![]() One of the most memorable metaphors that King uses is the check analogy. This trust that King builds with the audience allows him to become one step further in fostering faith in the audience.Īnother rhetoric technique that King uses is metaphor. By making both historical and biblical references throughout the speech, King enables the audience to trust him and what he is saying. An example of this is: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” King’s use of biblical allusions is effective as it reminds the audience that everything that he mentions is in agreement with the bible and that they should support his vision. King speaks very prophetically throughout the entire speech but the way he delivers this concept sounds as if it was quoted directly from the bible itself. Not only is this concept of not reacting (and almost taking on the role of martyrs) a reference to religion, but so is the way in which it is said. This context shows that King is a man of peace and that he isn’t willing to overlook what he believes to be ethically right in order to get what he wants. This concept appeals to ethos as it allows the audience to understand and respect what kind of person King is. One thing that King makes clear in his speech is that his vision of equality should not be obtained through violence. King makes a variety of biblical references that allows the audience to understand the essence and necessity of the civil rights movement. It is in this section that he addresses the second type of audience the whites with a racist mentality. In the second section of the speech, King discusses the present and the civil rights movement. ![]() It calls for the whites to think of the pain and troubles that blacks were and still are facing in America and how they were essentially the cause of that sufferings. ![]() Another example of this is when King says that blacks are living “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This aids King in promoting hope as it encourages unity. One example of this is when King speaks of the emancipation proclamation and how “once hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination…” By using terms such as “manacles” and “chains,” which are clear references to the time of slavery, King enables the audience to evoke emotions of anger and pain that would hopefully lead to a change resulting in a better tomorrow. By making specific historical references, King is able to cause the audience to yearn for and have faith in his vision for the future. In the first portion of the speech, King addresses the hardships faced by blacks in the past-appealing directly to those who were experiencing the effects of racism first hand. The structure of the speech is presented in a chronological manner-firstly addressing the past, followed by the present and lastly the future. Through structure, King is able to provide context to three different types of audiences. One device that King uses to foster faith within the audience is structure. Despite the many challenges that the majority of his audience faced during such a time of segregation and prejudice, King encourages them to have faith in the future and what he dreams will become a country free of prejudice and racism. In his speech, “I Have a Dream”, Martin Luther King successfully uses an array of rhetorical devices in order to implant faith into the minds and hearts of the audience.
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