Rhetorical devices in King’s “I have a dream”
• Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15,1929 – April 4, 1968)
• Baptist Minister and civil right activist
• Speech delivered on August 28, 1963
• Over 250,000 civil right supporters attended the meeting
• Inspired, empowered and encouraged the people
Anaphora
• One hundred years later 4
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
• Now is the time 4
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
• We cannot be satisfied 6
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
• I have a dream 8
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
• With this faith 3
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
• Let freedom ring 10
from every mountainside, let freedom ring." So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
• Free at last 3
"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Allusion
• Five Score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
• An allusion to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on Nov 19, 1863
• King alludes to Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night , but joy comes in the morning.”
• It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
• "No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Allusion to Amos 5:24
• I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted….An allusion to Isaiah 40:4-5.
Metaphor
• Beacon light of hope
• Seared in the flames of withering injustice
• Long night of their captivity
• Manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination
• Lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity
• Bank of justice
• Great vaults of opportunity
• Tranquilizing drug of gradualism
• Valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice
• Quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood
• Bright day of Justice
• Thirst for freedom
• Cup of bitterness and hatred
• High plane of dignity and discipline
• Battered by the storms of persecutions
• Winds of Police brutality
• Valley of despair
• Table of brotherhood
• Hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope
Alliteration
• Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
• This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
• The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the negro community must not lead us to a distrust of white people…
• I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.
Others
• Simile : Justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
• Litotes : I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.
• Asyndeton : Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities.
• Antithesis : Where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Rhetorical devices
1. Anaphora
2. Allusion
3. Metaphor
4. Alliteration
5. Simile
6. Litotes
7. Asyndeton
8. Antithesis
