Rhetorical Devices In Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream

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April 04, 1968 is the day the world lost one of its most inspirational and determined men to have ever roamed the face of the planet. The life of Martin Luther King Jr is most notably celebrated for being a strong leader that advocated nonviolent resistance to achieve equality and racial integration in the world. A talented speaker and influential man, Dr. King was able to sway millions to nonviolently protest the segregation of America during the 50’s and 60’s by tactful use of rhetorical devices. As seen in his “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr employs purposeful repetition, metaphorical juxtaposition, and religious allusions to emotionally persuade millions of the reality of racial injustice in America. Throughout the entire duration of Martin Luther’s speech, he employs numerous examples of repetition to emphasize the racial injustice …show more content…
King makes several religious allusions that tie religious feelings to his ideas. Dr. King characterizes the audience and the whole nation as “God’s children- black men and white men”. King not only advocates for racial equality here by addressing both colors of man, but also ties the religious sacracy of God into his plea. By characterizing everyone has “God’s child”, King creates the implied notion that his ideas are inherently virtuous, simply by this allusion. The moral ethics of Christianity are tied now with King’s ideas as he further connects his ideas to Christianity. He states that it is “the glory of the Lord” that will reveal the nature of society and people will “thank God Almighty” when we are truly “free at last”. Again, King ties in the moral foundations of Christianity into his speech by alluding to God. By characterizing his actions as the works of God, Martin Luther King Jr subtly links the ethical nature of Christianity to the nature of his actions and speech. The use of allusion to Christianity allows Dr. King to reveal his ideas in righteous view to the
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