I Have A Dream Analysis

1. Repeated Words

1.1. freedom (20 times)

1.2. we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)

1.3. dream (11 times)

2. Alliteration

2.1. "We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no…"

2.2. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

3. Simile

3.1. "...and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

4. Assonance

4.1. "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline."

5. Anaphora

5.1. “I Have a Dream…”

5.2. “One hundred years later…”

5.3. “Let freedom ring (from) …”

5.4. “Now is the time…”

6. Metaphors

6.1. “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”

6.2. “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”

6.3. “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”

7. Allusions

7.1. “Five score years ago…”

7.2. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”

7.3. “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity."

7.4. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”