RESEARCH PROJECT

on
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S
‘I HAVE A DREAM’ SPEECH
Submitted to

MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, AURANGABAD

Submitted by

PRAKHAR VERMA

B.B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) Semester-I

Roll No. 2022/BBA LLB/64
Paper 1.1: General English (Grammar and Phonetics)

Under the guidance of

Ms. Mahenaz Haque
Assistant Professor of English,
Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad

October 2022
 INDEX

Sr. No. Name of Chapter Page No.

1 INTRODUCTION OF TOPIC 2

2 ABOUT THE SPEAKER

CONTEXT/HISTORICAL
3
BACKGROUND

4 ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT

5 SUMMARY

6 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

7 CONCLUSION

2
 INTRODUCTION

Overview of the project

This project examines the historic speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963. In Washington,
D.C He gave a speech entitled "I Have a Dream" in which he addressed racism and equal rights for oppressed black
people. This study will discuss the historical context of the speech as well as the opinions of various experts and
linguists on its merits. This analysis will also examine how the speech was perceived by the general public, what
transpired following it, and how it altered the global scene. This report will conclude with a critical analysis of the
speech by the researcher.
The methodology used

This research aims to describe the effects and impacts of the aforementioned speech. This research uses derivation
from secondary sources and This research uses academic articles written by well-known linguists and critics. It also
uses news articles and reviews in books to accomplish its objectives.

Why the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. ?

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential speakers and people of the modern era. He helped end racial
discrimination and gave equality, rights, and opportunities to one of the most oppressed and downtrodden groups of
people.

The researcher chose Martin Luther King, Jr. as the prime speaker for this research paper because his speech
resonates with humility, a passion for helping, a hatred for discrimination, and hopefulness for the future.

His thoughts resonated with the researcher, as even though India is a singular nation, it is a melting pot of different
cultures and races. Somewhere in the Indian mind, the colonised thought process remains. Because of the damage
done by the British Raj, we Indians still judge people by the colour of their skin. Hopefully, this old scar will heal
with time. So, a day comes when this hatred based on colour ends , and a world without discrimination emerges.

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DR.MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

(19)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was born as Michael Luther King, Jr. but later changed
his name to Martin. From 1914 to 1931, his grandfather was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta,
Georgia, United States. His father has been a pastor since then, and Martin Luther was an associate minister from
1960 until his death. Martin Luther attended separate public schools in Georgia and graduated from high school at
the age of fifteen; the
In 1948, he got his BA from Atlanta's Morehouse College, a well-known black college where both his father and
grandfather got their degrees. He got a B in 1951 after studying theology at Crozer Theological Seminary in
Pennsylvania for three years. While there, he was elected president of a mostly white, upper-class group. He went
to graduate school at the University of Boston after getting a scholarship from Crozer. He got his Ph.D. in 1953 and
graduated in 1955.
In Boston, he met and married a young woman named Coretta Scott, who was very smart and talented. Two sons
and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for the civil rights of members of his race, King
was at the time a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of
Coloured People, the premier organisation of its kind in the nation. By then, he was ready to take the lead.
In the first major non-violent black demonstration in the United States, the bus boycott that Gunnar Jahn described
in his introductory speech in honour of the award, The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the
United States Supreme Court ruled that laws requiring segregation on buses were unconstitutional, blacks and
whites rode the buses equally.
During the days of the boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, and he was beaten, but he still became
the most well-known leader of African-Americans.
In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organisation formed to
provide new leadership for the nascent civil rights movement. Christianity influenced the values of his

4
organisation, whereas Gandhi influenced his surgical techniques. Between 1957 and 1968, King travelled more
than six million miles, spoke more than 2,500 times, and showed up wherever there was injustice, protest, or
action. During this time, he also authored five books and numerous articles.
During this time, he led a large protest in Birmingham, Alabama, called the Coalition of Conscience, that got
attention from all over the world.
He was arrested more than twenty times and attacked at least four times. He got five honorary degrees and was
named Man of the Year by Time Magazine in 1963. He became a worldwide celebrity and a symbol of black
American leadership.
At the age of 35, Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. When he learned
he had won, he announced that he would donate the $54,123 prize money to the civil rights movement. On April 4,
1968, he was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was
to lead a protest march in solidarity with that city's striking garbage collectors.

