I Have A Dream Speech Rhetorical Devices
Martin Luther King, was a man of equal and respectful treatment. In 1963, with a frustrating yet respectful tone, King gave a speech “I have a Dream” which had the intriguing purpose to inform the nation on how African-americans should be granted the same freedom with no violence. This speech was presented in front of 250,000 people, mainly those who were for King’s cause. While listening to this speech the main rhetorical device, metaphor, is presented. He used metaphor when he referred to drinking to together as white and black, he said “ “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred”, King meant that we can’t let the fact that the world is so deep in hate control how we will live
forever, There is always something better that we can have, and Martin wants us to change from the hatred and bitterness and come together. He somewhat compares the cup to the politics in the world, We control what we put into the cup and by being separated by jealousy or hatred we can’t live as a happy nation. The second metaphor he used was the sounds and music. King talks about how he wants the world to give off a “beautiful symphony”, The jangling chords represent the problems and all the hate, and the segregation the world has. If you think of some of the best songs in the world what do they all have in common, they all have a flow, and if the world had that we’d be a beautiful symphony. King showed emotion in his voice about how much he felt the world was treating people, he wanted the change not just because he was being discriminated against but, because he wanted everyone to be treated as an equal man. Importantly, he finishes the speech with a powerful metaphor of a bell ringing, borrowing a phrase, “let freedom ring” from the national song, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” We normally associate the ringing of bells with churches, but they have also been used historically in towns to signal emergencies or celebrations. In the song, and in Dr. King’s speech, the ringing of the bells is meant to signify the echoing of the sounds all across the country. In a style common to Baptist preaching, he repeats the phrase many times for effect, in fact, a total of twelve times.
forever, There is always something better that we can have, and Martin wants us to change from the hatred and bitterness and come together. He somewhat compares the cup to the politics in the world, We control what we put into the cup and by being separated by jealousy or hatred we can’t live as a happy nation. The second metaphor he used was the sounds and music. King talks about how he wants the world to give off a “beautiful symphony”, The jangling chords represent the problems and all the hate, and the segregation the world has. If you think of some of the best songs in the world what do they all have in common, they all have a flow, and if the world had that we’d be a beautiful symphony. King showed emotion in his voice about how much he felt the world was treating people, he wanted the change not just because he was being discriminated against but, because he wanted everyone to be treated as an equal man. Importantly, he finishes the speech with a powerful metaphor of a bell ringing, borrowing a phrase, “let freedom ring” from the national song, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” We normally associate the ringing of bells with churches, but they have also been used historically in towns to signal emergencies or celebrations. In the song, and in Dr. King’s speech, the ringing of the bells is meant to signify the echoing of the sounds all across the country. In a style common to Baptist preaching, he repeats the phrase many times for effect, in fact, a total of twelve times.