Figurative Language In Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

White and black, they are simply just colors. Yet, we use them as a way to separate and degrade people of equality instead of judging what is underneath their skin color. This is what Martin Luther King was fighting against when he wrote the “I Have a Dream” speech on August 23,1963 in the midst of a very racist and cruel period in time. “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King is the most compelling out of all the speeches because of his word choice, different types of figurative language, his change in pace, and the most of all his passion. He made his speech very descriptive and painted pictures in the audience’s head and kept the audience engaged in what he had to say. His speech persuades Americans that everyone deserves to be treated

King’s second most important main idea in his speech was that he wants a great nation where everyone is equal and he wants freedom to ring everywhere. In other words, Martin Luther King wants all the discrimination and segregation to end and for everywhere be filled with freedom. This helped develop and provide to the central idea by really emphasizing that he wants freedom to be all around the country and for every race, gender, or religion to be equal. To help prove his central idea Martin Luther King used the devices allusion and repetition. The first quote I found in the text was “And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.”(King) The second quote I found was “ Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.”(King) Both of these quotes are using repetition of the words let freedom ring to really emphasize how much Dr. KIng wanted freedom. Also, those two quotes also use allusion because they refer to the Colorado Rockies, the slopes in California and the hilltops in New Hampshire which many people are familiar with, and it helps his argument because it confirms how much he believes that everyone deserves freedom and he wants it everywhere like from Colorado to California to New Hampshire. The last quote I found from his second most important main idea out of the speech was “... we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King) This quote uses repetition and allusion as well. It is referring to the old song that was sung very often and repeats the phrase free at last. These devices help provide for Martin Luther King’s central idea because he is saying how he just wants the black people to be free and my repeating that so many times it makes the statement sound more powerful. Also , by