5
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Slavery and racism in the continental us

Early Africans brought to the Americas arrived in relatively small numbers via Spain, Portugal, and the Atlantic
sea islands. Despite this, the demand for African slaves rose as Brazil's sugar industry grew. Europeans who
colonised the Caribbean (in 1518(1)) and North America (in 1619(2)) followed Brazil's lead and became slave
owners, establishing prosperous plantations that exported goods around the globe.

European plantations originally relied on a mix of free, indentured, and slave labour. Slave labour from Africa was
the cheapest, most readily available labour option for numerous crops. Slaves from Africa were shipped across the
Atlantic so they could grow exotic crops for sale in the West. In each case, what was once considered a luxury
became a necessity almost immediately. As a result, sugar, once enjoyed only by the elite, was eventually
embraced by the working class in every region of the globe. However, it was only thanks to the hard work of
African slaves and their descendants that this was even possible.

Declaration of independence and rights of every man

After more than 150 years of this slave trade by various colonial powers, things began to change in 1775, when
thirteen British colonies on the western coast revolted against the empire over high taxes and other factors, which
eventually led to the American War of Independence in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This
was the beginning of the end of the slave trade in the Americas.

The Declaration of Independence, which stated in its opening lines that "all men are created equal and endowed by
their creator with certain inalienable rights," did not extend this right to slaves, Africans, or African-Americans, as
the final version omitted a reference to the abolition of slavery. Thomas Jefferson, himself a slaveowner, penned
these lines opposing slavery; he removed the reference after receiving criticism from a number of delegates who
owned black people as slaves.

Initially, tobacco fields in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina fostered the growth of slavery. By 1776, more
than half the population in the tobacco-growing regions of these states consisted of slaves. Slavery then spread to
the southernmost rice plantations.

Civil war, abolition of slavery and the rampant racism

6
The transatlantic slave trade was one of Britain's most profitable businesses in the 18th century. Before Congress
abolished the slave trade in 1808, 600,000 of Africa's 10 million slaves arrived in the American colonies. The slave
tradewas not outlawed until 1808. In spite of this, by 1860, 13% of the United States' population, or approximately
4 million black people, were kept as slaves. 1

Eight of the first twelve U.S. presidents had slaves. Proponents of slavery supported the efforts of organisations
like the American Colonisation Society, which "sent back" tens of thousands of free black people—the majority of
whom were born in the United States—to Liberia in the 19th century in order to prevent the disruption caused by
free descendants of slaves.

At least originally, according to Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War was waged to preserve American unity and not to
abolish slavery. Southern states said they wanted to secede to safeguard their state's rights, but in reality they
fought to maintain slavery. Some historians believe Lincoln fought for the emancipation of slaves because he
feared the British would back the South's self-proclaimed independence and acknowledge the South as a separate
country. If he had made the war about the abolition of slavery, it would have harmed the South's cause and the
British who supported it. Peter Kolchin, a historian, has stated that Lincoln's death was likely the first fatality in "a
lengthy, ongoing civil rights campaign."

There are others who believe that Reconstruction widened the racial gap by providing a springboard for "the
establishment of new segregated institutions, white supremacist ideas, legal rationalisations, extra-legal violence,
and everyday racial fear." Others have noted that the passage of "codes'' to keep black people from being really free
after the war left their status "undetermined" when they were free.

