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Persuasive Techniques of Martin Luther King Jr.

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An advocate uses many devices in his/her speech to express their argument to the audience. The “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. calls for equality to all U.S citizens. King used figurative language and allusion in his speech to support his argument that all citizens should be equal. King starts with a metaphor that describes segregation as slavery. An example is “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and chains of discrimination” (King, 43). The quote “manacles of segregation” and “chains of discrimination” highlights that African American suffered by being judged and seclusion like slavery still exist. King uses two metaphors to compare slaves, who don’t have any freedom, to African Americans, who’s lacking freedom. The audience realizes that the present days, when African American are not having the enjoyment of freedom, are quite similar to the time when slaves don’t have any freedom. Another example is “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” (King, 43). This quote emphasizes that African Americans are surrounded by wealth and opportunity but wasn’t able to grasp the fortune because of their lack of economics and discrimination unlike white Americans. The phrases “lonely island of prosperity” and “vast ocean of material prosperity” compares African Americans being overwhelmed by white Americans to slaves having defeat by their masters. King’s audience understands the African Americans’ struggles of poverty as well as chances in life, and wonder how this should be turn around. These metaphors define that African Americans’ life had been turned down many times such as not having the right amount of freedom and should live in a life where more freedom occurs to them like the rest of the U.S citizens. King employs imagery which te

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