Martin Luther King electrified America with his pivotal speech, dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC in 1963, sharing his dream of a new future for black and white people before more than 200,000 people.
King, part of an extensive black movement, challenged the white Americans to extend genuine freedom to his people and drew on all his powers to inspire black Americans to believe in such freedom for themselves. The key message from the speech was, and is, that all people are created equal and, although not the case in America at the time, King felt it must be the case in the future which is why this text is valued still, even today.
Abraham Lincoln, the American president at the time delivered his speech at the Gettysburg Cemetery during the heart of the civil war in 1863. This was to honour and dedicate the new cemetery to the soldiers who had died in the recent Battle of Gettysburg which was pivotal in the American Civil War. The quality of patriotism is seen in Lincoln's allusion to the Declaration of Independence and constant references to democratic ideals.
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Martin Luther Kings’ “I have a dream....” speech is one of the most memorable speech’s of all time but why? In thi s essay we’ll have a look at why it’s such an effective speech. In the speech, King especially likes to use repetition and metaphors to convey his ideas. These devices are the foundation of King’s unique and effective style.
Anaphora and repetition are commonly used in Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream....” speech because repeating the words and phrases helps to emphasise the