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Rhetorical Devices In Civil Rights Speech

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Civil Rights Speech Comparison
In the “I have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. he uses many different rhetorical devices to intrigue and interest his listeners to get his point across. He states, “I have a dream…” (12-19) several times to help him push his point across to the readers. This quote helps us understand how Martin Luther King uses many different styles to create a ‘need to know more’ essence for the audience. This quote was placed to make us feel inspired and hopeful for the oncoming future, and the past that helped create it. Many ways were used to help contribute to the fall of the civil rights issue. Rosa Parks more specifically stood, or in her case sat, for her rights to be equal no matter her skin color. Many smaller …show more content…

King and Malcolm both use anaphora for the same reasons, driving their points, but King uses his with more uplifting emotions. King states, “I have a dream,” (12-19) several times to keep us stopped at the fact that there can be a better future. He says this many times to drive his point and make it stick with us that there is something better. This particular quote is an example of how he uses impressive word choice to inspire and create hope. Another example of King’s use of anaphora is, “One hundred years later…” (2) repeated several times. He is showing us an amount of time taken to solve a problem that still haven’t been solved. He repeats this quote to make this time stick with us, he wants us to remember how long it has been since we thought we had solved the problem. In contrary, Malcolm X uses this quite unsimilar way. You can see this when he repeatedly says, “I…” (1-). Malcolm X likes to refer this situation back to himself, as if he were the only man with the problem. The fact that he does this shows us how he is very into himself instead of worrying about the millions of people this also affects. This proves that King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is much more effective than Malcolm X’s “Ballot or Bullet” speech, just one the count of his personal concern for

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