Analysis of Rhetorical Figures in Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream'.

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ABSTRACT

I Have a Dream merupakan salah satu pidato terkenal karya Martin Luther King, Jr.. Pidato tesebut dibawakan pada saat aksi massa terjadi di Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. pada tanggal 28 Agustus 1963. Pidato ini sangat berpengaruh di Amerika pada abad ke-20, karena isinya yang merujuk pada diskriminasi, kebebasan dan kesetaraan ras khususnya bagi orang hitam di Amerika.

Dalam menganalisis data, saya menggunakan teori Stylistics yang menekankan pada penggunaan bahasa dan gaya bahasa dalam teks. Teori tersebut mencakup beberapa bidang kajian, salah satunya adalah Rhetorical Figures. Dalam skripsi ini, saya akan membahas jenis-jenis Rhetorical Figures yang digunakan dalam pidato tersebut. Saya menemukan dua jenis Rhetorical Figures yang sangat dominan dalam pidato ini. Pertama adalah penggunaan pengulangan (repetition) dan yang kedua adalah penggunaan metafora.

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APPENDICES

Martin Luther King, Jr.’ I Have a Dream

(1) I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

(2) Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

(3) But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

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heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

(5) But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

(6) We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. 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 quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

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content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

(8) But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. 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. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

(9) The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

(10) We cannot walk alone.

(11) As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

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(13) There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

(14) I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

(15) Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends.

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dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

(17) I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

(18) I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

(19) I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

(20) 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.

(21) I have a dream today!

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(23) I have a dream today.

(24) I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,” and all flesh shall see it together.”

(25) This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

(26) With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

(27) And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning:

(28) "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

(29) Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride,

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(31) And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.

(32) So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

(33) Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

(34) Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

(35) Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado.

(36) Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

(37) But not only that:

(38) Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

(39) Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

(40) Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

(41) From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

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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:

"Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

LIST OF TABLES situation they are facing now and why it should be corrected.

2 In the middle of the speech (paragraph 5,6,8,13,14)

King starts to explain the goals, as well as giving the solution of how to the hearer about the main goal.

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Table 4. List of Negative Diction

No. Negative Diction 1. not free

2. sadly crippled 3. a lonely 4. Poverty 5. Languished 6. an exile

Table 5. List of Given Information and New Information of Paragraph 5 poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

4 One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

Clause Given Information (The Repeated Phrase)

New Information (End-focus)

1 But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt 2 We refuse to believe, that there are insufficient funds in the

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Table 6. List of Given Information and New Information of Paragraph 6

Clause

Given Information

(The Repeated Phrase) New Information

2 We must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.

3 We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline

1. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. 2. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley

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force with soul force

Table 9. List of Given Information and New Information of Paragraph 17-24 Clause

Given Information

2 We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. 3 We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue

of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities 4 We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from

a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

5. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only".

6. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

Clause

Given Information

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1. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.".

2. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood

3. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

4. 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.

5. I have a dream today!

6. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition”

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Clause

Given Information

1 With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

2 With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. 3 With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to

struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

Table 11. List of Given Information and New Information of Paragraph 31-40 be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

7. I have a dream today.

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Table 12. List of Metaphors

2. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York 3. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of

Pennsylvania.

4. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado.

5. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. 6. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

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4. 3 one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity

5. 6 This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

6. 6 now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice;

7. 6 now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood;

8. 7 This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

9. 7 The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges

10. 8 But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice.

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Table 13. List of Metaphors illustrating the Negro’s condition before the decree

is made

12 19 I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a [desert] state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

13. 26 With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

14. 26 With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

No. Before the decree Paragraph

1. flames of withering injustice 2

2. the long night of their captivity 2 3 crippled by the manacles of segregation 3

4 the chains of discrimination; 3

5 a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity

3

6 the whirlwinds of revolt 7

7 jangling discords of our nation 26

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Table 14. List of metaphors illustrating the Negro’s condition after the decree is

made.

9 sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent

7

10 mountain of despair 26

11 the dark and desolate valley of segregation 6

12 sweltering with the heat of injustice 19 13 sweltering with the heat of oppression 19

No. After the Decree Paragraph

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Communication is a vital aspect of human life. It is like a bridge that relates one person to another. We can communicate and exchange the information concerning thoughts, opinions or feelings. Yet, whether people can communicate with others through many ways depends on the context, participants and the goals as well.

