Rhetorical Strategies Rhetorical Strategy 1:

Rhetorical Strategies

Rhetorical strategy 1: The use of metaphor in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech metaphor is a comparison between two apparently unlike things without the use of the word "like or as," as in the case of a simile. A metaphor, because of its more direct phraseology is thus a particularly intense form of emotional rhetorical appeal, but Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" also uses metaphors to make an ethical appeal (ethos). In the speech, King paints pictures in the viewer's mind of Southern slavery and Christian forgiveness. One early metaphor in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is: "This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality."

At first, this less famous metaphor from the speech may strike the reader as strange, given that warmth is often thought of as good and coolness as bad. After all, autumn is a cooler season. But the reader must remember the speech was delivered during the sweltering heat of Washington D.C. This would have made the metaphor of heat as negative especially effective for King's listeners, as would the fact that slaves in the Old South worked under the sweltering heat of the sun in the cotton fields. King and his followers had toiled for many years in the hot South, fighting against segregationists for the cause of racial equality. Using a metaphor about the changing of the seasons from hot to cool underlines King's theme of need for a change in American society.

Another effective metaphor is that of: "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." This is a religious metaphor, recalling the cup of wine sipped by Jesus during the Last Supper. Jesus was compassionate and forgiving towards all men and women, and King is calling for forgiveness and love, even from people who have been wronged, towards their aggressors. This calling for forgiveness, as Jesus forgave humanity for its sins and a Christian seeks forgiveness in a church, is a more difficult ethical request of King's audience. It is hard to forgive those who use violence and use nonviolence, hence the use of the religious language to make a strong ethical appeal. This metaphor it is also effective given the hot, long day, and the physically thirsty audience, thirsting for both water and justice.

Rhetorical Strategy 2 -- Alliteration

King's appeal is reinforced by his effective use of alliteration as well as language. The words of his speech often make use of the same first letter, causing the words to remain in the listener's mind long after the speech has finished. For example: "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation." The symbolic shadow of Lincoln, who attempted to end slavery and suffering of African-Americans over the course of the Civil War, is a physical as well as a spiritual presence during King's speech. King stands literally and symbolically near the statue of the greatest president the United States has every known. It is a more intellectual, factual use of history, on the part of King, to command support (logos).