Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Christina Chavez

Mrs. Coleman

English 1

3 April 2023

MLK Rhetorical Analysis Three scores ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his inspiring, heartful “I Have a Dream” speech to the American people of all backgrounds to encourage equality. With his speech, he also wanted to spread awareness of the racial injustice the African American people suffered. Dr. King’s dream was of unity and that everyone would work together to achieve this dream, as well as equality, justice, and freedom for all. His tone was firm, passionate, and patriotic, hoping people would get his message of equality and racial justice. To help with getting his message across, Dr. King used rhetorical devices, such as anaphoras, metaphors,

King uses metaphors; he uses metaphors in hopes to open the African Americans' eyes to the dreadful conditions they lived in. He uses two metaphors, “one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” and “one hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land” to emphasize the importance of the terrible living conditions they have been living in. Those metaphors highlight how African Americans lived in poverty while everyone around them lives in riches and much better conditions. He uses the phrase, “lonely island” because nobody else was being treated like that and “a vast ocean” because it is a massive problem and the rest of the citizens are living with many riches. Announcing that the African Americans find themselves exiled from their own land, allows Dr. King to explain the problem of the American land was promised to everybody, but the African Americans have been thrown out and not allowed in the land allowed for

used rhetorical devices. He used his specific, “now is the time,” anaphora to spur people into taking action right now and not wait any longer. Using his two metaphors, Dr. King wanted to open the eyes of everybody to see how the African American people had been surviving in impoverished conditions. Not only did Dr. King wished to emphasize and open the American people’s heart to segregation and injustice, he wanted them to be united, and be as one. To unite them as one during his speech he repeated words that included everybody, such as “we”, “our”, and “us”. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted justice and equality, and used many rhetorical devices to hopefully open people’s hearts and eyes to the injustice happening around