In our daily life, we may communicate the same idea in different styles of speaking. It depends on the relationship between the speaker and hearer, the situation, the

time, etc. For example, we may find two sentences like this: “Thank you for not littering

here” and “Do not litter here”. If we really pay attention to these two sentences, we will

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Out of the many styles of communication, a speaker has to choose one of the best styles in delivering the message appropriately. There must be a reason why we decide to choose one style of communication to others. It is arguable why a speaker chooses certain words and not other words in one text. The speaker has to decide the choice of the style that he or she uses for a special purpose or intention.

According to Leech (12) style is the linguistic characteristic of a particular text. In Linguistics, there is one study which deals with the style of language, namely Stylistics.

Stylistics, simply defined as “the (linguistic) study of style, describes what use is made of

language” (Leech 13). By studying Stylistics, we are able to explain something explicitly

or implicitly, so that we will understand specifically “how language serves a particular artistic function” (Leech 13).

Rhetoric is one of the topics in Stylistics. Rhetoric deals with some features of language that create "the art or skill of effective communication.” (Leech 210) By using rhetoric in our communication, we will achieve such communicative ends at a different level. Not only can we make the communication successful in transferring our ideas but we can also produce effective and beautiful form of communication. Besides, when one tries to communicate one‟s ideas through writing, one must think more deeply, as it is intended to be read by others who have different ways of thinking. The reader may not see something exactly as the writer sees.

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to, understand, believe, and remember the ideas it communicates.” (Harris para.5).

I am interested in analyzing the rhetorical figures in Martin Luther King‟s I Have a Dream as the topic of my thesis. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not only a prominent American civil rights activist, but also a social reformer and an author. He is often referred to as the inspiration of human rights icon since he fought so hard for equality for all without changing to violence or aggression. Besides, he also becomes the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation, and racial discrimination using non-violent methods in 1964. (“Biography of Martin Luther, Jr.”)

Related to his good achievement, he changes the course of history by delivering I Have a Dream, which is one of the most influential speeches of the American history. This speech is delivered on August 28, 1963, to more than 200,000 people gathered during a huge demonstration before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. called the

“March on Washington”, the demonstration was organized on the 100th anniversary of

the Emancipation Proclamation to call attention to the wrongs suffered by African Americans and to push for federal legislation to bring about change (“I Have a Dream -Background”). Realizing how powerful the speech is, I am interested in analyzing the

rhetorical figures used in the speech and how they give a color and impact to the speech. I find the topic exciting because there are many special forms of rhetorical figures that Martin Luther King used in this speech for different purposes and reasons. I intend to analyze some dominant figures properly to get a clearer picture of the speech.

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the text. Besides learning how to comprehend the context of the text, we can also learn to appreciate the form or style of the language so that we can get pleasure from the artistic value of the speech. Moreover, we can also be encouraged to think „out of the box‟ in dealing with the issue of stylistics. In short, hopefully we are able to communicate better on a meaningful level.

(868 words)

Statement of the Problem

Based on the topic that I choose, I would like to discuss the following two problems:

1. What are the rhetorical figures that Martin Luther King, Jr. uses in the speech I Have a Dream?

2. What is King‟s purpose of using such rhetorical figures in the speech?

Purpose of the Study

In this thesis, I would like to show:

1. The rhetorical figures that Martin Luther King, Jr. uses in the speech I Have a Dream.

2. The King‟s purpose of using the rhetorical figures in the speech.

Method of Research

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the types and the effects of the rhetorical figures found in the speech. Finally, I write the research report.

Organization of the Thesis

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:

MLKOnline. I Have a Dream Speech, 2010. Web. 10 February 2011.

References:

Adams, John Paul. “Rhetorical Figures.” 26 January 2010. Web. 10 February 2011.

African Americans Slavery. National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. 19 May 1998. Web. 17 May 2011.

“Captivity.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

ed. Online Dictionary. Oxford Advanced Online, 2011. Web. 6 July 2011.

”Crippled” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Despair.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Discord.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online, 2011. Web.

20 July 2011.

Eldenmuller, Michelle E. “Top 100 American Speeches Online Speech Bank.” 21 June

2001. Web. 16 Jan 2011.

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February 2011.

Lonely.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

Mangrum, Charles T., Stephen S. Strichart. “What is Metaphor?” 30 November 2010.

Web. 22 February 2011.

Martin Luther King Bibliography. U.S Government Research Papers, 2011. Web. 15 Feb 2011.

“Night.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Quicksand.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Revolt.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online, 2011. Web. 20

July 2011.

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“Sweltering.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Valley.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online, 2011. Web. 20

July 2011.

“Valley.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

ed. Online Dictionary. Oxford Advanced Online, 2011. Web. 6 July 2011.

Verdonk, Peter. Stylistics. Fifth ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2002, 2010. Print.

“Whirlwind.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

“Withering.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s 7th

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Analysis of Rhetorical Figures in Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream'.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY