On August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech that went, “down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” King’s optimism and use of emotional appeal, metaphor, and repetition launched the civil rights movement towards success.
Throughout the speech, King used metaphors and figurative language not only to explain ideas in a relevant way, but also to create pathos, or an emotional response, in the audience. For example, “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Here King likens African Americans’ mistreatment to a ‘sweltering summer,’ which conveys an uncomfortable, hot, and miserable heat that everyone, despite skin color, can relate to. Another way this analogy can be seen is that the further south one goes, the ‘hotter’ the heat of racial injustice becomes, and that freedom from racial discrimination is like an oasis that offers relief, shelter, and prosperity. Another example of King’s use of figurative language is when he compared the idea of gradualism to a, “tranquilizing drug.” This is a great depiction of the popular idea of ‘just waiting,’ and not only does King transfer the …show more content…
He compares racial injustice to quicksand, summer, and night, all of which are universally accepted at scary, uncertain, or uncomfortable ideas; and then he compares freedom from racial injustice to a rock, autumn, and daybreak, all of which are universally accepted as hopeful, certain, and refreshing. This use of antithesis, transfer, and figurative language takes common experiences and the emotions linked to those experiences and connects those emotions to new ideas, making the newer and less understood ideas more
Throughout the speech, King used metaphors and figurative language not only to explain ideas in a relevant way, but also to create pathos, or an emotional response, in the audience. For example, “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” Here King likens African Americans’ mistreatment to a ‘sweltering summer,’ which conveys an uncomfortable, hot, and miserable heat that everyone, despite skin color, can relate to. Another way this analogy can be seen is that the further south one goes, the ‘hotter’ the heat of racial injustice becomes, and that freedom from racial discrimination is like an oasis that offers relief, shelter, and prosperity. Another example of King’s use of figurative language is when he compared the idea of gradualism to a, “tranquilizing drug.” This is a great depiction of the popular idea of ‘just waiting,’ and not only does King transfer the …show more content…
He compares racial injustice to quicksand, summer, and night, all of which are universally accepted at scary, uncertain, or uncomfortable ideas; and then he compares freedom from racial injustice to a rock, autumn, and daybreak, all of which are universally accepted as hopeful, certain, and refreshing. This use of antithesis, transfer, and figurative language takes common experiences and the emotions linked to those experiences and connects those emotions to new ideas, making the newer and less understood ideas more