Speech - Rhetorical Devices
Repetition
Historical / Religious
Reference
Literary Allusion
Metaphor
Appealing to an Audience
How Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did it.
You can, too!
“I Have a Dream Speech”
Audience Response
Person #1
“I am a Black woman, and I was not allowed
into the college of my choice, because of my
race. I’ve protested peacefully, but
sometimes I think violence would get us
what we want faster.”
“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.”
“I Have a Dream Speech”
Audience Response
Person #2
“What do you Blacks want, anyway? You’re
not slaves anymore, you know!”
“The Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty
in the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity.”
“[The Declaration of Independence] was a
promise that all men would be guaranteed …
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
“I Have a Dream Speech”
Audience Response
Person #3
“I’ve been beaten, sprayed with fire hoses and
bitten by police dogs while marching for my
rights in Alabama. Oh, you don’t know how
tired I am of all of this. How can I continue?”
“Unearned suffering is redemptive…. This can
and will be changed…. Do not wallow in the
valley of despair.”
“I Have a Dream Speech”
Audience Response
Person #4
“Okay, okay, you want your rights. You’ve
been given the right to ride buses without
segregation. Let’s just slow down and go
step by step, though. You cannot expect
this to change overnight.”
“It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the
urgency of the moment…. The whirlwinds of
revolt will continue to shake the foundations
of our nation until the bright day of justice
emerges.”
“I Have a Dream Speech”
Audience Response
Person #5
“This guy King is against what America stands
for. He thinks that America is evil, because
we mistreat the Blacks. He wants to tear us
apart!”
“I still have a dream. It is deeply rooted in the
American dream.”