Roman 1

Moises Roman

Period 5, Mr. Christov

H English 10

January 31, 2017

MLKs Arts

Martian Luther King had a huge impact on African Americans during the Civil Rights

movement. On April 3, 1968, Martian Luther King gave the speech, Ive Been to the

Mountaintop. MLK had many different speeches and most of them had different types of

rhetorical devices. Many of the rhetorical devices were metaphors, allusions, and parallel

structures.

A rhetorical device he used in many occasions was a parallel structure. The following is a

parallel structure of his speech Ive Been to the Mountaintop, If I had sneezed The reason

why this is a parallel structure is because it means something different to something else

differently. This quote means that if he had made a sudden movement like a sneeze he could of

died sooner than what he did. He would of not have enough time to say his last word if he did

move. The reason he could have died way sooner is because the bullet was really clos to his heart

and anything he did could have killed him.

A rhetorical device that is also used in MLKs speech is metaphor. A metaphor is a

sentence that compares two things but have a totally different term. The metaphor that is used is

standing up. The reason why it is a metaphor is because it compares the physical state of
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standing up and standing with an idea/claim. The purpose of it why he used it was because he

wanted to spread his message of peace and equality. Another metaphor he used was the great

wells of Democracy. The two things being compared in this statement was wells and

Democracy. The reason they are alike one another wells and a Democracy have something that

humans need. People need wells because wells have water and water is needed by the people

such as a Democracy is needed to have control in people lifestyle.

An allusion is a reference of a well-known fact event, or character. One allusion used in

MLKs speech is Ive seen the promise land. This reference to the Bible, the promise land is

heaven the place where everyone goes if they were good in life. Which means he seen something

that people still hasnt seen and he wants everyone to go there. Another allusion he uses is And

brought into being the civil rights bill. This is a reference to his past speech I Have a Dream.

The purpose of his speech is to show the movement of his dream that he wants to become true.

In conclusion, Martian Luther King Jr. was one of the best speech writers and speakers.

In almost all of his speeches he used rhetorical devices to explain more his thoughts. The few

rhetorical devices he used in Ive Been to the Mountaintop are metaphors, allusions, and

parallel structures. In the end he did a huge change for all people that agreed with him.