Word to i have a dream speech

The ‘I have a dream’ speech was delivered to 250,000 supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, the ‘I have a dream’ speech is acknowledged as one of the defining and shining moments of the Civil Rights movement and as a masterpiece of public speaking. It is constantly quoted and used as continual inspiration as the fight for equal rights continues in the United States and around the world. 

Summary 

‘I have a dream’ by Martin Luther King Jr. is a powerful rhetorical call for equal rights for all American people regardless of their race. It is a continual source of inspiration for those fighting to continue what the Civil Rights movement began.

In the first lines of this famed speech, King discusses the Emancipation Proclamation. That is the speech that freed the slaves in 1863, one hundred years in the past. Now, he stated, still, “the Negro is…not free.” He also references the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, reminding all those listening that America is supposed to be the land of the free. But, in American today, freedom hasn’t been achieved. The phrase “I have a dream” is used numerous times throughout the piece. He says that the United States needs to make immediate changes, or the protests will only heighten. He also says that the Black community will never be satisfied until they are granted full and equal rights with white Americans. 

Themes

Structure and Form

Literary and Rhetorical Devices 

Throughout the speech, King uses numerous literary and rhetorical devices in order to deliver the most effective speech possible. For example: 

• Ethos: used in an argument by appealing to the audience through the speaker’s credibility. King, as a Black man living in the United States, and working within the Civil Rights Movement, is in an ideal position in order to speak about what the contemporary American experience is like. King also uses the other modes of persuasion, logos, and pathos.
• Anaphora: the use of the same word or words at the beginning of multiple lines, in succession. Throughout the speech, King repeats “I have a dream” eight times, successively, at the beginning of lines. “One hundred years later” is another example, appearing at the beginning of numerous phrases early on in the speech. “Now is the time,” “Go back to,” “With this faith,” and “We can never (or cannot) be satisfied” are all other phrases that begin multiple lines.
• Allusion: throughout this piece, King alludes to prior American history, important political moments, and contemporary events. The latter includes protests that he was famously a part of. He uses phrases like “Five score years ago” as a reference to the Gettysburg Address and “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” is an allusion to the Lincoln Memorial. There are also biblical allusions scattered throughout the speech. Such as “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” which comes from Psalms 30:5
• Repetition: in addition to examples of anaphora, there are other kinds of repetition in King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. For example, repeated phrases, references, and calls to action. He also repeats common themes. These include: freedom, justice, and the power of dreams. 
• Imagery: another powerful rhetorical and literary device. It occurs when the speaker uses phrases that appeal to and trigger the listener’s senses. For example, “slums and ghettos of our northern cities,” a phrase that also alludes to the contemporary moment King is living through. 
• Metaphor: comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things that do not use “like” or “as.” For example, in the second paragraph of the speech, King uses the phrase “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” Here, he’s connecting Black American’s social and political restrictions and the racisms that still plagues the country to a “long night of captivity.” When freedom is truly given to all people it will be a “joyous daybreak” and end to that night.
  Another example can be found in paragraph 19, in which he uses the phrase “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” Here, oppression is compared to “heat” and freedom and justice to “an oasis.” He’s using imagery in this metaphor to evoke the beauty of one state of being and the pain or another.
• Alliteration: the use of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words. For example, King uses “trials and tribulations,” “dark and desolate,” “sweltering summer,” and “marvelous new militancy.”  

Famous Quotes from the I have a dream speech

Below, readers can find a few of the most famous quotes from this speech.

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.

In this quote, King is starting the most famous section of his speech in which he uses “I have a dream” at the start of several lines. He is looking into the future and envisioning a life for his children that’s different than his own.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.

Here, King acknowledges that while there is power in the numbers they have, it is important that the Black community does not walk alone. There are people of all races in the audience, men and women, who support their movement. It’s crucial that they accept their support and do not allow bitterness to drive them.

When we allow freedom to 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!

These are the final lines of the ‘I have a dream’ speech. In this paragraph, King uses anaphora to emphasize the way that freedom is going to travel through the country, bringing men and women together. All races and religions will one day join hands and be able to sing out “Free at last!”

We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

This line is King’s answer to the question of “When will you be satisfied?” That is, when will the Civil Rights movement be content with the freedoms it gained the Black community. His answer is eloquently phrased and spans more than just this one line.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Detailed Analysis 

Part I

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 is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far 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.”

