Commentry on Martin Luther King's Speech

One of the biggest things we notice in Martin Luther King's speech is the various tones and pitches of his voice. When his voice turns high and the volume of his voice is loud, it shows that he feels strongly about the point he has just made, and he wants the audience to notice what he is saying by underlining it. It is a very good technique to make people think about what you have just said. Another thing that he does after this is he pauses. Perhaps he is waiting for the audience to stop applauding him, or perhaps it is a dramatical pause, to make the audience really think hard about what he has just said. They aren't necessarily long pauses, but they are highly effective. A certain sentence in the speech that he makes stand out is this following one…"When will you be satisfied?"

He has asked the question, not because he wants the audience to answer him literally, but to make them think about what he has just said, inside their heads, on their own.

Martin Luther King shows a distinct sign of hope, vision and optimism. The sentence that best shows this is probably one of the most important lines in the speech.

"I have a dream"

When he says this, I feel that it makes the audience want to know what he is going to say next. It catches the audiences' attention because they simply want to know what this dream of his is. He also says…

"We cannot walk alone"

This is underlining the truth. Truth plays a huge part in his speech, as truth can be an extremely powerful factor. Why hide the truth when it has power to persuade? King is saying that nobody will come through this if they refuse to become one big family, and unite with the people around them. It seems that all of the audience are one big family, and they need to come together to show how strongly they feel against this issue. If they want to come through it, they have to stick together.

Another sign of hope is when King says…

"We shall always march ahead"

He believes that there is a way to come through this, and that they are going to do it, and they are going to fulfil his dream of racism being an unknown thing. He thinks that they are one step ahead, and he has made the audience think this as well.

It is evident that Martin Luther King feels very strongly against this issue, and he shows it in the tone of his voice. He raises his voice when he is angry and wants to make a point. The last line in the speech shows a lot of things…

"Free at last: Free at last: Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

I think that at this stage he is feeling angry, but at the same time, he knows there is hope, and he knows that he has got this message across to the audience judging by their reaction. He knows that every person in the audience is going to go home and think over and over about what he has just said in his famous speech. He is extremely optimistic, and the audience just seem to follow him.

Martin Luther King has personal experience when he is reading this speech. He knows exactly how the audience feels about racism, because he has been there himself. He is black himself, and has been on the receiving end of racism. This way, he knows what to tell the audience, as he knows how upset and angry most of the audience would be themselves. He also knows that every single person in the audience is backing him, so most thing that he is going to say, the audience will agree with. He has identified the audience, and this helps him a great deal.

He uses various other techniques such as Alliteration. I feel alliteration and consonance are useful and effective techniques, as the sentences tend to stay in peoples minds, and they tend to think about it more.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California"

And another would be (perhaps not intentional)…

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations".

Maybe not intentional, but still quite effective. I think that throughout the whole entire speech, King uses the correct language, and doesn't really put a foot wrong in his choice of language and techniques. He has obviously changed some people in the audience, otherwise the speech wouldn't have been a worldwide success, and it would not have been recognised like it has been today, as being such a great speech. However, it is not just the language that makes it such a popular speech, but it is most probably the subject. Racism is a subject that many people across the world feel strongly about, and it is something that people are not going to ignore, even in the minor cases.

King speaks to the audience like he is a priest talking to a congregation, and doesn't seem like a man talking to a huge audience. His aim was to change the mind of people, and to let people know that he has had enough of what has been going on, and he wants the audience to follow him and back him up in his decisions. I think he has got the message across extremely well, because I now feel stronger myself against such an issue as racism.

One of the first things King says in his speech is…

"The Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty"

This isn't only a metaphor, but once again another strong sentence, set to catch the mind of the audience. He also underlines that…

"All men are created equal"

…but he then underlines the fact that they are not all treated equally.

The speech contains a sense of rhythm, and the use of correct vocabulary leads to the whole speech flowing very nicely. The tempo and volume, and emphasis of certain words or sentences are also very correct, and are extremely useful techniques when it comes down to persuading.

Persuading, in my opinion is what Martin Luther King is trying do, and he has completed this. Not only has he completed it, he completed it with a great success.