Allusion
Allusion is another aspect, or rhetorical strategy, that writers use to make connections with their audiences. It’s a
type of figurative language. When someone makes an allusion, he is referring to something outside of the text –
but it is something that will help readers understand the text more. It’s not the same as metaphor or simile,
because they use the formulas (A= B or A is like B). An allusion is more like A has things in common with B, and
you already know about B so you are familiar with A, too.
An example of allusion that you’ve already read is in White Lies, when the kids tease Connie
and talk about Caspar the Friendly Ghost or Frosty the Snowman. Both of these were
cartoons that children watched on TV during that time. Any reader who is over a certain age
will immediately know who Caspar and Frosty are, and they will immediately connect
Connie, who is an albino, with the ghost and snowman, who are also very white.
Martin Luther King uses a great deal of allusion in I Have a Dream. In fact,
he begins with an allusion: he alludes to a famous speech made by Abraham
Lincoln. Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He was
admired for many reasons, and is perhaps most famous because he was
president during the Civil War. One reason this war was fought was because
of slavery – particularly, rich, white people “owning” black people who
worked for them in the southern part of the U.S. Lincoln was against slavery.
The Gettysburg Address is a speech that Lincoln gave in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, during
the Civil War. It is very famous, and most Americans know at least the first few words. Notice that the sentence is
focused on how the “new nation” – the U.S. – was created with the belief that all men – not just white men – are
created equal.
First sentence:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Look at the first sentences of King’s speech:
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had
been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
captivity.
King starts similarly to Lincoln, and the “great American” he refers to is Lincoln. King uses allusion to the speech
and to Lincoln’s fight against slavery, and for equality, through every sentence of his beginning.
Other familiar texts King alludes to in his speech are the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. These are
texts that most of his listeners would have been very familiar with. Because King alludes to them, he is able to
create stronger links between himself and his audience. This can cause them to be more open to his ideas.