I Have A Dream Rhetorical Devices

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most persuasive and respected speeches of the 20th century. King not only comments on notorious topics but powerfully expresses his opinion without being rude. King's group appeal as a public speaker, civil rights activist, and human being is credited to his distinctive way of permitting people through communication. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an audience-centered approach in his speech because he successfully utilizes rhetorical devices and communication methods to make his message understandable. One useful rhetorical device that King uses to highlight vital points in his speech is metaphors. Some of King's strongest ones are his references toward prejudice: "the quicksands

of racial injustice" and the "chains of discrimination." King also illustrates how awful inequality is by constructing an image: "the sweltering summer of the negro's discontent." Two other methods King uses to make his speech clear and distinct are anaphora and alliteration.

Anaphora is significant in the "I Have a Dream" because it stresses the main point of certain lines, and eventually, the main points of the speech. Examples of anaphora include: "one hundred years later" and the ever popular, "I have a Dream." In addition, King's use of alliteration helps to highlight main phrases by grouping words that start with the same letter: "dark and desolate" and "sweltering summer". Another way King keeps his audience and their goals in mind are by inspiring them to embrace the future. For example, King inspires his people to take action by saying: "1963 is not an end, but a beginning." King then further highlights the need for proactivity as he continually says, "Now is the time." Although King's speech is directed at a particular group of people, the speech still appeals to a diverse population. One way that King supports his speech to be widespread is through his allusions to actions in history. His speech is political, as his reason is to encourage his own people to fight for civil rights, in addition to, persuading the oppugnant to change their methods. King references the National anthem, the Constitution, and the

Bible in his speech. Actually, King makes significant points about the slow development of African American equality through his anaphora "one hundred years later", which refers to Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years before King's " I Have a Dream" speech. King's references to past occasions help to form a common ground for both the black and whites because both colors experienced American history in some way or another. Martin Luther King Jr. not only knows how to communicate his material to an audience of African Americans but can also provide accommodations to an audience on a wide-ranging level. His use of rhetorical devices provides emotion to an already significant speech. Its understandable King uses an audience-centered method to "I Have a Dream" because of the ways he makes the important information so easy to understand and fascinating to see and hear as well.