Kaila Parker

RA
IHAD Final Copy
10/27/13
In the inspiring I Have a Dream Speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin
Luther King, Jr. addresses the current afflictions of his audience, from the woes of their pockets to the
desires of the best possible future for their children in order to encourage his fellow activists of the Civil
Rights Movement at the March on Washington to continue, for he believes we shall always march
ahead(9).
In order to progress the speech from the hardships of Negroes to the end of segregation, Martin
Luther King, Jr. relays his vision of the bright future of America that will be obtained due to the Civil
Rights Movement. King through the use of his diction with the words We and I embodies the
persona of all Negroes suffering through segregation causing his audience to envision and support him
as a credible figure to stand behind. King establishes a unifying diction through his use of the word
dream(p27). The connotation around the word dream is that of a vision being euphoric and/or in
some cases a foretelling the future. The word carries with it the connotation of perfection, where there
is no strife or instances of degradation, and all people have exactly what they desire. A dream is an
innocent goal that is pure at heart. Martin Luther king, Jr. uses the word dream to develop a spiritual
vision of the future. The vision is guided by Dr. Kings capitalization on the audiences central belief in
God. Given his experience as a preacher, Dr. King develops a calling to the nation that is experienced as
if it is a prophetic dream, one that has been sent to him by god just like the dreams of past prophets, like
Moses, whose dreams led to the disentanglement of the bonds that stalled societys progression. By
doing this, he motivates the crowd to continue fighting towards an end to segregation where all people
are living the American Dream so that there is a bright future for America and an end to segregation is
coming. The American Dream spoken of by the Reverend, is one where all innocent children who have
dreams can live out their desires and not face the perils of the then current society. When spoken of by
King, I have a dream deeply rooted in the American dream (p17), it encompasses the dream of all
activist of the Civil Rights Movement, so that the American Dream, in fact, is what all activists are
fighting to obtain for themselves and their future descendents. By making his prophetic dream a part
of the American Dream, a need arises for the Nation to rise up in the name of all Negroes in America,
since they are Americans and therefore the desires and needs of all Negroes need to be met to ensure
their rights as Americans. Thus the successive sentences beginning in I have a dream... are a war cry
calling for all citizens to help America rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed (p18). In order
to cement the dream of equality, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. constructs a unifying use of parallelism,
through the use of parallelism in the I Have a Dream speech, With this faith, we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to struggle together(P27), the simplicity of Dr. Kings dreams are relayed
to the audience. The structure of the successive phrases gives King the ability to drive home, with force
,the idea that equality is beneficial to the nation. The pacing of the sentence as well develops the
forcefulness of this last instance of rallying the crowd and promoting equality. Asyndeton helps develop
an equally distributed set of successive clauses that run fast and build urgency. The asyndeton was
beneficially placed near the end of the speech so that a strong and powerful ending could be obtained
from the audience who would then be filled with fervor to continue on fighting in the Civil Rights
Movement. The continuance of the Movement is imperative and the unity of all people is needed in
order to get to the bright future. The brotherhood that King envisions America can obtain, to pray
togetherknowing that we will be free one day(p27), wraps up the entire speech in a single sentence.
It addresses the faith he has that has been spoken of in the I Have a Dream lines, it addresses the jail
time he spoke of earlier that so many Negroes faced, it addresses the slavery and entrapment that
Negroes faced and continue to face, and it overall told indirectly the idea that all of these tribulations
have occurred in America, but it is important that we as a nation save no animosity towards one another
and continue on down the path equality and justice.







*If we are not doing peer editing please make my paper one of the ones looked over for the warm-
up.*
Do I really need to come out and say Abstract Language like I did connotation and diction?
Can you end a paragraph in a quote?
Did I interweave innocence of children efficiently?