I Have A Dream

2 Pages 556 Words

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Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream”
Everyone has a dream. So did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his famous “I have a dream” speech. He addresses serious issues concerning the issues of civil rights. The reason this speech was so successful and memorable was because he addressed it to a mixed audience of more than 200,000 civil rights supporters. Anybody who agreed with what he stood for marched to the nations capital to hear this speech. Civil Rights supporters could not only understand what he was saying but also relate to the cause. Martin Luther King Jr. made his speech so easy to understand because a lot of his audience may have been victims of slavery and many of them were just learning or still didn’t know how to read. For that reason he had to put his speech into lament terms so that his audience could better understand his message. The devices that Martin Luther King used that made his speech such a success are repetition. For example, his use of “I have a dream” is constantly repeated. People often remember things that they hear over and over again. Not only did he repeat this phrase, but he also put it at the end of his speech, which is a very powerful tool in presenting an argument because people often remember most the last thing that they hear. It was not by accident that King, in writing this speech decided to repeat this particular phrase at the end of his speech.
Another device he uses that was very effective, is quotes from other famous speeches that were also successful, for example “All men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Is a quote from Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. His quote of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was also not a mistake, the reason for this was not only for the effectiveness, but because the march was planned to go from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgo...