4: King begins this paragraph with the “I have a dream” phrase, which he also uses to start the next 7 paragraphs with; he also follows this usually by saying “that one day”. This is called Anaphora and is a rhetorical tool used elsewhere in this speech, it gives his speech a repetitive structure and in this particular case creates list effect. He does this by using the phrase before each key point he is making; this focuses the audience’s attention and gives a clear break between each of his points. At the beginning of the next sentence, King goes on to talk about “this nation”, using the word “nation” collectively involves all of his audience, black or white and everyone ells in the United States which is another one of his many rapport techniques. Following this refers to this nation’s “creed” by which he means the ‘American Declaration of Independence’. This is the second time King has hinted at the American Declaration of Independence in this extract. It is a reoccurring them of the ‘I have a dream’ speech, however this is the only time in this extract that he directly quotes from it. When he says the quote, King stresses the word “all” in the phrase “that all men are created equal”. This is an obvious yet effective way of emphasising his point that everyone not just white men should be equal.
5: Furthermore, king depicts “former slaves and former slaves owners” sitting down together “at the table of brotherhood”. The word former gives the clear message that the slave trade had come to an end and is in the passed. When King mentions “the table of brotherhood” he uses this as a metaphor for white and black people being at the same level but also literally, sitting and eating at the same table. It could also be taken as a biblical link to the last supper or other similar bible stories, but as it is not that obvious, he probably never intended it to be.
In the next paragraph King portrays his point by using lots of metaphoric and emotive language.
6: First King takes climate of the racist, southern state Mississippi and uses this as a metaphor to describe the levels of injustice. Within this metaphor he uses juxtaposed phrases containing lots of emotive language: “sweltering with the heat of injustice… oppression” “oasis of freedom an justice”. This way of putting contrasting words together creates a dramatic effect towards the audience. Interestingly even though “I have a dream” is written at the beginning of the next paragraph, when he says it, he flows strait into it and puts the break afterwards. It is possible that he did this so the when his audience applauds, as soon as they have stopped he can go straight on to this next very memorable point.
7: Moving on, this next sentence is probably the most powerful and memorable in the whole speech. King refers to his “four little children,” this is incredibly emotive because people naturally feel very empathic towards little innocent children. This is a good example of an anecdote king uses a few in his speech. The effect of this is leaving the audience feeling very touched and open for suggestions on how to change the situation, because the image of innocent children having to suffer the problems that they and previous generations have been through is horrible. In the second part of the sentence there is some alliteration: “Colour…Content… Character” this may well have been accidental, however, it still contributes to the strong delivery of this paragraph by emphasising these key words.
9: When king says the phrase “down in Alabama” emphasise very strongly and pauses on the word “down”. Because he emphasise this word it is clear that it means more than just the state being in the south, it is most probably a metaphor for the state being down, old fashioned in their views and unable to look forward into a brighter future. He goes on to use very complex yet emotive words “interposition and nullification”; this gives a vivid presentation of what King trying to portray about the governor of Alabama. In second part of the paragraph King for the second time refers to children. This time he gives the audience the beautiful image of black and which children joining hands and playing together, this is also incredibly emotive and really shows the audience how beautiful things would be if Kings campaign was successful.
11: Interestingly, The whole of this paragraph is one direct quotation from Isaiah 40: 4-5 in the Old Testament. King refers to the bible allot because as a Baptist minister he would have been very familiar with it, also it is a very powerful book with many phrases that can put a strong point across. When he says the phrase “every valley shall be exalted ” he mentions the word “valley” again, which is repetition from earlier, however, in context it is juxtaposed to the earlier reference “valley of despair”. What this does is draws a link for the audience between the first mention of “valley of despair” and how it shall be exalted, changed for the better. In this carefully chosen bible quote there is lots of juxtaposition, for example “the crooked places will be made straight”. King uses this phrase and the other similar ones as a metaphor, that carries the message across that current problems will be changed and made just, “every hill and mountain shall he made low”. The quote ends with “and all flesh shall see it together,” once again repeating and drilling into the audiences mind the idea of doing everything together to achieve their goals. King goes on to use allot of metaphoric language in the last paragraph of the extract.
