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I Have A Dream Speech Summary

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“I Have a Dream” Schools, streets, bridges are adorned by his name. As long as American children start to go to kindergarten, they are thought to honor Martin Luther King. His main idea was that “all men are created equal” and have an intrinsic right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. King expressed his ideals on August 28th 1963 before a crowd in Washington, DC when he delivered his famous speech to millions of people and changed the future for the following generations. “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most highly acclaimed speeches of all time. Despite controversies, nothing has managed to ruin his reputation. The purpose of his speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, is to express …show more content…

He achieves this through visualization based on the use of metaphors. Actually the text is comprised of many metaphors which represent the segregation of black people. The speech starts with the allusion “five score years ago” and the metaphor “symbolic shadow”. They allude to the American president Abraham Lincoln- the man, who abolished slavery in the United States. “Five score years ago” (100 years ago) reminds us of the Gettysburg Address, because Lincoln expressed his ideas in this way in his popular speech during the American Civil …show more content…

He cited the Declaration of Independence (metaphorically called promissory note) - “…all men are created equal”. King’s speech is famous for his rhetoric and argumentation. One rhetorical device that King used to great effect is repetition. The clearest example is the repetition of the phrase “I have a dream” which is used to paint a vivid picture of King’s vision of racial harmony. King says the phrase over eight times. In this part he talks about a transformed South, where people can live peacefull together as brothers, regardless of the complexion of their

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