I Have a Dream Analysis Essay

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Dr. King begins by proclaiming his joy of how happy he is to be joining with fellow Americans for what he believes to be “the greatest demonstration for the freedom in the history of our nation.” This demonstration is essential because at the time African Americans were not being treated equal with whites even though one hundred years before Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves. Dr. King’s goal for giving this speech was to open America’s eyes to this fact of inequality and to raise national awareness so that changes could be made. He was also lighting a fire for the African American community to not give up and just go back to “business as usual” but to stand up and take their deserved freedom. His goal was to provide hope for millions across the nation. Dr. King’s speech, I feel, is organized in a strategic organization structure. I believe this is because his speech is organized in a way to mention or bring out things that open people’s eyes, raise awareness and cause change. He says it in a way that makes people want and desire change. And this change just wasn’t wanted by the African American’s at the time; with his passion and energy, he made every American want change. And it worked, because he just didn’t have an audience of African Americans in mind; he had the whole nation in mind—all genders, races and religions. Dr. King’s speech is a speech of transition. A transition for America from the way it’s been for hundreds of years to what he envisions for the future. The first transition comes out right as he begins his second paragraph. He is talking of how joyous and full of hope the African Americans were one hundred years ago when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; but now, sadly, one hundred years later society remains unjust and African Americans are still not free. He goes on to describe their condition as being crippled by segregation and living in poverty among the wealthy. Another major transition is seen as Dr. King is close to wrapping up his speech when he mentions that, even with all the problems of today and tomorrow, the he has a dream for racial equality. He goes on to say that this dream of equality is not just for the racially segregated South, but for the entire nation as a whole. Dr. King closes his speech proclaiming his dream of racial equality. This dream is for equality in very state of the U.S. and in every city throughout the nation. And it doesn’t just stop with race—his dream is for all races and all religions to join together and proclaim their freedom. Dr. King’s final words of “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God a-mighty, we are free at last” is a great clincher to close out his speech. This final sentence drives home Dr. King’s main theme of racial equality for the entire nation. Dr. King’s speech is made up of many themes. He begins by bring up the theme of promised freedom from a hundred years ago. He continues by going into the theme of how today, these promises of freedom have been denied. The next theme he discusses is that we cannot have satisfaction in this injustice. We must end it, which begins the next theme of in order to end it, there lie a difficult road ahead. But at the end of this road, we find Dr. King’s final theme—his dream of tranquility. One thing is for sure, Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech is a beautiful read; so eloquent and filled with so many literary terms that create such a magnificent flow. Dr. King used many metaphors. Some of them are: “negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice”; “negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” Dr. King also used similes in his famous speech. Some examples would be: “it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”; “we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like
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