The United States had a recession in the late 19th century. At night, knight riders went out and torched the homes
of African Americans who had recently purchased their own land. Southern white Democrats had pulled back
many of the liberties won during Reconstruction, albeit to a lesser extent, and so they rode up to Washington to
demand reform.

jim crow era and the start of civil right protests

The Jim Crow era of segregation prohibited African Americans from drinking from the same water fountains,
dining at the same restaurants, and attending the same schools as white Americans until at least the 1960s, and
sometimes long beyond.

1 Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

7
After the First World War, more than 2 million southern African Americans relocated to the north and midwest in
response to Jim Crow's exclusion of African Americans from employment and opportunities and the availability of
more jobs in the north and midwest. Nonetheless, even hundreds of miles away from segregation in the south, these
migrating Americans encountered "sundown towns" where black people were not welcome after sunset and limits
on where they might reside in cities.

The struggle lasted prior to the end of Jim Crow and the beginning of the civil rights era. By presidential order, the
US military did not desegregate until 1948. In 1954, the Supreme Court declared in Brown v. Board of Education 2
that segregation was unconstitutional and schools were required to integrate. In the 1960s, civil rights activists
conducted anti-segregation marches throughout the nation.

2 Jason Gauthier, History Staff. “Distribution of Slaves in 1860 - History - U.S. Census Bureau.” United States Census
Bureau. Accessed October 31, 2022.
https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/maps/distribution_of_slaves_in_1860.html.

8
 Original transcript

“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.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had
been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly
crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives
on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the
Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so
we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the
magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note
to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white
men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious
today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of
honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back
marked "insufficient funds."

9
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in
the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon
demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage
in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the
promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path
of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of
brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's
legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-
three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be
content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor
tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to
shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace
of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to
satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our
struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into
physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white
people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their
destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our
freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

10
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied
as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long
as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of
the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We
can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs
stating: "For Whites Only." 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, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until
"justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come
fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you
battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of
creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi,
go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums
and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted
in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering
with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color
of their skin but by the content of their character.

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I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping
with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black
girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the
rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be

revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be
able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we
will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom
together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the
Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

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 Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and
white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the
old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

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 summary
In this address, Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his infamous conviction, his hope for the United States, and the
need for change. He begins his speech by expressing his delight at marching alongside supporters and other
participants. A century before Abraham Lincoln's march, the King commemorates the signing of the Emancipation
Proclamation. He declares that "the long night of captivity has ended with the dawn of joy." He then discusses the
problems African Americans faced in 1963 and asserts that, more than a century later, they are still deprived of
freedom.

In contrast, they are "heavily bound by the manacles of segregation and the shackles of discrimination." Moreover,
he emphasises the destitution that blacks have endured. He asserts that when the nation's founders wrote the
constitution and the declaration of independence, they were in fact writing a promissory note to each American.
This includes both black and white men, as everyone possesses the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness. King laments that the United States has defaulted on the check, thereby denying black citizens these
rights. His exact words were, "America has issued a bad check to African-Americans, a check that has been
returned for insufficient funds."

Luther King, Jr. adopts a positive tone as he reaffirms that the "bank of justice" has sufficient funds.

In addition, he asserts that their mission is time-sensitive. His exact words are, "Now is not the time for gradualism
or cooling off." Using the four seasons as metaphors, he asserts that African Americans have the right to be
dissatisfied and that equality and freedom are comparable to a "refreshing autumn." He guarantees that this
particular demonstration will not fade away quickly. It is not as simple as airing grievances and returning to the
status quo, he adds; the revolution's cyclones will continue until justice is restored. However, Dr. King cautions his
constituents against engaging in illegal activities. "Let us not attempt to quench our thirst for freedom by drinking
from the cup of bitterness and animosity," he advises. This concept was essential at the time because Martin Luther
King's leadership was founded on nonviolence as opposed to violence. He demonstrated that change is possible
without using force. He has always advocated for peace, despite the fact that the civil rights movement was marked
by considerable violence. Moreover, he encouraged others to participate in peaceful demonstrations.

