The I have
a dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most famous pieces ofin American
history. Particularly famous is the section in which King proclaims his dreams:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal."I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together
at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of
Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.I have
a dream that my four little 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.I have
a dream today!
In this brief
selection from the famous passage, King uses a variety of literary and rhetorical devices,
including the following:
- , or
repeating a word or phrase at the beginnings of successive sentences or clauses, as in the
repetition of I have a dream . . . here. - Balanced or
parallel phrasing, as in rise up and live out or the sons of . . . and the
sons of . . . . or the color of their skin and the content of their character. - Vivid , as in the reference to the red hills of
Georgia. - , or the repetition of
similar-sounding consonant sounds, as in the content of their
character. - Metaphors, or implied comparisons, as in the reference to
the table of brotherhood (emphasis added) and in the references to heat
and to an oasis. - Allusions, as in the open
quotation here from the Declaration of Independence.
King uses
many other devices besides these in his speech, but the devices listed above help add emphasis
and power to one of the most powerful passages in any speech ever given in the U. S.
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