Martin Luther King’s Speech: Analysis

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most prominent and fascinating leaders for the black civil rights in America. He was a Baptist minister and a civil rights activist who impacted on racial issues in America being in the mid-1950s. He promoted justice and equality for African Americans eliminating racial laws that prohibited African Americas from using public areas and sitting in front of buses. Martin Luther King, Jr. was acknowledged for his errors and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964; four years later he was assassinated (Goshgarian). 

Martin Luther King’s speech was directed to the Negro people, who were facing racial prejudices from the White US citizens in Mississippi. The Negros were denied services at some public service areas, such as not being allowed to sleep and spend their time in hotels or motels that were on the highways of the cities. Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged the Negros to keep fighting, as one day they will receive justice and be treated equally with other superior races despite the tribulations they were going through for a long period.  The use of the different style elements helps enhance the appeal power of Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech, as people are being urged not to surrender because their freedom would eventually come.

            Martin Luther King, Jr. uses different writing styles to put importance in his speech as well as ensuring that his message is relayed to his audience. For instance, Martin Luther King, Jr. starts off with using Metaphors, “great beacon light”, “seared in the flames of withering injustices, to explain a situation or something using what is familiar but not related because the situations have similar characteristics (Zapruder, 2014). The creation of rhythm and emphasis is also illustrated through the use of repetition. With using a lot of repetition, Martin Luther King, Jr. is able to get his point across and allow structure in his speech.  

            Different writing styles are used to create a deeper understanding of the speech; Martin Luther King Jr. uses reference to provide his audience with relatable situations. He also uses antithesis and repetition to contrast ideas in a balancing manner like in his “I have a Dream” speech. The use of parallelism in his “Let freedom ring” creates connection in the ideas being discussed by for easy understanding. All these styles allowed Martin Luther King, Jr. to express his views in a way that caught the audience’s attention. of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is now a recognized federal holiday held on the third Monday of January; celebrating his life and accomplishments.

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Reference

Goshgarian, Gary. Exploring Language. 13^th ed. New York: Longman, 2007.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved from

Zapruder, M. (2014). Metaphor in literature. Academy of American poets. Retrieved from: https://poets.org/text/metaphor-literature