I Have a Dream: Rhetorical Devices - Essay Example

The simile is again used when he speaks of justice that "rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream". His use of similes and metaphors added power to his words. In a later paragraph, he uses parallelism to invoke a sense of importance when he repeats the phrase "Now is not the time" to open three consecutive sentences. His closing statements that all begin with "Let freedom ring" again uses parallelism to highlight the importance of the message and makes the passage more memorable.

While King's words gained power through his appropriate and effective use of rhetorical devices, they were not overly subjected to the distractions of false arguments or bias. He begins one paragraph with the statement that "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro". This was an appeal to the emotions that are based on fear and is known as a scare tactic. In a later paragraph, King contends that the Alabama governor's lips are "dripping with the words of interposition and nullification".

These are terms that are negatively associated with the Revolutionary and Civil wars and portrayed the governor in an unsubstantiated and biased political light.King's argument was that the Negro was living in "appalling conditions" and that "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights". King used ample evidence concerning the condition of the African-Americans when he spoke of their inability to gain lodging in America's hotels, their future locked in the ghetto, and the denial of a meaningful right to vote.

He further made his argument by setting the goal of letting freedom ring until all people joined hands and sang "Free at last". King's argument effectively stated the problem and offered a solution. He disarmed the opposition by calling for the struggle to take place "on the high plane of dignity and discipline". This nullified those that contended that the time was not right, that it would lead to violence, or that they did not trust the whites.In conclusion, King's powerful message was given even more force by the use of rhetorical devices.

Counter-arguments were difficult to construct as his lack of bias and fallacy had already disarmed the opposing views. The fact that this speech was a major tipping point in the Civil Rights movement is a testimony to the effectiveness of good argumentative writing.