AP Essay

John Steinbeck and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK Jr.) have both gone down in American literature as some of the most influential authors, but why? Steinbeck was an influential author throughout the 20th century with pieces in many genres. On the flip side is Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader in the fight against racial discrimination. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the style of these two authors, it is necessary to compare them on the bases of repetition, tone, and purpose.
In his essay “Is the American Dream Even Possible?”, Steinbeck employed repetition for the sole purpose of emphasizing that America is, and always will be a whole. As a people, we are similar in the overarching paradoxical themes for which he then set the scene with “One of the generalities most often noted about Americans is that we are a restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people” (Steinbeck Page 1). Each generality following either builds upon the previous, or cancels out what has already been said. One after another he used “we” to start his sentences, not only drawing the audience in, but also making them feel both the pride and shame associated with each idea, that he proceeded to list. Whether they are true or not, simply by means of force, he led the audience to feel a sense of inclusion in the ridiculous notions regarding our nation.
Martin Luther King, Jr. achieved something similar in his speech “I Have A Dream”; however using repetition with several different words and phrases. While his audience was very clearly the African American population of America, MLK Jr. was able to use said repetition to make every reader feel as if they were right along side him in the fight for freedom. In paragraph 13, MLK Jr. repeated the ...

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... Jr. relented and said, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
Although John Steinbeck and Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote on essentially different topics, they both employed similar methods to implant themselves into their readers’ brains. Each author took advantage of repetition’s ability to hammer an idea into the human conscious. Steinbeck repeated the beginning of his sentences, and emphasized his subject: the American population. MLK Jr. repeated entire sentences and phrases, instead emphasizing his points. Additionally the tone used by each of the authors affected how the audience received those points. Ultimately by manipulating repetition, and tone, they were able to realize their individual purposes in very much the same way.