Mackenzie Kmecik

11/28/16
I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH
On August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered
what is now known as one of the most defining moments in the Civil Rights Movement, the I
Have a Dream Speech. King verbalized this powerful speech to over 250,000 civil rights
supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The March on
Washington, along with Kings speech, put pressure on President Kennedy and his administration
to progress their civil rights legislation in congress. Kings speech was delivered to a more
personal audience as well. King spoke in hopes of reaching the attention of both races, whites
and African Americans, to not only inform them that change is needed, but also to take initiative
to make and accept the change in a non-violent, yet effective way.

With the use of repetition, powerful metaphors, and references to important documents in
American history, King uses these to emphasizes the importance of unity and equality between
races upon his audience and in effect, uses this speech as a call for brotherhood between races.
He hopes that people will no longer be identified by ethnicity or race, but known as American
and believe the notion that all men are created equal.

King begins with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves
in 1863, to first grab the audiences attention and give them a general sense of what the concern
is about. He uses a metaphor to describe what the slaves had escaped because of this, This
momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had
been seared in the flames of withering injustice. He compares the cruel punishment black slaves

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received to having the same effect of being burned by a flame. But more importantly than that,
King uses this reference to demonstrate that a hundred years later African Americans are still not
free. With the use of repetition, King emphasizes the time, One hundred years to make the
point that immediate change is needed in order for all of society to keep moving forward as one,
not just the blacks. With this repetition, King also uses a powerful metaphor, The life of the
Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination to
imply the effect the brutal mistreatment blacks receive had on them. The vivid metaphor sets the
tone for the rest of Kings speech and makes it known how much King disapproves of racial
segregation and how important national unity is.

King then moves his audience to the present day and what this call for racial equality entails.
King verbalizes a poignant analogy, In a sense we have come to our nations capital to cash a
check, in order to put the actions the African Americans must do in terms everyone can
understand. As he comments we in this phrase and throughout the rest of the speech, requests
his audience to become a part of a collective voice, rather than an individual one. Within this
analogy is an appeal to logos. He puts inequality in terms everyone knows, money, in order to
reason that anyone can relate to the feeling its like after receiving a bad check. He uses this
analogy to make evident that the blacks were given a bad check and that they deserve to cash it
in for a better one, which would include racial unity as a whole. With this analogy King
intertwines a reference to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence to remind all of what
these documents promised every American and what every person was guaranteed with the
passing of these credentials. In turn the cashing in of this bad check would result in the

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inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that they should have already
possessed.

As the speech progresses forward you will notice King continuing his use of creative figurative
language effectively. King conveys his ideas of African American satisfaction and justice through
another animating metaphor, No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until
justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream King is speaking for the
rest of his race with this statement and is demanding justice, but the only way they will accept it
and be satisfied with it, is if it comes rushing to them at once just as water falls down and follows
the path of a stream.

Throughout this speech, King speaks in a sense that unifies his audience already. When he is
addressing his audience, he addresses them as a whole, and includes himself as well as a way to
gain recognition and credibility. He refers to his audience as his friends to make them feel
welcomed and supported in Kings movement. This makes his audience feel important, therefore
raising more support and action for his cause. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the
difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. Not only does this phrase bring
his audience together, but also moves his speech to speak of the present and the problem of
inequality that is happening in the moment. With the mentioning of Kings dream in this phrase
brings his audience to the next portion of his speech, which gives an in-depth explanation of his
dream and refers to the plan of the future.

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11/28/16
King over emphasizes the point that he has a dream with the use of repetition. He repeats and
begins each line with I have a dream to show the importance of this one dream. As each line
begins with this phrase, parallelism is present as well as the use of an anaphora. With the use of
this anaphora along with the parallel structure, King is able to add rhythm to his speech that
emphasizes and enhances his vision of equality. Through the lines of Kings I have a dream
and the many explanations of what his dream includes is the use of an appeal to pathos as King
cries, 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. This line gains sympathy
from his audience as he includes children. He is drawing the audiences attention to the fact that
small children are also the victims of this brutal discrimination and cannot fight for their rights of
equality themselves that is why they need the sympathy for the adults in their life, who can do
something about it and put an end to this mistreatment.

King then continues to include children in his speech, in order to keep the sympathy he has
gained along with acquiring more as his speech continues. King speaks again, I have a dream
that one day the state of Alabama, whose governors lips are presently dripping with the words of
interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and
black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as
sisters and brothers. I have a dream today, to include a general sense of children and children of
both races in order to catch the attention of all of society. He is referring to once equality is
reached for African Americans, skin color will no longer matter and all the small children will be
able to unite and be one and enjoy the journey of the future and all it has to hold together. They

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11/28/16
will realize that there are more important things in life than worrying about skin color, equality
just needed to be reached before this bond and unity may occur.

In order for Kings dream to be fulfilled, all people need to find a similar faith and hold on and
honor that faith together. As this occurs he states, With this faith we will be able to transform
the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this he
believes this faith will have the power to destroy the evils this nation acquires now and will unite
our nation as one, into a loving and accepting bond of brotherhood.

King is a strong believer of this faith. He speaks about this faith very inspirationally and of how
powerful it really can be. As he preaches, With this faith we 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. With the use of parallelism, King emphasizes that with
this faith will bring a sense of togetherness. With it, men, women and people of all races can
unite together as one and once they unite they will become a powerful whole and will have the
ability to conquer anything together. Once equality is met, the nation will be a powerful whole
and there will be greater opportunities for both races that they can then experience together,
freedom for blacks must be achieved first though.

King ends his speech in a very optimistic way about the future. He ends with an allusion to an
American song, America and quotes the lyrics, and then states, This will be the day when all
of Gods children will be able to sing with a new meaning. This allusion is used to show the
pride our country has and if his dream comes true and every person is treated equally, no matter

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his or her race or skin color, the children of future generations will have a new meaning to their
life, as he says they will be able to sing with a new meaning. This phrase is used figuratively to
represent the life of future generations, to display the great importance of equality for all and the
effect it will have on all of society when it is reached.

King takes the audience, aimlessly from the past, to the present and then voices his hopes and
aspirations for the future with what he desires it to be. He integrates the destruction of slavery for
the past slaves, which describes the plight of the African American people, to the suffering a
hundred years later for the blacks, and ending in terms of his dream for his children to experience
a different life with brotherhood and unity between all people.