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How Does Martin Luther King Jr Use Literary Devices

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McCusker, Luke Mr. Shipp English 1, Block 1 5/26/23 Literary Devices Inspired Change “I Have a Dream” a famous speech presented by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, which talked about how African Americans shouldn’t back down from racial injustice. The speech included many writing techniques and literary devices. Literary devices that standout in the speech include Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of metaphors, anaphora, and allusion. To begin with, Martin Luther King Jr. used a famous literary device known as a metaphor. A metaphor is when one thing is said to be another without using the words “like” or “as”. A famous metaphor that Martin Luther King Jr. used in his speech was “This Momentous Decree is a great beacon of light to millions of Negro slaves,” this metaphor can be found in paragraph two of the speech. Another famous metaphor that King uses in paragraph three is,”In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check…a check that has been marked insufficient funds,” by using these metaphors he shows that slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation but the “check”shows how they have not gotten the right they’ve …show more content…

Anaphora means to repeat a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. “I Have a Dream” included multiple examples of anaphora. MLK Jr. included “100 years later…” in paragraph two of the speech, which was a form of repetition to show how African Americans were freed 100 years ago but do not have any of the rights that they were promised 100 hundred years ago. Another famous example of anaphora in “I Have a Dream” can be found in paragraphs 18-20 and the anaphora is also the title of the speech. MLK Jr. uses anaphora to show how people shouldn’t back down from racial injustice and that they should have hope for the future. By using anaphora it gives an emphasis in the speech, which MLK Jr. is trying to reach the

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King inspired millions to change the situation they were in and end discrimination with his emphatic diction. Unbeknownst to many, allusion was one of King’s most powerful and persuading forms of rhetorical devices in his, I Have a Dream,” speech. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” is guaranteed to both black men as well as white men, was a phrase spoken by King

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The function of anaphora is to add a pattern to speech, making the words more rhythmic and appealing to hear (Anaphora). For example, King says, “We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation's only non communist … political force, the unified Buddhist Church … We have corrupted their women and children…” By using repetition of the word “we” King forces accountability onto the American people as a whole.

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Rhetorical and literary devices has been utilized to persuade an audience throughout history. In Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Frederick Douglass’ “Address to the Massachusetts Anti-slavery society” speech, they articulate the injustices the black man has experienced over the years by exercising allusion and anaphora. King and Douglass, both civil rights activist, desire action from society; they seek true equality for their black brethren. King and Douglass use allusion to create a recollection in the minds of their audience in order to reinforce their intents. King states, “five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation” referring to Abraham Lincoln.

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Have you ever wondered just how powerful and moving words can be? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, “I Have a Dream” as well as his “Letters From Birmingham Jail” are full of powerful and inspiring wording. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr takes advantage of this wording to help bring to light the issues that black people in America were being subjected to, so that people would feel inspired to take action. Martin Luther King Jr utilizes figurative language to effectively make the people who listened to his speech better visualize the struggles of black people in America so that they will actively try to get the government to change laws to be more inclusive. An example of this is when Martin Luther King Jr announced, “[That] this sweltering summer

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This can be seen when he asks the audience, “Do you know what it is like to be in a surrounding that is strange, and all around you, you see strange things? It depresses man”. This creates a feeling of pity towards the sufferings the First Nations people must endure because of the rights they do not receive. In Martin Luther King’s speech he uses anaphora to create emphasis and dramatic effect such as “I have a dream” or “One hundred years later”. Similarly Chief Dan George uses this stylistic device to emphasize the fact that the First Nations people have already given more than enough for their rights “We paid, we paid and we paid”.

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They were much more likely to want things to change when they heard him describe the situation this way. Another rhetorical device used by King was anaphoras. An anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of several clauses to create emphasis. King’s best use of this begins in the very title of his speech. He declared to his audience, “I have a dream that one day… sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

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King repeatedly uses the phrase “when you” –eleven times approximately- in order to resonate with his critics the importance of action in bringing segregation to an end and allowing justice for all people of color. Each time he uses the statement “when you”, his argument builds up with greater fervor and passion giving him greater persuasive power over his audience as the repetition of the phrase cause an emotional effect on the readers as they begin to simulate their own experiences with that of what he is citing. Anaphora is also particularly useful in King’s favor as he employs this towards the beginning of the letter, therefore by repeating the phrase “when you” multiple times, it enhances the likelihood that his reader will remember not only what the read but how they felt by the end of the piece. The audience is actively drawn into King’s arguments due to a perception of membership, by being able to anticipate that the next line will repeat what has been said it builds resonance within the audience. King’s usage of anaphora throughout the essay (not just in this one particular quote) serves to effectively strengthen his argument and persuade his readers to abide by the four steps of peaceful protesting for which he is concerned on behalf of the Civil Rights movement.

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He also uses highly connotative words to evoke an emotional response in the audience such as, “chains of discrimination” and “oppression” to reinforce the need for change. He also uplifts his audience through positive diction using words such as “freedom,” “majestic,” and “brotherhood” to motivate and inspire his audience. He also appeals to logos through his use of analogies: “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” This analogy uses logic as a form of reasoning because he appeals to the basic concept of money and the frustration of receiving a “bad check.” Besides connecting to the audience through appeals, Martin Luther King Jr. also uses rich metaphors to convey his

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(Kennedy “Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.”). This specific example shows Kennedy 's use of anaphora. Kennedy could have just said, the United States does not need division, hatred,

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Introduction: In the movie, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead 2 (2014), portrays a man, Joe Cross, who motivates people all around the world with his healthy lifestyle and how it has changed his life around. Cross meets up with experts and invites them to talk on his documentary about how to maintain the long-term effects of eating healthy and improving overall health. Traveling around the world, Cross has small events where he talks about rebooting and where he shares or an audience shares their reboot story. Reboot is a diet; basically a diet where its main function is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, lose weight, revamp energy, and improve overall happiness.

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In paragraphs 16-24 he repeats the phrase “I have a dream.” This is an example of repetition. MLK also uses analogy in his speech in paragraph 4. In the text, King compares American civil rights to cashing a bad check. King compares the two to show how worthless the promise of African Americans civil rights is.

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Compared to the previous example of anaphora the effects are the same except for what the repetition brings attention to. Both examples put emphasis and focus on to the negative points Kennedy wants to direct to the Steel Industries. Kennedy’s diction also helps to keep the audience’s attention and focus on what he has to

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Martin Luther King 's uses various literary devices such as metaphors, personification, similes, and imagery in his speech so that his audience would be able to better understand and visual what he is saying. An example of a metaphor in King 's speech is when he compares the deprivation of African American rights with "a bad check that has come back from the bank of injustice marked with insufficient funds". He states that we must cash a check that will give us the riches of freedom and security of justice. This metaphor is referring to the freedom and rights that African American 's deserve and are promised but are not given. An example of personification in his speech is "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

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Both these speeches had executed the art of persuasion extremely well. Even though both speeches had used many rhetoric devices they have many things in and uncommon. Further more, one of the many similarities is that both the speeches have a vast amount of metaphors. Dr. King uses metaphors to emphasize his point about the equality of blacks and whites. Similarly, Nelson Mandela uses metaphors to support his ideas.

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Throughout his speech he implies a lot of metaphors to make his speech effective and influencing. For example, King constantly describes the Negroes as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation”, “Storms of Persecution,” and “chains of discrimination.” Through these metaphors King indicates the crises the Negroes face. A few of King’s strongest metaphors are his references to prejudice: “the quick sands of racial injustice”, the “heat of oppression”, “the dark and desolate valleys of segregation”, and the “chains of discrimination.” King also indicates the unbearable inequality by creating an image: “the sweltering summer of the negro’s discontent.”

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