Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech analysis report

King makes a strong point of the long time that the injustice to blacks had been occurring and that it isn't too late to change, but he wanted his audience to feel ‘The fierce urgency of NOW.’ He was impelling everyone to take notice today and t change. In order that Americans understood how imperative it was that change happened, King emphasises using anaphora that ‘Now is the time to rise, Now is the time to lift our nation, Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.’ King also indicates that the injustice had been not completely settled with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation because ‘100 years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.’ The use of the anaphora, ‘100 years later’,  suggests that King strongly felt that it had to change because the Negro was still the victim of vicious injustices, still ‘Crippled by the manacles of segregation… chains of discrimination.’ The anaphora conveys King’s message in a more engaging and notable way. It puts emphasis on the important words and makes the message very clear for the audience.

The final technique King uses to impart his message is alliteration and assonance. These forms of repetition make the speech flow and help the components work together better. The repetition of sounds makes the speech more catchy and memorable. He repeats the statement ‘I have a dream’ eight times to emphasise his vision for America. ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the Colour of their skin but by the Content of their Character.’ His dream represented the dream of millions of Americans demanding a free, equal, and just nation. His dream became the nation’s dream. ‘We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no…’ It creates a musical effect in the speech that enhances the pleasure of listening. Furthermore, it renders flow and beauty to the speech. Attracting more people. Enhancing the reaction. Using assonance helps to develop a particular mood in the speech that corresponds with its subject. ‘We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.’

King very effectively uses repetition techniques to convey his vision of freedom and equality for all men, black and white. He beseeches the audience to ‘Go back… knowing how this situation can and will be changed’. King charges his audience and gets a response because he structures his speech using repetition, anaphora, alliteration and assonance. King’s words are mostly about peace, offering a vision everyone can achieve.