Diction

= Throughout Martin Luther King’s speech, diction is key to emphasize his feelings on the integration of races without violence or judgment of character. Words such as **Freedom, Together, Satisfied, Dream** and **Injustice.** All of these words that he uses throughout the text help him reemphasize his statement on equality of race and relate more to the audience. = = “With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” = = “ And when this happens, we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when //all// of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:…”  = = Imagine as if you were a black man/woman who’s part of the audience during the speech. How would you react to an African American such as MLK making these remarks to the world? = = “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice for all of God’s children.” = = “There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied’...No, no we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.’” = = How does he use the metaphors and simile shown in these quotes to further emphasize his view? =
 * = By using such words “together” and “freedom” he emphasizes his point that we should come together as a whole nation; once we are together as a whole we are allowed our freedom because we are united. =
 * = Justice is repeated many times to make the point that the country we live in isn’t justified because of the racial segregation that is occurring, so the people aren’t truly equal as the Constitution has said. =