Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Speech
Analytical Essay
King uses his strategies to gain awareness of America’s past racial segregation. He uses strategies such as repetition, figurative language, and the overall structure to discuss the progression of racial integration for the future. King’s speech can be separated into three main parts, past, present, and future. In these sections King used the same three strategies over, to make the speech easy to follow and understand. King uses anaphora, repetition at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the past aspect of his speech. He repeats “One hundred years later,” to show how racial segregation is still as much of a problem as it was a hundred ago. In the fourth paragraph of his speech King reminds everyone how
they said they were going to rid of racial segregation. He did this by using a metaphor. By comparing the issue to a present-day issue people will understand the importance and relevance of the situation. King quotes the constitution when he says “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’” This is important because it reminds the people that even the constitution should be free and equal, eventually there will be no need to use a metaphor when talking about black and white men. When King switches to talk about the present he uses anaphora through out the section. He wants to make sure that he drills into everyone’s mind the points he was trying to make. For example King repeats multiple times that “Now is the time”. He was sure to use this so that people would know what they need to de to racial segregation, and now is the time to do it. In his speech King often talks about a valley and “the glory of the Lord.” He uses the figurative language of allusion to talk about something that anyone of any race or color could relate too, the bible. If King were loosing his audiences attention around this point in his speech, this would be something to bring it back. King references the “Valley of despair” a few times through-out this section so they people would know that it really is in relation to the bible. When King starts to talk about the future and what is possible and what the outcome would be, he uses anaphora yet again to make sure people know what is possible. King repeats “Let freedom ring” multiple times so people know that by what they are trying to accomplish they are allowing freedom ring. King also uses anaphora when he stated, “With this faith, we will be able to”. This usage of anaphora blends in with King’s use on biblical allusions. King infuses some of his anaphora with more biblical allusions. When King repeats “With this faith” he wants to encourage his crowd that when they use their faith they can do anything they set their mind too. King later states, “This will be that day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meeting.” When King says this he is making big plans for the future to where he plans this country to be in a few years. With so many aspects in his speech, King was to make sure he would grab everyone’s attention with something he said. He used many different analytical strategies to help prove this point.
King uses his strategies to gain awareness of America’s past racial segregation. He uses strategies such as repetition, figurative language, and the overall structure to discuss the progression of racial integration for the future. King’s speech can be separated into three main parts, past, present, and future. In these sections King used the same three strategies over, to make the speech easy to follow and understand. King uses anaphora, repetition at the beginning of a sentence to emphasize the past aspect of his speech. He repeats “One hundred years later,” to show how racial segregation is still as much of a problem as it was a hundred ago. In the fourth paragraph of his speech King reminds everyone how
they said they were going to rid of racial segregation. He did this by using a metaphor. By comparing the issue to a present-day issue people will understand the importance and relevance of the situation. King quotes the constitution when he says “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’” This is important because it reminds the people that even the constitution should be free and equal, eventually there will be no need to use a metaphor when talking about black and white men. When King switches to talk about the present he uses anaphora through out the section. He wants to make sure that he drills into everyone’s mind the points he was trying to make. For example King repeats multiple times that “Now is the time”. He was sure to use this so that people would know what they need to de to racial segregation, and now is the time to do it. In his speech King often talks about a valley and “the glory of the Lord.” He uses the figurative language of allusion to talk about something that anyone of any race or color could relate too, the bible. If King were loosing his audiences attention around this point in his speech, this would be something to bring it back. King references the “Valley of despair” a few times through-out this section so they people would know that it really is in relation to the bible. When King starts to talk about the future and what is possible and what the outcome would be, he uses anaphora yet again to make sure people know what is possible. King repeats “Let freedom ring” multiple times so people know that by what they are trying to accomplish they are allowing freedom ring. King also uses anaphora when he stated, “With this faith, we will be able to”. This usage of anaphora blends in with King’s use on biblical allusions. King infuses some of his anaphora with more biblical allusions. When King repeats “With this faith” he wants to encourage his crowd that when they use their faith they can do anything they set their mind too. King later states, “This will be that day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meeting.” When King says this he is making big plans for the future to where he plans this country to be in a few years. With so many aspects in his speech, King was to make sure he would grab everyone’s attention with something he said. He used many different analytical strategies to help prove this point.