13: Finally, the last paragraph of this extract is very motivational; King achieves this by using lots of repetition and metaphoric language. He starts by saying “With this faith” and repeats it another three times after. The first two he follows by metaphors for example the second metaphor is a musical one. King refers their nation as “jangling discords” and how “with this faith”, they will be able to transform it into “a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” The final one, it is followed by more repetition of the word “together”. Before each one he mentions different things that we go through in life, that at the time, black and white people were segregated for. This really reinforces the sense of everyone being treated the same way, doing everything together and the whole idea of a community. King rounds of this extract of his speech with the motivational statement “knowing that we will be free one day.” This is cleaver, because even though it is not the end of the speech it is the clear end of a section, so to keep hold of the audience he ends it by motivating, causing them to be geared up and ready for the final section of the speech.
Throughout the speech King uses some non-verbal speaking techniques to enhance his speech. On the video clip of the speech, most of the time the camera is on a close up shot of just his head and shoulders so it is difficult to see if he is doing any hand gestures, however, we can see what his head and face are doing. King uses various facial expressions to interact with his audience, reflecting different emotions; he does this to pass the emotions he is showing on to the audience. When king emphasise words verbally by raising his voice or stressing the word he sometimes moves his head in a nodding action. to add visual emphases as well. This is technique subconsciously makes the audience pick up on these important words combined with the vocal emphases. By watching the speech it is obvious that to start with, King is reading off a script and looking up at the audience from time to time. Interestingly, as it gets closer towards the end and as he builds up his big climax he looks down less and less as it goes along. This is because he has learnt the ending completely off by heart so he can have maxim eye contact with the audience to increase the dramatic effect of the climax. He also shakes his head and generally moves more in his build up to the end, this shows Kings amazing enthusiasm and Charisma.
King’s words are a vehicle for his charismatic delivery. He is recognised as a great orator and in ‘Martin Luther King, Jr: Charismatic Leadership in a Mass Struggle’ (Journal of American History, 1987), Clayborne Carson defines the charisma and oratory that King conveyed through his words: “The term ‘charisma’ has traditionally been used to describe the godlike, magical qualities possessed by certain leaders. Connotations of the term have changed, of course, over the years. In our more secular age, it has lost many of its religious connotations and now refers to a wide range of leadership styles that involves the capacity to inspire – usually through oratory – emotional bond between leaders and followers. ”
King has carefully structured the order and layout of the whole of this speech. He starts with a short introduction that gets to the point. Following this he has a very ordered general layout of starting with the past then moving on to the present then future, giving the sense of starting with the darkened passed and moving forward into a brighter future. King begins by mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation, which were very significant documents that were the beginning of the movement for civil rights. King then mentions the reality, how the promises made were not for filed. He goes on to the present saying what is happening to the negro and what they still have to suffer, that thy have white support, how they cannot turn back and that they will never will be satisfied with what they have at the present time. After this he goes on to the future, “I have a dream”, which is what the majority of the extract is. Which he does by through many metaphors about his belief and vision of the perfect future: the hope of Equality, Justice, Freedom and Fairness.
To conclude, Martin Luther King motivates and inspires the audience by using rhetorical devices and emotive metaphors to lead them into accept him as their spokesperson. After his death, King was given the honour of being in the list of the top one hundred orators in recorded history, and this speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th Century. This was partially down to his speaking techniques and his good way with words but is significantly down to his charismatic personality and how he delivered that speech. Interestingly, the “I have a dream” speech was originally titled ‘Normalcy, Never Again’, and the first drafts never included the phrase “I have a dream”. A friend of King’s called Mahalia Jackson who was an American gospel singer was possibly the reason how this famous phrase came about, she once said to him “Tell them about the dream, Martin!”