Paper Topic:

analysis of metaphor

analysis of metaphor Analysis of Metaphor

Dr . King 's figurative language regarding segregation involves several vehicles of metaphorical expression in the "I Have a Dream " speech Foremost among these is the image of captivity , beginning with the opening lines invoking Lincoln "Five score years ago , a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today , the Civil War , and slavery Segregation is the "dark valley " in which the black race has been held in captivity , the Law , specifically the Emancipation Proclamation , is invoked as a Tenor in the speech as a counterpoint

to the Tenor segregation . Vehicles for the Law tenor are : light , freedom , and also the image of a promissory note , here referred to as a "bad check

King calls the Emancipation Proclamation "a great beacon light of hope " and "a joyous daybreak end to the long night of their captivity He refers to the Declaration of Independence as "a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir " The use of this vehicle allows for universalization of the defaulted justice he wishes to convey to his audience "It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned " Though issues of racial discrimination and the historical culpability for slavery and the emergence of civil rights pose complex and perilously difficult subjects to comprehend and understand , everyone can understand a "bad check " The use of mundane vehicles for a complex Tenor such as legal injustice is a brilliant oratorical technique

Segregation , also a deeply complex and challenging subject , also finds universal expression through metaphor with the Vehicles of chains and manacles demonstrating clearly what condition ineffable social policy and cultural discrimination have had on African Americans "the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination " Such universal expression attains profound and lasting impact where citations of specific instances of injustice and legal facts and legislative strategies would prove both too exhausting and too esoteric for mass numbers of people to enthusiastically understand and follow...

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