Name____________________________________________________________Per__________Date________________________________
__ Understanding King’s Use of Metaphors in the “I Have a Dream Speech”
One of the reasons that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is considered one of the most powerful speeches in
American history is King’s masterful use of the metaphor as a rhetorical device. A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes its point
by comparing two very different things that share at least one element in common. For example, when King compared the
Emancipation Proclamation to “a great beacon of hope” and to “a joyous daybreak,” he was making the point that just as a beacon or
daybreak can bring light and hope, the Emancipation Proclamation brought enlightenment and hope to millions of slaves.
Directions: The following chart lists five different metaphors from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in the far-left column. Read the
metaphors in the context of King’s speech, define the highlighted words, and then analyze each metaphor in the two columns on the
right side of the chart.
Metaphor from
“I Have a Dream”
speech
“…the Negro lives on a
lonely island of poverty
in the midst of a vast
ocean of material
prosperity.”
“Now is the time to lift
our nation from the
quicksands of racial
injustice to the solid
rock of brotherhood.”
“...your quest for
freedom left you
battered by the storms
of persecutions and
staggered by the winds
of police brutality.”
“Now is the time to rise
from the dark and
desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit
path of racial justice.”
“Again and again we
must rise to the majestic
heights of meeting
physical force with soul
force.”
Which definitions of the words in
bold fit this context?
What is being compared
in this metaphor?
What is the message or point of this
comparison (or metaphor) in the
context of King’s speech?
“…a desert state,
sweltering with the heat
of injustice and
oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis
of freedom and justice.”
“No, no, we are not
satisfied, and we will not
be satisfied until justice
rolls down like waters
and righteousness like a
mighty stream.”
“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.”
“This sweltering
summer of the Negro’s
legitimate discontent
will not pass until there
is an invigorating
autumn of freedom and
equality.”
“America has given the
Negro people a bad
check which has come
back marked
“insufficient funds.””
“With this faith we will
be able to transform the
jangling discords of our
nation into a beautiful
symphony of
brotherhood.”
“Let us not seek to
satisfy our thirst for
freedom by drinking
from the cup of
bitterness and hatred.”
“I have a dream that one
day the state of Alabama,
whose governor’s lips
are presently dripping
with the words of
interposition and
nullification,…”
“Now is the time to open
the doors of opportunity
to all of God’s children.”
“But there is something
that I must say to my
people who stand on the
warm threshold which
leads into the palace of
justice.”