's "I Have a Dream" speech and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel are both pieces of prose that highlight and emphasize social injustices and moral blindness, calling for action and change to take place. Although their subject matters differ, King and Swift utilize many of the same literary techniques, while calling the reader to see a need for change related to a particular injustice. While their causes are vastly different, comparing their works shows that there is not a time constraint on a particular style of writing, considering that the authors lived centuries apart.
When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, the fire behind American Civil Rights movement was just beginning to be lit. There were intense feelings of hatred and discomfort floating in the air. King wrote his speech to encourage and motivate African Americans to seek the civil rights they were guaranteed, yet to also summarize the agony and persecution his people had suffered. He discusses his dreams that his children "would 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." (paragraph 21.) On the other hand, Swift is discussing the persecution of the Tories by likening them to slaves in some voyages. He also uses many elements of satire to humorously portray the English society in the 18th Century as he sees it. King was directing his speech towards black Americans and American citizens as a whole, while Swift meant his satire for the aristocrats of the time, so they might see how foolish their actions were.
In their writings, both Swift and King use hyperbole, although in different ways. Swift's use of hyperbole is more straightforward and obvious. In Voyage 1, when Gulliver travels to Lilliput, he encounters the Lilliputians, a people whom Swift describes meticulously throughout several chapters. Swift describes the Lilliputians as a "human creature not six inches high.
Mlk made it hard for them because he was constantly leaving and returning... - MLK viewed federal government as an ally. ... Mlk loses - Mlk experienced his greatest defeat. After nine months when MLK left Albany was as segregated as ever. Pritchett's strategy was successful in stopping MLK. ...
Both Socrates and MLK Jr. are historical figures with strong beliefs. ... In Plato's Crito and MLK Jr.'... Both Socrates and MLK Jr. use a nonviolent method of disobedience. ... Socrates and MLK Jr. believe that the majority does not matter. ... Socrates is being put to death, whereas MLK Jr. is imprisoned. ...
MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) makes a lot of good observations which he makes within each chapter. I think that each of the chapters had one specific point that MLK wanted to get by to the reader which summed up to his main topic. ... Another significant point that MLK pointed out was that "our God is able." ... One of the most important things that I got out of this book was the first point that MLK made. ... You can't tell by the way MLK writes because you never know how he really is inside. ...
MLK and JFK "I Have a Dream" was one of the most memorable speeches that I have had the pleasure of listening to. In this speech on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King had the most unbelievable drive and determination during this speech and even though I didn't hear it in person, he almost mad...
I think that Malcom X was far more respected than MLK. ... Typically, MLK receives greater and more sympathetic attention, but in one of their meetings MLK appeared to be helpless against MalcomX's arguments. You could see that MLK was no match for Malcom. ... I don't believe he was jealous of MLK. ... He would have nothing to do with MLK now if he were alive today. ...
(MLK) gets more attention to his ideas, but, one time when they met MLK seemed to be helpless against Malcoms ideas. As you can see MLK is no match for Malcom X. ... It is no wonder that MLK got the nobel peace prize, his ideas are easily accepted by whites without any sense of moral obligation. I don't believe he was jealous of MLK, what I do believe was that he had a job to do. ... If MLK were alive today I honestly do not think that Malcom would have anything to do with him. ...
They were often assaulted but they followed MLK rule of not retaliating and hitting back. ... MLK then put this in to practise when Rosa Parks got arrested on 1st December 1955, she was a well-known African American in the community and MLK thought that a protest was needed to rectify the situation and this proved that peaceful protest could work. ... The speeches that MLK gave had a impact on everyone, not just African Americans. ...
This led to the tokenism that MLK decried, and it also led to the realization that there wouldn't be equal rights gained through the courts alone, they had to take their struggle to the streets. ... As the years went on African Americans became even more willing to stand up for their rights, to the point where MLK led a march on Washington D.C. ... Even the killings of important persons like MLK, Medgar Evars, and Malcolm X couldn't stop the flow once it had been released. ...
Martin Luther King Jr. had many significant influences on his life that shaped his beliefs and convictions. He was influenced in his early life by his parents and grandparents. His mother taught him that he was a "somebody". I believed she was crucial in instilling in him the belief that he was jus...
