I Have A Dream Rhetorical Analysis

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On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King captivated all of America with his revolutionary speech “I Have A Dream,” in which he successfully constructs an optimistic and hopeful tone. Through the use of ambitious statements, powerful metaphors, effective repetition and figurative language, King demands the future of America to be free of injustice for the Negro. When King states “the valley of despair,” he asserts his positivity in assuring the best hopes and wishes to the future of all Negro. King states, “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.’’ His tone is effective this way by inciting motivation into the hearts of Americans, which also encourages the people to stay proud and stand up for what …show more content…
“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.... And this will be the day.” Throughout this section, King repetitively states “I have a dream” to amplify his statement. I have a dream, is the image that King establishes what he wishes America to become. By stating this multiple times, King is augmenting the effect and comprehension of his “dream.”At one point in the speech he declares “I have a dream today.” King alters his words to emphasize their meaning. In the next section, King repeats the words “with this faith.” After each repetition, he adds something about “this faith,” or his vision. This is shown with the example “with this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” King places a quote resembling this one after each occurrence of “with this faith,” and by doing this, he makes sturdy structural integrity to proceed each instance of “with this faith.” Simply by breaking his statement into smaller pieces, he creates a coherent, more engaging segment of his speech.

Martin Luther King’s miraculous speech “I Have A Dream,” makes use of appropriate statements, metaphors, repetition and figurative language to construct a solid optimistic tone, in order to personify his words into the minds of many. His great ambition encourages the people
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