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Power Of Words In Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

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Recommended: Rhetorical speech analysis of "i have a dream" speech

Lincoln Sullivan
Ms. Williams
English 9, Period 6
1 February 2023 Power of Words
In nineteen sixty three Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to more than 200,000 African Americans from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther king was dedicated to nonviolent resistance and made him both a moral and a political leader. In Martin Luther King jr “I Have a Dream” speech he uses strong words to provoke,inspire and calm his listeners. In the famous “ I have a dream” speech Martin Luther King provoked the nation in his speech to show how discrimination is still in this country. Martin luther king uses powerful words to express the feeling of the african …show more content…

Martin Luther king in the quote provoked and abhorred the african-americans. The provoking words in the quote like “crippled”,”manacles of segregation” all show how the people of color are still not free . King uses the words “One hundred years later” in the quote to show how long it has been since slavery has been abolished and the 13th Amendment was passed and how frustrated he is, that an African American is still treated differently than a white american. Towards the end of the “I have a dream” speech Martin Luther King provokes and lists the ways that African Americans will never be satisfied. “We can never be satisfied as long as the negro is the victim of unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in …show more content…

With this faith our nation 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.” The inspiring words and sentences give motivation and inspiration to the black Americans around the nation that one day they will be free and they will join together and be able to go to the same schools and do the same jobs, drink out of the same water fountain and be equal to white Americans. In Martin Luthers “I have a dream” speech at the end he uses the words “Let freedom ring”. “Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New york. Let freedom ring from the heightened allegiances of pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of california. But not only that: Let freedom ring from the stone mountains if georgia. Let freedom ring from the lookout mountain of tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of mississippi. From every mountainside,let freedom ring(King, par. 30-38)”. Martin Luther king uses let freedom ring habitually to inspire the black Americans. Martin Luther King does this to show that freedom will ring across the

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Martin Luther King Jr. has written many inspirational pieces during his lifetime while fighting for African American civil rights. Two of his most inspirational writings are his I Have A Dream speech and the Letter From Birmingham Jail. The only question that remains is “which one takes the cake,” meaning, which one conveys the deepest, most meaningful message about the fight for equal rights? It is clear, however, that the Letter From Birmingham Jail shows itself to be the true winner because of its powerful message and great detail involving the issues of segregation and the unequal rights that African Americans faced everyday, which stirred and appealed to the emotions of his audience.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and congressman Robert Kennedy tried to inspire people who listened to or read their speeches or letters to stand against segregation worldwide by using powerful words that had meaning behind them. In Dr. King's “Letter From Birmingham Jail” he states, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” This quote inspires many people who read his letter by providing very powerful words which allow the reader to feel strongly about the stand for freedom. Another way Dr. King used strong words to inspire people is by stating in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of

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