A2 English language and literature coursework

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Introduction

For my substantial text, I have chosen to critically analyse Martin Luther King's inspirational 'I have a dream' speech. This speech was delivered live on national television, radios and a public audience during the Civil Rights March in August 1963. This had been directed to 200,000 of African Americans and civil rights supporters across the USA, informing and demanding an end to racial inequality, and discrimination. Strong, political lexical vocabulary is used to educate the nation. This speech has been granted one of the most powerful and moving speeches of the 20th century, employing faultless emotive vocabulary and countless figurative language. This speech would be classified as a very carefully planned speech, categorized as political and culturally significant.

Filled with exaggeration and hyperbole, Martin Luther King stresses the urgency of a change in society. 'It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.' 'This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.' MLK's sense of unity and cultural values are used as a vital motive towards the breakdown of racial discrimination.

His powerful imagery and metaphors captures the audience's imagination,