Two other techniques King utilizes to make his speech coherent and discernable are anaphora and alliteration. Anaphora is important in the “I Have a Dream” because it emphasizes the main point of certain lines, and ultimately, the main points of the speech. Examples of anaphora include: “one hundred years later”, “we cannot be satisfied”, “let freedom ring”, and the ever popular, “I have a Dream.” In addition, King’s use of alliteration helps to accentuate key phrases by grouping words that start with the same letter: “marvelous new militancy”, “dark and desolate”, “sweltering summer”, and “color […] content […] character.”
Another way King keeps his audience and their goals in mind is by encouraging them to embrace the future. For instance, King motivates his people to take action by saying: “1963 is not an end, but a beginning.” King further emphasizes the need for proactivity as he repeatedly says, “Now is the time.” Lastly, being a man of nonviolence, King wants to make sure that his audience does not misinterpret the message of his speech, so he says: “We must not satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of hatred.” Through this line, King reinforces the fact that he advocates passivity despite injustice.
Although King’s speech is targeted at a specific group of people, the speech still appeals to a diverse population. One way that King helps his speech to be universal is through his allusions to events in history. His speech is political, as his purpose is to empower his own people to fight for civil rights, in addition to, influencing the opposionists to change their ways. King references the National anthem, the Constitution, and the Bible in his “I Have a Dream Speech”. In fact, King makes substantial points about the slow advancement of African American equality through his anaphora “one hundred years later”, which alludes to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years prior to King’s speech. King’s allusions to past events help to create common ground for both the black man and white man because both colors experienced American history in some form or another.
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech deserves all of the recognition it gets because of the relevance and solidity of the content and potent stage presence of the speaker. King not only knows how to communicate his information to an audience of African Americans, but can also accommodate an audience on a broader level. His use of rhetorical devices gives emotion to an already meaningful speech.
It is obvious King uses an audience-centered approach to “I Have a Dream” because of the ways he makes the material easy to understand and captivating to see and hear.
References
Beebe, S. A., & Beebe, S. J. (2007). Public Speaking- An Audience Centered Approach (6th ed.).
Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing
Eidenmuller, M. E. (2007). Martin Luther King, Jr. - Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence. American Rhetoric. Retrieved September 27, 2007, from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/ speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