In addition, he emphasised the importance of recognising white individuals who were willing to protest for the
same cause. He stated that they were indispensable to the success of the cause. He claims that the marches will
continue as long as black people cannot stay in hotels, are mistreated by police, are forced to live in separate
neighbourhoods, and are unable to vote.

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This is followed by the most famous portion of his speech. This final phrase serves as the speech's title. Dr. King
provides a description of his vision for this improves the protesters' right to equality. His dream is that "the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit at the table of brotherhood together."
According to his dream, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to share a table of
brotherhood, According,to his dream. The core of his message in this address and in the civil rights movement is In
the line "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," Martin Luther King, Jr. expresses his
hope that his children will one day live in a country where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin.
Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his hope that his children will one day reside in a nation where they are evaluated
based on their contributions to society.

Everyone is God's child, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or denomination, he concludes. He hopes they will
one day unite in freedom.

15
 CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Opinion of contemporaries of the time

The March on Washington is regarded as one of the most significant historical events in the United States. Every
year, millions of people across the country and even the globe celebrate it. But that wasn't the universal view at the
time. Several prominent political leaders of the time spoke out against Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and the civil
rights activists' demands.

South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond told NBC News hours after the event, "Negroes in this country own more
refrigerators and automobiles than in any other country." They are better fed, clothed, and housed in this country
than in any other country on earth.

Louisiana senator Russell Long argued that the equality movement violated the rights of business owners. "Now
what I, as a Southerner, intend to fight for is the right of a man to choose his neighbours; the right to decide who he
will trade with, who he will do business with, and who he will associate with," Long said.

On PoliticsNation, author David Garrow stated, "I believe many younger people today are unaware of just how
virulent open segregationist racism was against black people." The level of violence encountered by the civil rights
movement in the south reflected the intensity of some of this hatred.

On PoliticsNation, author David Garrow stated, "I believe many younger people today are unaware of just how
virulent open segregationist racism was against black people." The level of violence encountered by the civil rights
movement in the south reflected the intensity of some of this hatred.

This response was not limited to the southern region. By 1966, according to a nationwide Gallup poll, only 33% of
Americans held favourable views of Dr. King.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

Repetition and parallelism

King's extensive use of repetition and parallelism, two techniques commonly used to create a more emphatic and
emotional effect, distinguishes his sentence structure. In particular, the repetition rate is quite high. Several other
famous speeches could rival its length. Over 200 words, or over a tenth of the vocabulary, are repetitions. The
repetition propels the speech towards its climax and establishes a strong rhythm, enhancing the memorability and
motion of this speech. For instance, "Let freedom ring" and "I have a dream" have been used multiple times.

Periodic sentences

In periodic sentences, the audience does not comprehend the message until the end of the sentence. When the
people who founded our nation penned the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they signed a
promissory note to which every American would become heir. This repeated clause adds a sense of suspense. The
more things The more there is to anticipate, the greater the suspense and the more the audience must think and
remember. This facilitates the audience's recall of the speaker's intended emphasis. In addition, the periodic

16
sentence can be persuasive if used effectively and in the appropriate context. Clearly, King did an excellent job
with this sentence structure, making it simple for listeners to pay attention. It demonstrates how dire the current
situation is for black people and how determined King was to change it.

Euphemism

Euphemism is the substitution of an acceptable or inoffensive term for one that may be offensive or imply
offensiveness. In reality, there are some things in life that should not be stated bluntly or honestly; there are times
when it is necessary and even prudent not to "call a spade a spade" but rather to use a more appealing term. For
instance, "The long night of captivity ended with a joyful dawn." This usage of "captivity" is a euphemism. It is
common knowledge that many black people's (what we now call American African) ancestors were captured and
forced to live as slaves. Surprisingly, the King never once mentioned "slavery" throughout his entire address. As a
system, "slavery" evokes a depressing and degrading image of the past. It reflects King's and the Blacks' desire to
alter the current circumstances. In this context, the term "captivity" implies more than it actually conveys. Those
who believe that African-Americans needed to vent their frustrations and are now satisfied will be in for a rude
awakening if the nation resumes normal operations. "A rude awakening" is also a euphemism in this context. By
making this statement, King warns those who discriminate against blacks that if they continue doing what they
have been doing, they will undoubtedly have a negative and unpleasant experience because blacks will no longer
be peaceful and will instead resort to violence. By employing this euphemism, King was able to gain the audience's
respect and arouse their emotions. This euphemism was a pleasant way to comfort blacks and soften the shock of
reality.

