Analysis of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

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Evaluate the persuasive techniques used by MLK in the final section of his “I Have a Dream Speech” During a time of extreme segregation in America, Martin Luther King- a man of religious background went about carrying out several peaceful protests in order to bring equality to America. One of his most famous speeches was made close to the time of his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King used many persuasive techniques within his speech to encourage change within the US. During the final section of the speech MLK applies anaphora when stating, “I have a dream”. This places emphasis on the hope that MLK has for the future of America and for it to be a place of equality. MLK refers to the Declaration of Independence as a ‘creed’. This biblical reference shows how MLK has the moral high ground within the battle of equality and segregation. Demonstrating to his observers that he is doing what is right by America. Martin Luther King states how, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together”. The use of antithesis in combination with the adverbial of manor ‘together’ demonstrates how MLK aims for current social opposites to be of the same rank and the parallelism of the phrase ‘the sons of former...” hints how both parts of this segregated society are the same as each other. Martin Luther King uses a metaphor of a desert to describe the current social condition of Mississippi, “sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression...into an oasis of freedom and justice.” The metaphorical desert demonstrates how life in Mississippi is near to inhabitable because of the segregation. The use of the verb ‘sweltering’ further emphasises how the state is almost overflowing with oppression and injustice. When talking about segregation in Alabama MLK describes it’s people as, “vicious racists” and
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