Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have A Dream Speech

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation” (King 84). Martin Luther King Jr. used his I Have a Dream speech have people join him in his protest to have everyone created equal. He used words and phrases that would stick out to people or easy to understand with context clues. He was also able to pause in his speech making every word or phrase that he said important. Phrases that stood out were, “I have a dream” or “let freedom ring”. Dr. King uses his tone to help develop the central theme by using words and phrases that stood out, making his speech clear, and using metaphors.

Martin Luther King Jr. used words and phrases that stood out to the people

King wanted to emphasize words and phrases by pausing throughout his speech. An example of his pauses is “with this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day” (King 88). When Dr. King pauses it gives the people listing time to understand or clarify what he had said. Regarding the end of his speech he paused more in order to have time to breath so that he could be loud and clear. His last sentence he took more pauses “and when this happens and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual” (King 88). This quote helps show that he wanted the emphasize that everyone should be free, no matter who they are, they should have the same rights as the person next to them. The use of pauses also helped people stay on edge for what he might say next, “now is the time…” (King 86). Using this technique Dr. King was able to establish a powerful speech that persuade hundreds of

King used many metaphors to compare the racial injustice to whether, landforms, and more . He used things like, “must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical forces with soul forces” (King 86). He used this quote to show that one can go far without using force, one does not have to be violent in order to accomplish something. Dr. King also used heat: “this sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality” (King 86). This quote also helps refer the southern states where segregation was the worst. He uses autumn to exemplify the hope of justice, equality, and freedom after the heat from protesting. Later in the speech, he clarifies that he won’t rest until “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King 87). This quote shows that he doesn’t want freedom in a couple of year, he wants it soon. Dr. King wanted equality to come fiercely without anyone being harmed. Then he goes on to say “it is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream” (King 87). This shows that he wants to be equal, live a life just like every white man around him. He doesn’t want to be segregated into living a life that he doesn’t want. Dr. King wanted to live a life that meant something to others and change the way others thought. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to be free, he wanted to have the same rights as the white men, and live the life of