Martin Luther King Speech: “I Have a Dream Speech”

Martin Luther King Speech: “I Have a Dream Speech”

  • Submitted By: yzzay
  • Date Submitted: 10/12/2011 5:00 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 473
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 469

English 102
12 September 2011

“I Have a Dream Speech”
“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation,” says Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in the speech “I Have a Dream”. Dr. King had for seen what would happen in the near future with this statement. As I watched the speech and took notes I recognized that King emphasized on repeating phrases at the beginning of sentences, referenced historical statements, and the use of nature connotations.
Throughout this paper you will see that Dr. King puts great emphasis on powerful phrases that he can repeat at the beginning of each sentence. When Dr. King does that it makes you realize that maybe there is something he is trying to say, that’s not being heard yet. The repetition of these phrases tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s story throughout the speech. Using emphasis through repetition makes the phrases more memorable and makes King’s story more memorable also.
At the beginning of the second paragraph Dr. King referenced the famous Gettysburg Address with the line, “Five score years ago…” This was so unique because Dr. King was standing in front of Lincoln’s Memorial. Being as though Dr. King referred to that speech, it proved his credibility of his argument. He also used a quoted from the Declaration of Independence and he also referenced several biblical scripts to a moral appeal.
The last thing that I recognized was the over use of relating everything with nature. When he incorporated nature into the speech it gave an illustration of his logic. He also used geographical words; for example, Mississippi and Alabama are some of the common states that were repeated. Being as though Mississippi was mentioned on several occasions in the speech he wanted to bring out some strong emotions and images for the audience. Mississippi was one of the worst states that were dealing with blacks having any...

Similar Essays