MLK Questions

Faith McCullough
January 20, 2009
Period 11
AP English III- Brown

Rhetorical Structure: Figures of Speech

1.Alliteration- the repetition of initial sounds in adjacent words or syllables

Allusion- a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication: an allusion to Shakespeare.

Metaphor- a figure of speech in which a word for one idea or thing is used in place of another to suggest a likeness between them

Simile- a figure of speech in which two dissimilar things are compared by the use of like or as

2. The opening phrase of King’s speech is an allusion to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. This was an appropriate and strong way to begin his speech because both speeches were strongly significant in history.

3. Declaration of Independence- “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”
Bible- “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together”

4. “Let freedom ring form the mighty mountains of New York.”

5. “…from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

6. “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”

7. This figure of speech was a metaphor comparing segregation to slavery. Those words gave his audience some vivid imagery to picture. It also makes his audience feel as though they were one of the people in slavery. King was saying that slavery has ended, however the segregation and discrimination against African Americans has still exist among them even now.

8. “One hundred years” and “With this faith”

9. One effect of his repetition of “I have a dream” was the fact that not only did King have a dream and he believed in his dream, other African Americans even some whites believed that this dream would become a reality. Another effect of his repetition it would have a tendency to activate a person’s goals and ambitions. Someone might have thought that this goal or dream would never come to pass, but by repeating it gave them the drive to have faith in all their dreams.

10. The most powerful and moving part of King’s speech to me is the part where is talks about how “sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” This section of his speech appealed to me the most because it gives me a visual image on how men and women of all color would one day sit together. It’s hard to even imagine that there was so much segregation those years ago and to see the progression that our nation has gone through is amazing. Now blacks, whites, Hispanics, and all other nationalities and ethnicities can go to school together, eat together, and befriend one another. It would be amazing to see how young people would be able to discuss the wrongs of our forefathers and have the heart to make them right. The young and the old would be able to unite as one people and join hands to share their nation.

Understanding the Dream

1. King’s dream is to bring all races together and become equal, just as it says in the Declaration of Independence. He didn’t want one race to be greater than the other. He also wanted the country to unite to make United States a nation where all nationalities could come together and be one. Dr. King believed in equal opportunity for all. He wanted to see true justice, educational opportunity, and fair employment for men and women. Dr. King’s vision of equality was magnified in his I Have a Dream speech.

2. Some of the injustice acts against African Americans that was cited in his speech was when King states how “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.”

3. American Dream- freedom and equal opportunity for all, a stable income for a happy family with a beautiful house