The first lines of the speech contain King’s initial address to the audience, numerous metaphors, allusions, and examples of repetition that bring in the most important themes of the speech, justice, and freedom. He speaks about the “Constitution and the Declaration of Independence” and the “architects of our republic” thought when they wrote them. They promised that “all men” were “guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Part II 

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 have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

[…]

will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. 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.

Part III

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the worn threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.

[…]

There are those who are asking the devotees of Civil Rights, “When will you be satisfied?”

Part IV

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; 

[…]

the sons of former slaveowners 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.

The next lines are some of the most commonly quoted for the speech. King asks a question that he proceeds to answer. When will they be satisfied? He determines that they won’t be satisfied as long as “the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” and “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.” He brings in several more phrases that lay out the goals of his speech and the entire Civil Rights movement. In the brighter future, he imagines, these are things that are no longer going to be a concern.

Part V 

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.

I have a dream today!

[…]

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brother-hood. 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.

Part VI 

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 father died, land of the pilgrim’s pride,

[…] 

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.”

FAQs

Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream” delivered in Washington in 1963 has gone down in history as one of the world’s most famous speeches.

To understand its true meaning, you need to immerse yourself in the history of the United States, in those distant events that preceded such an important historical event as the march on Washington. 

It is important to feel the origins and causes of the “I Have a Dream” speech. And, of course, to understand the meaning of the speech, you need to understand the speaker: what kind of person he is, what his views are, and what kind of education he has.

Therefore, before starting a detailed rhetorical analysis of the speech, let’s first study a brief biography of Martin Luther King Jr.

Brief Biography of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. is an American activist and public figure, leader of the civil rights movement for African Americans in the United States. His social activity began with the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, a peaceful protest against discriminatory measures in the public transportation system.

Martin Luther King Jr. fought for racial and economic equality and justice while being a supporter of exclusively nonviolent resistance. He helped organize mass movements such as the Selma to Montgomery March and the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, in the family of a pastor. Even then, in school years, his oratorical talent began to emerge: Martin was a member of the school debating club, participated and won competitions in oratory.

King was a very able student, and at the age of 15, he enrolled in Morehouse College. At age 19, after graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, Martin Luther King continued to study theology and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester. In 1951 he graduated from the seminary with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. Then Martin Luther King Jr. studied at Boston University and in 1955 received a Ph.D. degree. 

During his studies, King was a pastor in Boston religious meetings and often met with other ministers of the church to discuss contemporary social problems and write sermons.

Undoubtedly, Martin Luther King had an innate talent for oratory, but without constant work on himself, without training and developing his abilities, there would not have been that King, whom the whole world knows.

King repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting an education. He took courses in theology every semester for 3 years at the Crozer Theological Seminary.

By 1963, thanks to the organization of non-violent protests against restrictions on blacks’ rights, Martin Luther King became a national hero.

In 1964, for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, leaving a legacy of progress in civil rights in the United States.

Read also post “Analysis and Key Points of the US Declaration of Independence 1776”.

The March on Washington in 1963: Most Famous Speech in American History “I Have a Dream” 

“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.” 

This is how Martin Luther King Jr. opens up his famous “I have a dream” speech.

About 250,000 people marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, where Martin Luther King delivered his speech on August 28, 1963.

100 years after the adoption of the Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, which changed the legal status of enslaved African Americans to free, black people continued to face discrimination, infringement, and humiliation. This problem was especially acute in the south of the country. 

Of course, on that day, August 28, the marchers – more than 250 thousand people, of which 80% were blacks, were waiting, even more, eager to hear just such a speech and listened to King’s every word.

Structure of Martin Luther King’s Speech “I Have a Dream” 

The structure of Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream” is quite simple. The whole text can be divided into 2 parts:

• In the first part of the speech, we have a picture of the American nightmare, full of injustice and humiliation of human dignity. This piece is about the past and the present (August 28, 1963). In addition, in the first part of his speech, King calls people to action:

“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 selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating for whites only.

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.”

• The second part of the speech is King’s vision of a bright future for the United States, his dream, his hope and faith in equality and justice for all people, regardless of skin color:

“I say to you today, my friends, 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.” 

Martin Luther King Jr. used a variety of rhetorical devices, figures of speech, and literary tropes in his speech. Further in the article, we will consider each technique in detail.

