Throughout
history, the United States has prospered from a nation encountered only by one
race to a nation led by freedom and justice; but this fact has taken its time,
as well as the peace of people who protested in order to reach this goal of
prosperity. One famous protester was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, in the
year of 1963, recited a speech entitled “I Have a Dream…”, in which he spoke of
the barriers between black men and white men. Moreover, he recounted his hopes
of freedom for all people, all races included. In this powerful speech, King
presents anaphora, and a passionate simile in order to unite his audience to
create a nation of pure freedom. After informing his audience about the issues
of the United States, King uses anaphora to mark the point of his speech as “a
call to action.” For example, he states “Now is the time to make real the
promises of democracy […] Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of
God’s children” (King 2). By repeating “now is the time”, King gives his
audience multiple chances to hear his words, and do something about it,
something that will make change promoting freedom for all. Going off of this,
true democracy represents implied freedom, which is a justice for all people.
Likewise, King’s further use of the repetition of (non)satisfaction leads into
a passionate simile, where he states, “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls
down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” (King 4). King’s
comparison of justice and righteousness to the movement of a stream, is an
indirect call for his audience to create a just society that is free from oppression;
in fact, so free that justice and freedom simply flow through. Unfortunately,
from a current perspective, King did not reach a society where all men share
freedom, but his audience, a united nation, did get to see the day where a man
could join hands with another, no matter the color of his skin.
Visual: http://americanvision.org/9232/rhetorical-fluke-providential-king-i-have-a-dream/
Caption: "A Call to Action"
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