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Martin Luther King Jr Rhetorical Analysis Essay

1272 Words6 Pages

The recurrence of the preposition “of” in King’s metaphors holds a crucial role in the uncovering of his purpose. The word “of”, despite its miniscule length and limited definition, easily unifies two unlike words and makes them both pertain to the same situation equally. This concept is Martin Luther King’s intention for the divide of whites and blacks. With simple, yet powerful actions, American whites and American blacks can be united and viewed as equal beings. In the metaphors, each item being compared is uniquely its own, yet shares common letters and identity to its opposite; words make up both sides of the metaphor. Correspondingly, while each individuals hold their own beliefs and ideals, whites and blacks are essentially the same …show more content…

With this repetitive device, King attempts to convince those that may stand opposed to him. For instance, King repeatedly begins a string of statements with the fragment, “One hundred years later” followed by a description of the current life of an African American (King 3). By emphasising the time that had passed, King asks his audience to consider the little progress that had occurred in that time. He recognizes the surplus of racial discrimination present in the current time and invites the audience to unveil the horrible truth. Not only do these horrendous injustices exist, but they have for over one hundred years. The repetition of “One hundred years later” emphasizes the extreme importance of time and causes the audience to need to think logically (King 3). If no one acts now, then the oppressions facing African Americans may continue for another century or longer. Additionally, this concept of time carries a significant amount of guilt. America has been aware of its injustices and has allowed them to occur for an entire century. Actions by other fellow Americans could have been taken sooner to help limit suffering. However, because little progress was made, this guilt fuels the American public to act and make up for the many years of suffering that African Americans have been conditioned

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