Rhetorical Analysis of the Speech “I Have a Dream” 

Literary Tropes

Tropes are used to enhance the imagery and expressiveness of speech.

Martin Luther King used two types of tropes: allusion and metaphor.

Allusion

An allusion is a kind of hint, analogy, or reference to a well-known historical event, it can also be a catchphrase or quote.

For the first time, the allusion in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech appears immediately after the opening sentence: a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which was preceded by US President Abraham Lincoln’s decree to abolish slavery.

Symbolic, isn’t it? Exactly 100 years ago, an important historical event took place under the leadership of Lincoln, at whose memorial Martin Luther King spoke in 1963:

“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”

This passage is also the starting point, it is the beginning of the narrative, indicating the date and place of the event.

Read also post “The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: Rhetorical Analysis and Text of the Speech”.

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References to the Bible and Shakespeare were especially popular among English-speaking orators, which is exactly what Martin Luther King did when writing the text of his speech.

“This sweltering summer of the colored people’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”

This is a very skillful allusion to William Shakespeare’s play “Richard III”, which Martin Luther King Jr. so subtly used in his speech. Here are the lines from the play:

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

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King in his speech often refers to the Bible, which, of course, is natural and not surprising, because he was a believer and pastor:

• “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.”

The allusion to Psalm 30:5: “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a life time. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” 

• “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Amos 5:24: “But let justice(A) roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” 

• “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.”

The allusion to Isaiah 40:4-5:

“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

• “And when this happens, . . . 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.”

The allusion to Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Metaphor 

In addition to allusion, Martin Luther King actively used metaphor in his speech “I Have a Dream”.

Metaphor is a hidden comparison, the use of words in a figurative sense based on similarity and analogy with the characteristics of some object or phenomenon (a waterfall of stars, a wall of fire, a pearl of art, a bear of a problem).

Metaphor gives imagery to speech, helps to keep the listener’s attention, and influences their imagination.

• “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.” 
• “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 in exile in his own land.”
• “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”
• “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” 
• “… justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” 
• “… by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” 
• oasis of freedom and justice. 
• beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
• With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

Rhetorical Figures of Speech in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” 

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a unique masterpiece of oratory. To create it, King used several rhetorical (stylistic) figures:

1.Parallelism is the identical or the same construction of various words or sentences of the text: 

“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. I have a dream today.”

2. Anaphora is the repetition of the same initial words or sound combinations.

Martin Luther King uses this rhetorical figure of speech repeatedly. We can say that anaphora is practically the basis of King’s speech. 

8 sentences of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech begin with the famous phrase:

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. 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, 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.“

More examples of anaphora in the speech “I Have a Dream”:

• One hundred years later. 

• We refuse to believe. 

• We have come. 

• Now is the time. 

• 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.

• We can never be satisfied. 

• Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

• With this faith we will be able to… 

• Let freedom ring… 

3. Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonants in several words:

• I have a dream that one day down…”

• “…the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners. 

4. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds: 

• “… on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” 
• “… we shall always march ahead.” 
• “… the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.” 

5. Lexical repetition is a rhetorical figure that consists of the deliberate repetition of the same word or speech construction in a visible section of the text.

•  “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.”
• “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.” 
• “Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
• “… 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 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…”
• “This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning.”
• “And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet…” 
• “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

6. Antithesis is the opposition of words, concepts, and images that are interconnected by common features (contrast):

• “black men as well as white men.”
• ” Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” 
• “… from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood…” 
• “1963 is not an end, but a beginning.”
• “… in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.”
• “physical force with soul force.”
• “… a smaller ghetto to a larger one.” 
• “… 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 that one day every valley shall be exalted, 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.”

7. Polysyndeton is the repeated use of the coordinating conjunctions: 

“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to 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…” 

“… and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

8. A rhetorical question is a question-statement that does not require a direct answer: 

“There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?”

Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Jr. Speech “I Have a Dream”: Final Thoughts

This historical event has sunk into oblivion, but the idea is relevant even today: it is impossible to win by responding to violence with violence.

Martin Luther King’s urgent appeals for unity and non-violent action in response to oppression and cruelty are worthy of respect and remembered. 

Martin Luther King’s speeches became key moments in American history in the fight for racial justice. And his unique speech “I Have a Dream” is a real rhetorical masterpiece, by studying which you can learn a lot.

