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Extended Metaphors In I Have A Dream And Lincoln's Speech

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Authors and writers give speeches that people remember for decades. King and Lincoln did just that, by strengthening their speeches using rhetorical devices to articulate the theme of freedom. King used extended metaphors to vocalize how equality is like a check; Lincoln uses contrasting language to influence people died for our freedom and we must not left them die in vain. In both King’s, “I Have a Dream” speech and Lincoln's, “Gettysburg Address”, they practice a device called extended metaphors. The metaphor that King used is a unbalanced text, ”...we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check...signing a promissory note...America has defaulted on this promissory note… (King 48). He calls freedom a check that was promised to all …show more content…

King’s speech is remember through decades because he says things like, “...dark and desolate…” (King 48). King uses alliteration of these imagery words to make his sentence have strength and give you imagery of the sentence. Another way king used devices to expand his speech is by stating, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (King 50). This is a contrast made clear by using contrasting language. In the following statement, King places color/content and skin/character side by side, drawing our attention to radically different ways of seeing the world. Lincoln does the same technique using contrasting words like on page 27 Lincoln says, “gave their lives that that nation might live” (Lincoln 27). The contrast of the negative statement, “gave their lives” set up the positive phrase, “that nation might live”. The way Lincoln said this may of pushed people to feel a certain way to act upon the call of action. The call to action for both King and Lincoln is stated about how we need to reunited as a nation and have equality for

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He masterly uses ethos, pathos and logos in his rhetoric to supply proof to all Americans that racism and segregation are not included in the foundation of this country. “Five score years ago”, which is the opening phrase of Dr. King’s speech serves as an allusion to Lincoln’s “Four score and seven years ago” in “The Gettysburg Address”. That is because it is in fact in “The Gettysburg Address” that Lincoln spoke of all men being created equal. By citing Abraham Lincoln (“…a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today”) King brings authority into his speech as Lincoln was a powerful and great president who empowered the American people throughout the civil war.

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King didn’t just use an emotional approach during his “I Have a Dream” speech, but he also uses a logical approach. He uses a lot of emphasize about how after a century, the negro is still not free. Also, it might be a long time before the negro can be freed. King talks about how he has a lot of dreams for the world, and although not all of them will become true, at least some might. He wants everyone to be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

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His masterful delivery of these metaphors and the frequent repetition makes the speech much like a poem or a part of a song. This special lyrical and parallel structure helped get his main points across and allows a large audience to understand simple but powerful words (Layfield) . The rhythm and frequent repetition are used to drive home his key points, stressing the importances of his goal. As example, King uses “I have a dream that one day...” and “Let freedom ring..” to open his points on how Americans should change against racial indifferences. Furthermore the King’s parallel structure clarifies and highlights his intent by building up to a more important point.

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Pathos is a very key ingredient in the process of persuading people, and while everybody tugs at people’s heartstrings, King used it to change the opinion of all that remain on the fence between inequality and equality. “Let us not wallow in the valley of of despair.” That sounds like torture, and that's why many fought for black rights, it sounded like a life of pure pain and suffering, causing many to hate the idea of blacks being forced to endure such discriminative horrors. He of course doesn’t use all negative words, but words of hope and positive thoughts, “An oasis of freedom and justice… a beautiful symphony of brotherhood... we will be free one day.”

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Throughout the speech, King employed a variety of techniques to capture the attention of his audience and convey his message of hope and equality. One of the examples of figurative language in the speech is KIng’s use of metaphor. For example, he compares the emancipation proclamation to a great beacon light of hope that comes as a joyful daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. This metaphor helps to emphasize the significance of the proclamation and its impact on the lives of African Americans.

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Isabella implored Leonardo da Vinci to paint her a portrait, depicting Jesus Christ as a youth at the temple (1504). I don’t think any artist today, would be displeased of having such instructions given to them. I would say, hearing such words of compliments as Isabella praises Leonardo’s work in the letter, any artist would feel pleased and gratified. Although the demands of Isabella may seem a bit exacting at first, but it would be incorrect to judge her manner as condescending, for she places her instructions with politeness. For example, in the letter, she says that “. . .

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King wants things to be the way they were supposed to be when Lincoln freed the blacks in 1863. Blacks were to be treated fairly, but whites still felt they were lower class citizens. Also, King uses many metaphors to convey his thoughts on the issues. As you can see, Lincoln’s speech and King’s speech are similar and different in many ways.

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“I Have a Dream” by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 gave many examples of metaphors and allusions to build his argument. Such as alluding where they are located, comparing the treatment that African Americans were getting to handcuffs and restraints, comparing racial injustice to quick sand, and comparing brotherhood to a solid rock. These examples add support to back up his argument of how terrible the Africans Americans were being treated. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses metaphors and allusions to enhance his speech and make his point clear. To begin Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses allusions to tell where they are while he is giving the speech.

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He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of

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The main idea of his speech is that all people were created equal and, although this is no longer the case nowadays, King felt it must be the case for the future. He argued peacefully, yet passionately and powerfully. In preparation for the speech, he studied the Bible, The Gettysburg Address and the US Declaration of Independence and he alludes to all three in his address. The intensity of King’s speech is built through parallelism, metaphors, bold statements and rhythmic repetitions:

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Transitioning from high school to community college can be an unnerving experience for many students. Despite these fears, attending a community college provides numerous benefits and opportunities for a successful future. This transition includes recognizing high school and community college differences regarding teaching style, student body, academic assignments, responsibilities, scheduling, and freedom. These distinctions highlight community colleges' increased independence, responsibility, and flexibility, allowing for a more dynamic and independent learning environment. Ultimately, these distinctions help students in their pursuit of higher education.

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King also discusses his personal life, along with his family and children, to show the crowd that he is fighting for the same things as them. In his I Have a Dream speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. used ethos to increase his credibility with his audience, pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotional side, and logos to appeal to his audience’s logical side. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s use of ethos begins in the first few lines of his I Have a Dream speech. He begins the speech with a direct reference to Abraham Lincoln and his Gettysburg Address. King speaks of Lincoln as an admired figure in the Civil Rights Movement when he states “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation” (King 84).

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Dr. King was a Baptist minister that was extremely involved in trying to end racial discrimination. Dr. King’s speech is known as “a masterpiece of rhetoric” by scholars. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech makes good use of the rhetorical triangle. The rhetorical triangle is composed of ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is convincing the audience that the author

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To achieve this, he used rhetorical strategies such as appeal to pathos and repetition. His passionate tone flowed through these strategies, increasing their persuasive power on the people and encouraging them to follow/listen to his message on racial injustice. While pathos elicits an emotional response from the audience to make them more accepting of King’s ideas, repetition structures the speech and emphasizes key ideas for the audience to take away from listening. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. To this day, King’s speech remains one of the most famous and influential speeches in

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He incorporated a lot of biblical allusions to insist the audience that his speech is in accordance to the Bible, as King writes that he has a dream that one day, “every valley shall be exalted,” every hill and mountain “made low,” all rough places will be “plain” and crooked places “straight” and that the “glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:4-5). On another occasion he paraphrased one of biblical statement “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5 ) in his words as “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity “cite .King’s allusions to past events help to create unite both races and inspire them to tackle this problem collectively as both colors experienced American history in some form or another. King not only references the Biblical allusions which emotionally appeal to people but also mentions legal statements like declaration of independence and Emancipation proclamation by mentioning “Five score years …” to refer to Abraham Lincoln’s address and “promissory note” to direct their attention towards their legal rights as mentioned in the constitution.

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