I Have A Dream

Name: Abdullah Memon.
Roll number: 04.

Class: Bs part iii.
Department: English language and literature.
Subject: discourse analysis.
Assignment: I have a dream by Martin Luther
King.
University: The Shaikh Ayaz University
Shikarpur.
Written by Abdullah
Memon.
I have a dream
I Have A Dream --Martin Luther King Junior.
About 'I Have A Dream' a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin
Luther King on August 28, 1963 at Lincoln Memorial and over 250,000 civil rights supporters
came to listen to him. It was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968), an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian. He was
leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, also best known for his role in the
advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience; he was one of the greatest
orators in American history. On October 14, 1964, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for
combating racial inequality through nonviolence
Background: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to
demonstrate mass support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in
June. Martin Luther King and other leaders therefore agreed to keep their speeches calm, also,
to avoid provoking the civil disobedience which had become the hallmark of the civil rights
movement. King originally designed his speech as homage to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address, timed to correspond with the 100- year centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.
More details about the speech: King's speech invokes the Declaration of
Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Early in his
speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying "Five score years
ago..." In reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation,
King says: "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity."Early in his
speech, King urges his audience to seize the moment; "Now is the time" is repeated three times
in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted
phrase "I have a dream", which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated
and unified America for his audience. Other occasions include "One hundred years later", "We
can never be satisfied", "With this faith", "Let freedom ring", and "free at last".
Main message of the speech: The ideas in the speech reflect King's social
experiences of ethnocentric abuse, the mistreatment and exploitation of blacks. The speech
draws upon appeals to America's myths as a nation founded to provide freedom and justice to
all people, and then reinforces and transcends those secular mythologies by placing them
within a spiritual context by arguing that racial justice is also in accord with God's will. To give
African Americans the freedom and equality they deserve.
Compositional strategies and techniques: The first half portrays

not an idealized American dream but a picture of a seething American nightmare of racial
injustice. The second half of the speech paints the dream of a better, fairer future of racial
harmony and integration. The most famous paragraph carries the theme “I have a dream” and
the phrase is repeated constantly to hammer home King’s inspirational concepts
Three factors impact of the speech: The remarkable emotion of King’s

delivery in terms of both voice and body. The site at which it was delivered – on the steps of the
memorial to the President who defeated southern states over the issue of slavery, the mood of
the day, a sense of perpetuated slavery among black people and the gradual realization of a
sense of guilt among white people.
Famous Quotes from the “I have a dream 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.”
Here, King brings in one of the running metaphors that can be found in the speech. That is, the
use of the sun as an image of hope and the future, as well as darkness as one of oppression and
the past.

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Name: Abdullah Memon.

Roll number: 04.

Compositional strategies and techniques: The first half portrays

Three factors impact of the speech: The remarkable emotion of King’s

Famous Quotes from the “I have a dream speech”

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