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Martin Luther King. Jr Speech Analysis

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Martin Luther King. Jr Speech Analysis
Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speech - I Have a Dream

In the speech I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr., he uses many powerful metaphors that describe the urgency and importance of the change that needed to occur throughout the nation at that time. He mentions in the beginning of the speech that what he will present is going to be the “…greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of [the] nation.” Also, he really put emphasis on the level of injustice that was happening and encouraged all the African -Americans to get up, unite and fight for justice.
The purpose of this speech was to bring the African-American’s hopes up and unite them so they could fight against racial discrimination as one. He starts his speech off by saying “our nation”. This gives a sense of togetherness to everyone right from the beginning. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses millions of African-Americans all the way across America. He also puts a lot of emotive language into his speech such as “Negro Slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.” This gives a deep impact on the minds of both people who actually have suffered through this, as well as people who don’t know what it’s like.
Martin Luther King Jr. uses a lot of repetition in his speech to make everyone, especially the target audience, the African-Americans to feel the importance of the abuse that was being done to them. He repeats the words “one hundred years later…” a couple of times in the beginning of his speech. He puts emphasis on the fact that all through this time, there has been no change. This creates sympathy towards the innocent people who have suffered all through this time. It also shames the whole nation in an indirect way, for its negligence towards this matter for so long.
Moreover, MLK uses many metaphorical phrases that express his feelings towards this matter. However, he does not disrespect the nation. One example of this might be when he says “…great vaults of

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