Annotated Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. commences his speech by alluding to the speech, The Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln in the year 1863. When stating “Five score years ago...,” he refers to the renowned introduction Abraham Lincoln preached. King proceeds to state, “…a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today.” He and his audience stood in Lincoln’s shadow metaphorically and figuratively. He orated his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where the statue of Lincoln is situated. King utilizes imagery and diction from the metaphor, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.” The “momentous decree” he refers to is the
They must fight racial discrimination with peace instead of violence. King juxtaposes when stating, “We cannot walk alone.” He stresses that he and the black community must create an alliance with progressive whites in order to achieve racial equality and justice for blacks. Anaphora and repetition appear in the next part of his speech when King states, “We can never…” He echoes this to demonstrate the inhumane discrimination blacks faced in the 1960’s. He states that he and the black community will never be pleased until they are treated with dignity and
King discusses his aspiration for black children to live in a society that focuses on one’s character and not the pigment of their skin. Asagai, similar to King’s beliefs states, “[Life] is simply a long line -- as in geometry, you know, one that reaches into infinity. And because we cannot see the end -- we also cannot see how it changes. And it is very odd but those who see the changes are called "idealists" -- and those who cannot, or refuse to think, they are the ‘realists.’” (3.1.26-8) Like King, Asagai is hopeful that society will progress over time. King states, “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This relates to Karl Lindner convincing the Youngers to not move into the white neighborhood by offering a