I Have A Dream Essay

Lexi Karhnak
1st period
“I Have a Dream”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is unquestionably one of the most influential and inspirational speakers of the century. He has left a large dent in America’s society from the speeches he has addressed to the public. Through these speeches, he expresses great intelligence in the way he forms his sentences to become an inspirational message that changes society for the greater good of mankind. In his “I have a dream” speech, he uses historical alliteration, figurative language, and multiple types of syntax to enhance his speech. The beginning of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech has a different tone than the middle and the end of his speech. In the beginning, he puts a heavy emphasis on how atrocious black men and women are being treated, and how nothing has been done to change that. In the first paragraph, he uses historical allusion relating to the Emancipation Proclamation in how it states that all Negro men will be free from “the chains of discrimination”. In response to this he says: “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination”. He uses this reference to connect to his audience using a well-known article that the people can relate to. Also, in this sentence and throughout the beginning of the speech he uses cacophonous words to show the hatred black men and women feel on a daily basis. He uses words like “shameful”, “crippled”, and “poverty” to enhance the way the black men are treated. Throughout the speech he uses metaphors. In paragraph four and five, he uses an extended metaphor to enhance the meaning of the speech. Within paragraph five he says that the Negro men are a “bad check”, that they are a check that has been marked as “insufficient funds”. This means that the Negro men, because of the color of their skin, are looked upon as people who are not sufficient enough for society. “We let it ring from every village and every hamlet”. In the last paragraph he states that when the black men are free, they will “let freedom ring” everywhere; that everyone will know that they are equal to white men. Toward the middle and end of the speech he uses more repetition of words. He does this with “I have a dream” and “let freedom ring” to convey the message that he will not give up and that everyone needs to persevere on. By repeating encouraging words and saying euphonic words like “freedom” and “glory” he becomes extremely inspirational, encouraging the audience to do what he says and to change America, to make it a better place. His dream is to make America a better place for all people to live. He dreams that one day his children wont have to walk through life being hated upon by all white men. He believes that one day “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics” will hold hands in freedom. Through his words he inspires the audience to follow him and his dreams of America becoming free of racial discrimination.