Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its
historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.
Instead, I’ll focus on five key points in
speech-making that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.
- Emphasize phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences
- Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech
- Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions
- Use of specific examples to “ground” the arguments
- Use of metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts
1. Emphasize Phrases by Repeating at the Beginning of Sentences
Repeating words at the beginning of sentences is a
commonly used rhetorical device. Repeating the words twice sets the pattern,
and further repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical
effect.
“I have a dream” is repeated in eight
successive sentences, and is one of the most often cited examples of anaphora
in modern rhetoric. But this is just one of eight occurrences of anaphora in
this speech. By order of introduction, here are the key phrases:
- “One hundred years later…” [paragraph 3]
- “Now is the time…” [paragraph 6]
- “We must…” [paragraph 8]
- “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…” [paragraph 13]
- “Go back to…” [paragraph 14]
- “I Have a Dream…” [paragraphs 16 through 24]
- “With this faith, …” [paragraph 26]
- “Let freedom ring (from) …” [paragraphs 27 through 41]
Read those repeated phrases in sequence.
Even in the absence of the remainder of the speech, these key phrases tell much
of King’s story. Emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more
memorable, and, by extension, make King’s story more memorable.
2. Repeat Key “Theme” Words Throughout Speech
Repetition in the beginning of Sentences is quite obvious,
but there are more subtle ways to use repetition as well. One way is
to repeat key “theme” words throughout the body of your speech.
If you count the frequency of words used in King’s
“I Have a Dream”, very interesting patterns emerge. The most commonly used noun
is freedom, which is used twenty times in the speech.
This makes sense, since freedom is one of the primary themes
of the speech.
Other key themes? Consider these commonly repeated
words:
- freedom (20 times)
- we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)
- nation (10 times), america (5 times), american (4 times)
- justice (8 times) and injustice (3 times)
- dream (11 times)
3. Utilize Appropriate Quotations or Allusions
Evoking historic and literary references is a
powerful speechwriting technique which can be executed explicitly (a direct
quotation) or implicitly (allusion).
You can improve the credibility of your arguments
by referring to the (appropriate) words of credible speakers/writers in your
speech. Consider the allusions used by Martin Luther King Jr.:
- “Five score years ago…” [paragraph 2] refers to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address speech which began “Four score and seven years ago…” This allusion is particularly poignant given that King was speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
- “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” [and the rest of paragraph 4] is a reference to the United States Declaration of Independence.
- Numerous Biblical allusions provide the moral basis for King’s arguments:
- “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” [paragraph 2] alludes to Psalms 30:5 “For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.“
- “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” [paragraph 8] evokes Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.“
·
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not
be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a
mighty stream.
o
Amos 5:24 “But let judgment run down as waters,
and righteousness as a mighty 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.
o
Isaiah 40:4-5 “Every valley shall be exalted,
and very mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it.”
·
It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long
night of their captivity.
o
Psalm 30:5 “… weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.”
·
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:
o Galatians
3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one
in Christ Jesus.”
·
There are also allusions in addition to the
Biblical ones. For example, “five score years ago” invokes the Gettysburg
Address, and “sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent” refers to
Shakespeare, Richard III,
act I, scene i, line 1 with change of season.
4. Use specific examples to “ground” the arguments
Your speech is greatly improved when you provide
specific examples which illustrate your logical (and perhaps theoretical)
arguments.
One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes
this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech:
- Mississippi, New York [paragraph 13]
- Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana [14]
- Georgia [18]
- Mississippi [19]
- Alabama [22]
- New Hampshire [32], New York [33], Pennsylvania [34], Colorado [35], California [36], Georgia [37], Tennessee [38], Mississippi [39]
Note that Mississippi is mentioned on four separate
occasions. This is not accidental; mentioning Mississippi would evoke some of
the strongest emotions and images for his audience.
Additionally, King uses relatively generic
geographic references to make his message more inclusive:
- “slums and ghettos of our northern cities” [paragraph 14]
- “the South” [25]
- “From every mountainside” [40]
- “from every village and every hamlet” [41]
5. Use Metaphors to Highlight Contrasting Concepts
Metaphors allow you to associate your speech
concepts with concrete images and emotions.
To highlight the contrast between two abstract
concepts, consider associating them with contrasting concrete metaphors. For
example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, King evokes the
contrasting metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit
path (of racial justice.)
- “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” [paragraph 2]
- “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” [3]
- “rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” [6]
- “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” [7]
- “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” [19]
