March On Washington Speech Analysis

The Power of Emotions “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This is a well-known quote is the artwork of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. whose speech at the “March on Washington” in 1963 rang throughout the United States of America. At the time, society had disregarded Abraham Lincoln’s efforts to end segregation, continuing on with hatred and oppression aimed at those of the Black community. However, Martin Luther King refused to accept being a bystanding within the minority and created a movement to change the course of history forever. His goals were simple; freedom, unity, equality, but his determination

The Negro community is said to have been isolated on an island of poverty in the middle of an ocean of prosperity. The inequality is represented through an island of rightless confinement the African Americans are stuck in while the Whites are thriving in their rights that they consider ordinary. A more effective metaphor used is a comparison of nonchalance as a pacifier in the mouths of the Black community. The pacifier is used to hush issues of segregation by giving false hope. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” (King). King brings up this point to express every Black man and woman’s feelings about their freedom being put on a shelf. He uses the tranquilizing drug as a correlation to accepting any promise the society makes, when truthfully, there is no change being made towards freedom nor equality. The most effective metaphor used by King is the juxtaposition of cords in a symphony. He specifies the need for unity through the harmony of music and the inequality through off-key notes. “With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful harmony of brotherhood” (King). Dr. King launches his message to the jangling discords in the nation, or

tried to reach freedom through unity and equality by grasping the emotions of human nature in his “I Have a Dream” speech with metaphors, repetition, and imagery. The importance of each factor of figurative language is whether the public takes action or simply agrees. Mr. King’s biblical background and speaking skills aided him in attaching the people to his ideas. He hit each and every emotion of the Black community which led to their choice in action towards their freedom and equality with the Whites. He was able to be one the biggest reasons for apartheid change in the lives of the Blacks and in the lives of all American citizens. Martin Luther King’s speech at the “March on Washington” was the spark to a national wildfire of change concerning unity, equality, and