Rhetorical Devices "I Have a Dream"

Alliteration:

• The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of several words in a sequence.

• A short reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event.

• The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of phrases or sentences.

• A comparison of two unlike things by speaking about one in terms of the other.

Allusion:

• Appeal to authority or credibility

• A comparison of two unlike things using LIKE or AS.

• A list of successive words or phrases with the same/similar grammatical structure.

• A short reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event.

Anaphora:

• The repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of several words in a sequence.

• The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases or sentences

• The comparison of two unlike things by using the words LIKE or AS

• Appeal to emotions

Metaphor:

• Appeal to logic and fact

• A short reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event

• A comparison of two unlike things using the words LIKE or AS

• A comparison of two different things by speaking about one in terms of the other

Parallelism:

• A list of successive words or phrases with the same/similar grammatical structure

• Appeal to logic and fact

• The repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases or sentences

• A short reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event.

Simile:

• Appeal to emotion

• A comparison of two unlike things by speaking about one in terms of the other

• A comparison of two unlike things using LIKE or AS

• The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of several words in a sequence

"This sweltering summer..."

• simile

• metaphor

• anaphora

• alliteration

"Five score years ago..."

• allusion

• simile

• parallelism

• metaphor

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.

• anaphora

• allusion

• alliteration

• metaphor

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.

• metaphor

• simile

• parallelism

• alliteration