Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King

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Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most important voices of the Civil Rights Movement. Under King’s leadership, African Americans gathered together to overcome segregation in the south. In 1963, King was sent to jail for peacefully demonstrating in Birmingham, Alabama. While in jail King wrote a letter in which he articulated his ideas about civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance. In this overwhelming speech, Martin Luther King, Jr rhetorically paints a picture (what the author is writing about) in order to (what the author is trying to get the reader to do or feel). In paragraph 14, King uses contrasting metaphors to compare their society to others and how differently the African Americans are treated than the whites. Kings uses contrast at the beginning of the paragraph when he states “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving at jet like speed toward gaining…show more content…
The contrasting images of the phrases “jet like speed” and “horse-and-buggy pace” shows how America is sticking to its old fashioned ways and making no progress while Asia and Africa are moving forward passing America by. This contrast that he uses metaphorically puts America behind Asia and Africa. It shows how we have gained nothing and because of that other countries have surpassed us. This impacts the reader emotionally, making the reader feel ashamed that America isn’t supirior to everyone else. Also, King uses comparisons through metaphors such as when he states “airtight cage of poverty” “darts of segregation” “clouds of inferiority” to show the “affluent society” is poor and dominated by whites. The metaphors he uses creates a picture of
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