Pun

A pun is to play with words, or rather the form and meaning of words, to achieve a witty or humorous effect. For
example, "In a sense, we have travelled to the nation's capital to cash a check." The literal definition of "capital" in
this context is "a town or city serving as the seat of government for a country, state, or province." However, it
means more than this. The 1995 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines "capital" as "wealth or
property that can be used to produce more wealth." Here, "capital" can refer to the wealthy, who are predominantly
opposed to equal civil rights for blacks. In addition, the literal definition of "check" is "cheque," but it can also
mean "examination to ensure that something is correct, safe, satisfactory, or in good condition," indicating that the
black are currently being checked and mistreated. King asserts that the architects sign a promissory note when they
write the words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and he compares the blacks' journey to
the "capital" to demand equal civil rights to cashing a check. However, it is a bad check, and the blacks want the
"capital" to fulfil their obligations. The profound meaning and potent effect of the puns employed in this passage
are certain to be felt, and this effect is amplified by the use of metaphor.

Rhythm of sentences

Everyone agrees that a poem's rhythm is a crucial element. No exceptions exist for speeches. While reading the
melodious and rhythmic text of King's speech, his eloquent voice is easily discernible. The examples below
adequately illustrate this point. 1) “In a ˋsense we have ˋcome to our nation‟s ˋCapital to ˋcash a ˋcheck” 2) “So we
have ˋcome to ˋcash this ˋcheck--a ˋcheck that willˋgive us the ˋriches of ˋfreedom and the ˋsecurity of ˋjustice. As
seen above, the distance between each stressed word is nearly the same, creating a strong rhythmic sense that can
quickly capture our attention. Here, the significance of the sound's impressiveness is emphasised. In addition, many
monosyllabic and two-syllable words are used frequently in the parallel sentences of this speech, such as "Go back
to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to South Carolina; go back to Georgia; go back to Louisiana; go back

17
to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities..." By using such language, King appears to urge the people to return
quickly, thereby bolstering his argument.

Alliteration

Alliteration is widely used by poets and writers. In this technique, the same initial consonant sound is repeated at
regular intervals. In his speech, King employs a similar technique to imprint the current situation on the minds of
blacks. Take "the unalienable rights of life and liberty" and "the dark and desolate valley" as examples; King
employs this aspect of alliteration frequently, which makes it easy for readers and listeners to remember, thereby
capturing their attention quickly. Moreover, "dignity and discipline" not only highlights the sanctity of "dignity,"
but also highlights the importance of discipline. Other examples may also illustrate King's skillful use of language
to evoke vivid images, thereby increasing the audience's engagement with his speech.

Impact of the speech

People praised the speech in the days following its delivery, and many at the time believed it was the highlight of
the march. James Reston, writing for The New York Times, stated, "Dr. King addressed all the issues of the day
more effectively than anyone else." He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the
Bible. He was both resolute and despondent, and he made the crowd feel that the long journey had been
worthwhile. Reston also noted that the event "was better covered by television and the press than any event here
since President Kennedy's inauguration" and that "it will be a long time before [Washington] forgets the melodious
and melancholy voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mary McGrory wrote in The Boston Globe that King's speech "captured the mood" and "moved the crowd" more
than any other speaker at the event. The Washington Post's Marquis Childs wrote that King's speech "exceeded
mere oratory." In a Los Angeles Times article, it was stated that King's "matchless eloquence" made him "a
supreme orator" of "a type so rare that it's almost been forgotten in our time." This made those who supported
segregation look bad and convinced the "conscience of America" that the civil-rights cause was just.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) heard the speech and believed that King and his supporters for racial
justice were up to no good. This prompted the organisation to expand its COINTELPRO operation against the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and to designate King as a major U.S. foe. Two days after King
The day after King delivered "I Have a Dream," the head of COINTELPRO, Agent William C. Sullivan, wrote a
memo regarding King's growing influence:

