I Have a Dream

After the March on Washington, at the climax of the struggle for the Civic Rights, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, on the 28th of August 1963 Martin Luther King delivered one of the most famous speech in History, the so called: "I have a dream" speech. This is why we will analyse the stylistic and rhythmic aspects of the speech to discover how it is such a powerful speech. Thus, first we will study the cultural references, then the power of the image and finally the special rhythm of the speech.

First of all we can see that the speech is built on a lot of references to an American cultural background.

History first, the speech begins with a reference to " a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand", indeed Martin Luther King delivered his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial and Lincoln was the man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation which put an end to slavery and so was a first step to freedom. This reference is shared by all Americans and is deeply rooted in American culture. The symbol is important, it is as if the Civil Rights movement was the continuity of the fight for liberty a hundred years ago. But it also emphasises the fact that since a hundred years, and despite the Emancipation Declaration, black people do not seem totally free, they are enslaved by discrimination, and so Martin Luther King used expressions such as "the manacles of segregation" and "the chains of discrimination" to show that somehow black people are still enslaved.

Then we can see that the speech makes references to politics and what found America institutionally. Indeed King quotes the "Constitution and the Declaration of Independence" and "the inalienable rights to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness". Such references highlight the fact that black people seem to be excluded from these rights and that it should not be so regarding the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence which promote equality.

Moreover we can see that King makes references to religion, which is an important aspect in America, and also because he was himself a preacher. Thus we can see some words such as "God's children" or "continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive". Such references remind the crowd that everybody is equal in front of God, and it also points out the fact that faith frequently helps people to perseverate in a difficult situation such as the struggle for the civil rights.

Finally we can see that King quotes also some popular songs, one the slaves were singing for the Emancipation and the other is "My Country, 'tis of thee" an American patriotic song, deeply rooted in the United-States' history.

So with all these aspects we can see that one of the strength of this speech is that it leans on a common American culture, not just black or white, but common which also emphasises the disparity and the lack of equality between coloured people and white people.

Secondly we can see that the speech is full of imagery to make people understand what is important and underlines important ideas.

First we can see the importance of metaphors in the speech. We can quote for example: "The Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity" or "America has given the Negro people a bad cheque which has come back marked "insufficient funds""... This kind of metaphors helps creating a link with the audience, the words that are pronounced by King take immediately a form in people's minds and so it helps to emphasise the fact that black people are being discriminated and that it has to stop. The use of metaphor is one of the strengths of that speech.

Then we can see that some words are constantly repeated and that it creates peculiar strength to the speech. Great ideas are underlined; for instance we can see that the word "justice" is recurrent in the speech, it underlines the fact that justice has to be the same for everyone, and that people cannot be judged by the colour of their skin. The word "freedom" is also one of the most important word in the text, it emphasises the goal of the struggle, freedom for everyone. Finally we can also highlight the word "brotherhood", which underlines the fact that this struggle is not a battle between white and coloured people but is totally pacific and only wants the fraternity among men. We can also point out the fact that the verb "to rise" is often repeated, it underlines the fact that this struggle is a fight for a better world and that it wants the humanity to become better.