I Have A Dream Analysis
Aaron Wilkes
Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech Throughout history, many great leaders have emboldened their respective causes by giving influential speeches; however, few take into affect the rhetorical devices used to make such speeches successful. Dr. King Jr. uses various tropes and schemes to enhance the effectiveness of his speech; one such example is in the use of anaphora. He repeats the idea of "one hundred years later" in paragraph three to emphasize his point that African Americans can no longer withstand the dreadful conditions forced upon them. Throughout his speech, Dr. King reiterates his idea of "I have a dream". This plays on the emotions of the crowd gathered to march forth and gain the rights African Americans had so long waited for. Various tropes that he uses frequently are metaphors and personification. In paragraph four, Dr. King compares the struggle of African Americans to gain true freedom to cashing in a check; this allows his overall cause to become more relatable. In paragraph five, he personifies gradualism as a tranquilizing drug to demonstrate in his eyes the malevolence of compensation of freedom. Again, in paragraph eleven, he personifies despair as a valley in which one may wallow in; he does this to empower the audience to stand up for what the African American community has long waited for. Using these rhetorical devices, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to develop effectively his ideas and convey his message of unity and freedom by using such rhetoric devices.
Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech Throughout history, many great leaders have emboldened their respective causes by giving influential speeches; however, few take into affect the rhetorical devices used to make such speeches successful. Dr. King Jr. uses various tropes and schemes to enhance the effectiveness of his speech; one such example is in the use of anaphora. He repeats the idea of "one hundred years later" in paragraph three to emphasize his point that African Americans can no longer withstand the dreadful conditions forced upon them. Throughout his speech, Dr. King reiterates his idea of "I have a dream". This plays on the emotions of the crowd gathered to march forth and gain the rights African Americans had so long waited for. Various tropes that he uses frequently are metaphors and personification. In paragraph four, Dr. King compares the struggle of African Americans to gain true freedom to cashing in a check; this allows his overall cause to become more relatable. In paragraph five, he personifies gradualism as a tranquilizing drug to demonstrate in his eyes the malevolence of compensation of freedom. Again, in paragraph eleven, he personifies despair as a valley in which one may wallow in; he does this to empower the audience to stand up for what the African American community has long waited for. Using these rhetorical devices, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to develop effectively his ideas and convey his message of unity and freedom by using such rhetoric devices.