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Rhetorical Devices In King's Speech

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II. 2.) The opening phrase of King’s speech: “Five score years ago” is an allusion to Lincoln’s delivery of the Emancipation Proclamation. This is an appropriate and powerful way for King to start his speech because He was emphasizing that a hundred years ago African American slaves were freed, but were still enslaved to their roles in society as being “worth less” than the white man. He was drawing attention to the fact that societal reforms, still needed to be made even a hundred years later. II. 3.) An allusion to the Declaration of Independence in King’s speech is when he says “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” An allusion King makes in his speech is “ I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain should be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight.” II. 4.) An example of alliteration in King’s speech is the repetition of the consonant ‘c’ in “I have a dream that my four 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.” II. 5.) An example of a metaphor in King’s speech is the “ cup of bitterness and hatred.” II. 6.) An example of a simile in King’s speech is when he says “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” II. 7.) The phrase King says in his speech that “the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by

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