Comparing 'The Gettysburg Address And I Have A Dream'

Two incredibly influential speeches written a century apart are greatly remembered in the fight for solidarity and freedom. In Abraham Lincoln’s and Martin Luther King, Jr’s speeches “The Gettysburg Address” and “I Have a Dream” the authors both passionately target the ideas of liberation and unity. While both speeches written years apart they still both acknowledge the same civil issues in their society and the action that needs to happen to overcome these issues. Lincoln and King both convey the problems of racial injustice in their beautifully written speeches and the unity that needs to happen to improve the country. Lincoln and King both discuss the same ideas but convey them in various ways by uniquely utilizing literacy techniques.

In King’s speech he uses more illustrative literary strategies; the “dream” he constantly references to is metaphorical because it is an illustration that represents his vision of the “American dream”. Lincoln’s speech is more concise and straightforward directly talking to his audience. The phrase “I have a Dream…” is constantly repeated throughout King’s speech emphasizing his increasing passion while Lincoln, being for equality, still maintains an even tone. Lincoln and King are also viewed differently when speaking. Lincoln’s audience viewed him having president credibility and being professional while King is seemingly much more passionate and emotional about the idea of freedom for African-Americans. In the two speeches the “we” the speakers refer to is different. Lincoln refers to “we” has victims of slavery, the people who have lost their family in the fight for freedom at the same time King refers to “we” has believers of a better tomorrow, African-Americans. He includes himself when he cites the world “we” because he is an African-American man merely hoping for