Compare And Contrast Analysis of 'I Have A Dream' And 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'
The famous civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King called for a change in his society. He stood for social, economic, and political rights of the black community and helped protect the rights and freedom from infringement by the segregated society through the power of words. 'The pen is mightier than the sword.' as famous English writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote these words for his 1839 play. Words are able to affect the way people think about society. The charged language in both selections affected the way people thought about the oppression of the black community and inspired change from racial distinction to equality. So let`s research the monumental speeches in "Compare And Contrast 'I Have A Dream' And 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' Essay" paper.
'I Have a Dream' is speech that provides inspiration and spirit to the African-American community to unite against injustice and racial segregation. In 'Letters from Birmingham Jail', it was mainly addressed to the eight white clergymen who criticized his demonstrations and the religious people who denied the nonviolent protests. The speech uses mostly appeals to emotion which is his way to persuade and emotionally inspire the audience to his need for freedom, however in the letter Dr. King appeals mostly to logic to provide the facts about injustice in Birmingham and the logical, moral, and religious reasons to the need for freedom and justice. In the speech, he uses an analogy to criticize the nation for the failure in fulfilling the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and in its obligation to its African-American citizens. However, in the letter, he compares his demonstrations to gain the freedom to the black community to the religious acts of Apostle Paul when he tried to spread the gospel of Christ. In 'I have a Dream' Dr. King speaks in a more persuasive and zealous tone due to him standing and preaching the speech in front of a lot of people. In the speech, the tone is more hopeful, benevolent, and buoyant, but in the letter, Martin Luther King was more straight, clear, and rational.
In the letter for every point, he provides an explanation for his reasoning, on the other hand in the speech for every point he includes a lot of figurative languages and more metaphors.
Both selections share the same goal which is the demand for freedom and justice. They emphasize the evils of segregation and how the African-Americans were treated. They both illuminate on the idea and importance of civil rights. The selections were not meant for the white community, but for the people who denied the civil rights of African-Americans. Dr. King seeks integration and persuades the people who denied his rights to end segregation. In both works 'I Have a Dream' and 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', Martin Luther King adopted some of the rhetorical strategies and techniques of repetition to clarify the importance, parallelism, antithesis, similes, metaphors, and allusions. Dr. King appeals to authority to assert and claim his credibility. For example, his reference to famous philosophers in the letter and refer to the constitution and Declaration of Independence in the speech. It is mainly to persuade their opponents who are against justice and the freedom of the black community from the racial segregation and evoke emotion.
The powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King were able to change a nation. Dr. King spoke of the misfortunes and the problems of the nation which is degrading the Black community and putting them in an inferior status. The choice of words can influence how a speech is received by the audience and affect whether the listener had learned something valuable from it and understand the moral responsibilities of a person. He was able to make the people crave for freedom, and envision optimistically about the future. If the word chosen by the speaker was correctly selected for the perfect audience, they will inspire.
