In this essay, I will discuss the similarities and differences between two texts. The first text is a poem by George Gordon, know as Lord Byron, called “The Dream” and the second text is an extract from Martin Luther King’s speech entitled “I have a dream.” The main difference of these two texts is the different purpose. In the poem, the intention is to be read individually and several times to understand the meaning. The prose, which is a speech, has for aim to be listened and for this reason, powerful speech techniques are use so that the ideas, which are repeated over and over, get threw to the listeners.
The poem by George Gordon is writing in one stanza with a regular metrical arrangement of 10 syllables per verse. It discusses in the first four verses, the two different worlds of dream; one of being away, and the other of being asleep, as a comparison of life and death. In the verses five to ten, the poet describes how dreams, without existence outside our mind, take a place our everyday reality reflecting the emotions of the dream. In verses eleven to fifteen, Lord Byron makes reference to the past, which transforms us, to make us what we are in the future. In the final section of the poem, he describes dreams as a creation by the mind of a superior world, a better one.
The prose by Martin Luther King relates is a speech in the 1st person singular but address to 2nd person plural. In general, the writer talks about the reality of today and his promise of a better tomorrow. In the first two paragraphs, his dreams to the American dream, which says, “All man are created equal.” In all the following paragraphs, he compares to the unbearable and unjust present with a future in peace and equality of race. In the last paragraph of the poem, he again pressures the unfair present and dreams of a better tomorrow, where all people, ignoring color of the skin, races and culture, shall be able to do anything together.
The Essay on I Have A Dream Mlk A Speech Summary
On August 28, 1963 on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., one of the most profound civil rights Leaders recited a speech for all to live by. Martin Luther King Jr. was the man who made history that day in 1963, with the world-renowned speech I have a Dream. In the speech I have a Dream Dr. King discusses how the end of slavery did not mean the end of the Negro struggle. The Negro is ...
The themes of the prose and the poem are very similar with a remarkable difference. The theme emitted in the poem by Lord Byron is the contrast of dreams made with the world. This theme is shown threw out the poem where he makes references to the superiority of dreams and how they differ from the world. In the prose, Martin Luther King explains his dream, which he wants incorporated with reality to make it possible. This theme is seen in the prose with the use of anaphora at the beginning of all paragraphs, using the phrase “I have a dream” to stress the fusion of his dream to reality and to remind the listeners of his intentions.
The tone of the poem is simple in an amused way. The poet expresses his views in a clear way, which seems to give an interesting sound to the poem. His tone reflects his thoughts on the theme of dream, which expressed by the tone, they seem so easily understood by him. The tone in the speech of Martin Luther King is optimist and also conversational. We can see this again with the use of anaphora, where he expresses his feelings and stresses his hope of his dream becoming true at the beginning of each paragraph with the use of the phrase “I have a dream.”
The use of diction is quite different in the two texts because of their different purpose. The poem uses formal diction, such as “two-fold”, “realm”, “tyranny”, “dread”, “heralds”. The poet also uses Shakespearean speech, archaic, with third person singular of present tense of have: “hath.” We see this in the verse one and three when he repeats, “Sleep hath its own world.” In the speech, since it’s in a conversational tone, the diction is colloquial because he uses word of everyday language, which will be easy to understand. The only time he uses formal diction, is when he speaks of government where he uses the words, “interposition” and “nullification” to shown its complexity. A strong use of diction is the balancing of long sentences with short sentences. We can see this at the end of long paragraphs, Martin Luther King repeat, “I have a dream today!”
The Essay on Dreams Dream World
1 11 2001 DREAMS ~ An Analysis The poem Dreams by Cecil Frances Alexander portrays very strong imagery, and has a message that ties in with the theme of this poetry notebook. The emotion shows the speakers feelings about being asleep as to being awake. Although there is nothing original about the layout and rhyme scheme of the poem, Alexander has a way of showing ones love for this dream world in ...
The poem uses less imagery compared to the prose. Lord Byron describes the dream as “a wide realm of wild reality” giving them a sense of a grand range of different possibility. He also describes the superior world of dream threw:
“…. The mind can make
Substances, and people planet of its own
With beings brighter than have been, and give
A breath to forms which can outlive all flesh.”
This image of superior world expresses the poets though of a place where anything is possible and where the world is a better place. The main imagery in the speech is antithesis expressing a direct contrast of oppositions. We can see antithesis threw out all of the speech and I will show you several example of this. One of them is in paragraph three, line eight-nine, when Martin Luther King uses repetition of “sons of former slaves” to emphasize that the black race are used as slave and show contrast in: “sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners.” Another place where antithesis is shown is in paragraph four, line 10-13, where the author expresses the difference between the present and the better world to come by saying: “a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” Two other example of this is in the last paragraph, where he compares the horrible present with a wonderful future by saying, “ hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope” and “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” In the speech, we can see use of alliteration to stress the importance of the word “color”, “content” and “character” in line 14-15: “color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King also uses powerful imagery to pressure the importance of equality of races when he says:
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together”