If you want to read the full version of the “I Have a Dream” speech, follow the link “Martin Luther King JR’s Speech “I Have a Dream” – Full Text”.

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‘I Have a Dream’ is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

If you’ve ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation you’re due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered. He reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give his ‘I Have a Dream’, writing it out in longhand. You can read the speech in full here.

‘I Have a Dream’: background

The occasion for King’s speech was the march on Washington, which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial. They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans.

1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

‘I Have a Dream’: summary

King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it’s a century, or ‘five score years’, since that ‘great American’ Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination.

America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the ‘magnificent words’ of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls ‘inalienable rights’: namely, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.

King asserts that America in the 1960s has ‘defaulted’ on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a ‘sacred obligation’, but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn’t there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough ‘funds’ to ensure everyone is prosperous enough.

King urges America to rise out of the ‘valley’ of segregation to the ‘sunlit path of racial justice’. He uses the word ‘brotherhood’ to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God’s children. He also repeatedly emphasises the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America. However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline.

Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognises that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalised feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. Police brutality against Black Americans must be eradicated, as must racial discrimination in hotels and restaurants. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws.

Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes. His dream, he tells his audience, is ‘deeply rooted’ in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States. King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into ‘our hope’: a collective aspiration and endeavour. King then quotes the patriotic American song ‘My Country, ’Tis of Thee’, which describes America as a ‘sweet land of liberty’.

King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase ‘let freedom ring’ several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn: ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.’

‘I Have a Dream’: analysis

Although Martin Luther King’s speech has become known by the repeated four-word phrase ‘I Have a Dream’, which emphasises the personal nature of his vision, his speech is actually about a collective dream for a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

Nevertheless, in working from ‘I have a dream’ to a different four-word phrase, ‘this is our hope’. The shift is natural and yet it is a rhetorical masterstroke, since the vision of a better nation which King has set out as a very personal, sincere dream is thus telescoped into a universal and collective struggle for freedom.

What’s more, in moving from ‘dream’ to a different noun, ‘hope’, King suggests that what might be dismissed as an idealistic ambition is actually something that is both possible and achievable. No sooner has the dream gathered momentum than it becomes a more concrete ‘hope’.

In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, King was doing more than alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years earlier. The opening words to his speech, ‘Five score years ago’, allude to a specific speech Lincoln himself had made a century before: the Gettysburg Address.

In that speech, delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in November 1863, Lincoln had urged his listeners to continue in the fight for freedom, envisioning the day when all Americans – including Black slaves – would be free. His speech famously begins with the words: ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’

‘Four score and seven years’ is eighty-seven years, which takes us back from 1863 to 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, Martin Luther King’s allusion to the words of Lincoln’s historic speech do two things: they call back to Lincoln’s speech but also, by extension, to the founding of the United States almost two centuries before. Although Lincoln and the American Civil War represented progress in the cause to make all Americans free regardless of their ethnicity, King makes it clear in ‘I Have a Dream’ that there is still some way to go.

In the last analysis, King’s speech is a rhetorically clever and emotionally powerful call to use non-violent protest to oppose racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination, but also to ensure that all Americans are lifted out of poverty and degradation. But most of all, King emphasises the collective endeavour that is necessary to bring about the world he wants his children to live in: the togetherness, the linking of hands, which is essential to make the dream a reality.

Image: Noord-Hollands Archief / Fotoburo de Boer, via Wikimedia Commons.

Before You Go

What are the three sections of the I Have a Dream Speech?

Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is divided into three sections: para 1-6, para 7-10, para 11-end.

What were the main points in the I Have a Dream Speech?

“I Have a Dream” is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.

How is the I Have a Dream Speech divided?

1.2 Structure. The speech is divided into three main parts: exordium (introduction), narratio & argumentatio (main) and peroratio (closing).

What are the words to I Have a Dream Speech?

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 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.”

Why is I have a dream speech so powerful?

This speech was important in several ways: It brought even greater attention to the Civil Rights Movement, which had been going on for many years. After this speech, the name Martin Luther King was known to many more people than before. It made Congress move faster in passing the Civil Rights Act.

How many times did Martin Luther King say I have a dream?

Martin Luther King Jr. used the phrase ‘I have a dream’ eight times in his speech. One phrase was “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.

Why did Martin Luther King keep repeating I have a dream?

