Mlk Nobel Peace Prize Speech Analysis

Elizabeth Potoa’e Ms. Casberg AP English P. 3 15 January 2012 AP Essay MLK Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. has always been a great public speaker because of the amount of passion instilled in his words and his extreme mastery in putting images in the minds of his audience. Not to mention, his message is explicitly conveyed to the audience. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize with powerful insight of the Civil Rights Movement, and the must to overcome segregation through the use of figurative language and repetition/example/parallelism/imagery to show that our battle with racism has yet to be over.
Martin Luther King uses figurative language to emphasize the importance of the meaning behind his words. He says in his speech over and over “I am mindful that only yesterday” to demonstrate that racism and discrimination is still going on. He discusses the struggles and conflicts blacks faced due to the hatred and violence that is occurring in the world. King repeats the horror of the current situations to allow his audience to understand that something still needs to be done.
He feels, maybe if he says it enough times, people will actually do something about it, because the award he is receiving simply means nothing without action. To show that he will not give up until a change comes, he repeats the words “I refuse to accept” and goes on to tell of the excuses people use as why not to change. Martin Luther King Jr. believes that action will lead us down a road where love and hope await. Here we can find a world of freedom and justice.

Martin Luther King uses imagery with his figurative language. He uses it to not only tell but show his audiences how the current ways of people are not helping pave the way to a brighter future, which encompasses no discrimination, only peace. He compares racism to a starless night to illustrate that racism is a dark and very inhumane part in the lives of many people. He says “beauty is truth and truth beauty” to depict in the minds of audience that once they’ve acknowledged that the truth is the truth in the ircumstances they face, it will be a much more beautiful tomorrow than they could ever imagine. Martin Luther King wants everyone to honestly ponder about the conflict we have and decide whether we want to take part of the solution or add to the problem when he says “this faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future [and] give us new strength to continue forward. ” And by doing so, people will work and build a better future for all of us, where there is no racism, but peace.