In light of King's powerful demagogic speech from yesterday, I believe he stands head and shoulders above all
other African American leaders when it comes to influencing large numbers of African-Americans. We must now,
if we haven't already, identify him as the most dangerous future Negro in this country in terms of communism,
blacks, and national security.

The speech was a success for both the Kennedy administration and the liberal civil rights coalition, which had
organised it. It was deemed a "victory of managed protest" because there were no arrests made during the
demonstration. Kennedy had witnessed King's address on television and was profoundly moved by it. Afterward,
March leaders accepted President Kennedy's invitation to the White House for a meeting. Kennedy believed that
the march improved the prospects for his civil rights bill.
Aftermath of the speech
It is hard to overestimate the impact of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Delivered at the Lincoln
Memorial on August 28, 1963, the speech was a defining moment of the Civil Rights Movement and one of the

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most influential speeches in American history. In just over 16 minutes, King electrified the crowd of 250,000
people with his vision of a future where "children of every colour will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’ ” the Voting Rights
Act and the Civil Rights Act were enacted into law, which ultimately led to the elimination of racial discrimination
and the establishment of equal rights for all individuals, regardless of their race. Both of these acts were passed into
law the following year.

CONCLUSION
The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate and analyse Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered
in Washington on August 28, 1963, on the subject of civil rights for African Americans and racial segregation and
discrimination against blacks. This was chosen as a research topic so that a critical analysis of the speech and its

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effects on the world at the time could be conducted. This report began with an overview of the life of Martin Luther
King, Jr. The introduction to the speech consisted of a detailed history of the speech's impetus, the speech's
transcript, a summary and analysis of the speech, and a look at the speech's aftermath and consequences.

This research was motivated by the belief that this speech was among the most famous and well-documented of the
20th century. Consequently, analysing this speech will be both enjoyable and straightforward. This research
ventured into one of the most despicable periods of human history and the height of human tyranny (i.e., slavery
and the age of colonisation), as well as one of the most absurd methods of discrimination against members of one's
own species. This criterion was also impossible to manipulate or alter in the offspring, making it not only unjust
but also inherited, rendering any positive change that would benefit everyone nearly impossible.

However, all bad times inevitably result in public uprisings and the destruction of the previous equilibrium. So,
were the demonstrations here, Martin Luther King himself was in charge of these demonstrations. During these
demonstrations, he gave the iconic speech that altered the course of history.

This speech was well-known and will be remembered for a long time, but it failed to shake people's hearts and
eliminate the root cause of the problem, which was human hatred. In light of recent events, it can be concluded that
racism has been diminished but has not disappeared.

As On May 25, 2020, a young black man was murdered on suspicion of petty theft by a law enforcement officer.
Despite being a well-educated member of society, he was motivated by his ideals. This incident is one of the many
unreported racial hate crimes that occur around the world.

This unfortunate reality has a silver lining, however, as more people are becoming Internet-connected. As seen in
the aforementioned case, where there were large protests almost immediately after the facts were made public, the
more narrow fields of thought are being widened.

This study calls for additional research into the number of racial hate crimes and expresses the hope that one day,
children will truly be able to hold hands and exclaim "free at last."

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Bibliography
● AP NEWS
● Govinfo.gov
● MSNBC
● Medium.com
● JSTOR
● The guardian
● Nytimes.com
● Blogs.shu.edu
● 123helpme.com
● Archives.gov

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