The strongest way Martin Luther King Jr. uses anaphora is by repeating the title of the speech: “I have a dream.” Through this repetition he is able to portray what he envisions as a racially equal America. The repetition makes people think about their own dreams and allow them to be inspired my Dr. Kings dreams.

What is the dream of Martin Luther King in I Have a Dream?

His speech became famous for its recurring phrase “I have a dream.” He imagined a future in which “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners” could “sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” a future in which his four children are judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of …

What is the main theme of I Have A Dream?

The main themes in the “I Have a Dream” speech include freedom for Black Americans, peaceful protest, and hope for the future. Freedom for Black Americans: Despite the promises of the Declaration of Independence, Black Americans are continually denied freedom.

How important is the I Have a Dream Speech?

I Have a Dream, speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history.

What is the theme in King Jr’s speech?

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” links the history of early America to the racism of modern times, in order to show that African Americans are still not free. MLK’s “dream” is of a race-equal society, rather than a race-free society.

What are some metaphors used in the I Have a Dream Speech?

Metaphor, a common figure of speech, is a comparison of one thing with another: happiness is a sunny day, loneliness is a locked door, coziness is a cat on your lap. This is probably one of Martin Luther King’s favorite rhetorical devices.

What literary devices did Martin Luther King use?

In “I Have a Dream”, Martin Luther King Jr. extensively uses repetitions, metaphors, and allusions. Other rhetorical devices that you should note are antithesis, direct address, and enumeration. Rhetorical devices are language tools used to make speakers’ arguments both appealing and memorable.

What are examples of imagery in the I Have a Dream Speech?

King uses imagery such as “until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” and “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair,” it helps to communicate the natural condition of Civil Rights, something that links it to a larger configuration.

Who is Dr King’s audience?

clergy

How did Martin Luther King’s speech changed the world?

led a civil rights movement that focused on nonviolent protest. Martin Luther King’s vision of equality and civil disobedience changed the world for his children and the children of all oppressed people. He changed the lives of African Americans in his time and subsequent decades.

Did Martin Luther King improvised I have a dream?

King improvised much of the second half of the speech, including the “I have a dream” refrain. Improvise means “to deliver without prior preparation.” It does not mean that King completely made up the words on the spot.

Did Martin Luther King improvise his I Have a Dream Speech?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 was unusual among great American speeches in that its most famous words — “I have a dream” — were improvised.

How did the I Have a Dream Speech impact society?

The March on Washington and King’s speech are widely considered turning points in the Civil Rights Movement, shifting the demand and demonstrations for racial equality that had mostly occurred in the South to a national stage.

Did Martin Luther King call Mahalia Jackson?

Jackson was devoted to King, and accompanied him into the most hostile parts of the segregated South for rallies and demonstrations. Even in moments when King felt discouraged, he would call Jackson on the phone just to hear her sing.

Did Martin Luther King read from a script?

In fact, in the seventh paragraph of his speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, King went off script. The words “I have a dream” came from the heart — not the paper in front of him. The speech had been going well. At that moment, it became legendary.

Did Martin Luther King write his own speeches?

King didn’t write the speech entirely by himself. The first draft was written by his advisers Stanley Levison and Clarence Jones, and the final speech included input from many others.

What is Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy?

Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life to the nonviolent struggle for civil rights in the United States. King’s leadership played a pivotal role in ending entrenched segregation for African Americans and to the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, considered a crowning achievement of the civil rights era.

Why is Martin Luther King’s speech so popular till now?

His speech was pivotal because it brought civil rights and the call for African-American rights and freedom to the forefront of Americans’ consciousness. It is estimated that over 250,000 people attended the march, which also received a great deal of national and international media attention.

What date is Martin Luther King’s birthday?

Jan

Why was Martin Luther King so popular?

He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice, and he never got tired of trying to end segregation laws (laws that prevented blacks from entering certain places, such as restaurants, hotels, and public schools).

Who wrote Martin Luther King speeches?

Clarence Benjamin Jones

How many speeches did Martin Luther King give?

He gave as many as 450 speeches a year for a number of years. Many of his speeches — many of his ideas, his hopes, and his dreams for our country — don’t get the attention they deserve.

What did Martin Luther King fight for?

was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest.

What was the purpose of Martin Luther King’s speech?

The purpose of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was to raise awareness about all of the problems in the American society regarding civil rights and to point out the reasons why racism and discrimination must be eradicated.