horrible it is to be segregated from other people.One example of allusion is “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free .” Imagery is shown when King states “...still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” And “... the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” King wants the africans to not become violent in their protesting. He uses tone to convey the serious nature of gaining their rights, imagery to portray the bitterness that is involved in getting freedom,and pathos in how they must believe in the cause. These help to sort of tell what has been going on recently with all the violence and riots. King’s serious tone is shown when he says “...In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds” Imagery in the quote “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” and displays pathos by stating “... we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
King’s
main reason for writing the “I have a dream speech” was to raise awareness about the fact that the africans were free from slavery but they weren't truly free. King uses imagery and allusions to help support his main idea. The allusion helps to show how long the segregation has been afflicting the people. The imagery used helps the listener to understand how horrible it is to be segregated from other people.One example of allusion is “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free .” Imagery is shown when King states “...still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” And “... the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” King wants the africans to not become violent in their protesting. He uses tone to convey the serious nature of gaining their rights, imagery to portray the bitterness that is involved in getting freedom,and pathos in how they must believe in the cause. These help to sort of tell what has been going on recently with all the violence and riots. King’s serious tone is shown when he says “...In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds” Imagery in the quote “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred” and displays pathos by stating “... we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”