While the entire speech is well-crafted, King uses parallel structure -- the intentional repetition of grammatical structures -- to organize, connect and emphasize the most important elements. You can NOT use the samples I bolded and labeled for you. In King’s third paragraph, he repeats the phrase “one hundred years later” four times, each of which is followed by a statement about how African Americans are not yet free and are still oppressed. Lines 83-116: What tone is apparent in the most famous section of King's speech, in which he repeats "I have a dream"? When examining a piece of literature for parallelism one looks for words or phrases that contain a similar arrangement or word pattern. To illustrate this, consider this example - "People exercise because they want to look healthy, because they need to increase stamina, or because they hope to live longer." Speech transcript, video, and analysis of . What is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s claim in his "I Have a Dream" speech. After each “now is the time,” King follows with an infinitive phrase -- the word “to” followed by a verb -- to call his audience to action. To illustrate his dream further and create unity, King uses phrases such as “with this we will be able,” highlighting his visions for the future. With his ministerial, faith-based roots, King used his superb rhetorical skills to create an inspirational piece of history. The speech has gone down as one of the most significant in history and is a great example for many Meanwhile, there are little ones dropped in there. Cloud State University M.A. Cloud State University M.A. from St. A scheme of balance, parallelism represents "one of the basic principles of grammar and rhetoric". Please identify several allusions in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. King's speech was one to remember during the Civil Rights Movement. We have been working with MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech for the last two class periods. ... "I Have a Dream" Speech - Rhetorical devices 14 Terms. In the above example, 'because they' is parallel in structure and similar in importance to 'people'. An example of parallelism in King's "I Have a Speech" occurs when he states that freedom from slavery. In this example King also employs a more advance technique of parallelism -- repeating grammatical structures. Later, he parallels two short sentences, “We cannot walk alone” and “We cannot turn back.” These two bookend a line about how King wants people to walk: together and straight ahead. He also uses parallel structure in lists to achieve this end. Indeed, King’s use of parallelism is one of the reasons why his speech stands as one of the finest of all times. At this point, King is using pure rhetoric, invoking the long-standing American cultural motif of freedom to create strong positive feelings for the civil rights cause in his audience. Parallelism involves using similar structures for two or more parts of a sentence or sentences to create a comparison or pattern. King's goal is to bring people together in a sense of unity, purpose, and good feeling, so he plays openly to their emotions as the speech comes to a stirring end. What are examples parallelism in Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech? They are just to serve as examples and reminders. Later, in the sixth paragraph, King begins several sentences with the parallel phrasing "now is the time to..." to speak about the agenda of the Civil Rights movement to end injustice and segregation. These literary devices emphasize the structure and importance of the ideas presented. The speech wasn't much longer than that," she said. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. I have a dream today." Following each repeated structure is a reason why “we cannot be satisfied”: the lack of safety, housing, voting rights and personal dignity. Parallel structure organizes related information. Today we tackle parallelism. The speech led to major changes in U.S. laws. They are to “go back” and work for change. The "I have a dream" section of the speech also uses metaphors. Already a member? King uses the phrase “one hundred years later” -- referring to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation -- to organize effectively and communicate clearly the present plight and the need for change. Some examples of parallelism in rhetoric include the following: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Explain what King's use of parallelism and repetition in lines 89-91 emphasizes. 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