In commemoration of the Martin Luther King Day on January 21
Dear Dr. King,
I am writing to you because of your magnificent speech “I have a dream.” It is such an awesome speech that I would like to give some compliments and responses regarding the speech you uttered.
First of all, your speech has certainly made its mark in the annals of history for obvious reasons. But a fact that is not so much obvious as your outstanding oratory skills is that you are also a very much solid author who writes powerful pieces of literature. Unlike current politicians who depend very much on their speech writers, you need none of those whatsoever.
Moreover, your grip on the messages that you wanted to convey was prominent. And through this, the emotions that you evoked from your audience was very much evident. Your brilliance and intelligence were beyond description and often this brilliance takes the form of simple yet powerful speech. By mentioning Abraham Lincoln’s words “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” you reflected a deep respect for Lincoln himself. In the third paragraph, the words “one hundred years” would be one of the many words in the speech that would remain in the hearts of the audience and the reader. In this paragraph, you use a repetition method that refers to background of Black people’s history in America. An effective method of explaining into one’s memory. I must admit that I really find it attractive too.
Another paragraph which also stands out in “I have a dream” is the fifth paragraph. By comparing the bad treatment that black people had been receiving with a "bad check,” you went on to make links of the blacks’ racist treatment with the term “insufficient funds.” After that, you remarked that the “bank of justice” is not “bankrupt.” And that funds would still be sufficient in the “vaults of opportunity.” You use the bank metaphor to show the audience that justice has never die. Your words here were creatively purposeful and you connected the key words in your speech well.
The different interesting tactics that you used in “I have a dream” do not seem to end as evident in the next paragraph. Here, you used a contrast method like using the words “dark and desolate valley”, and "quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock." The audience to your speech and the reader can hardly miss this comparison method. Simply, the message gets across with no problelm at all.
Really, Dr. King, your speech is an extraordinary masterpiece. As I read your last paragraph of your speech, I got a thrill from it.
I also personally feel that the last words in your speech “Thank God the Almighty, we are free at last” can not be replaced by any better phrase or sentence. Those eight words symbolize every inch and aspect of the dream.
I was so impressed by the last paragraph in your speech. Here, you had delivered your speech much slower than in other paragraphs. You delivered the last paragraph in that manner so that it could never be forgotten by your audience.
Last but not least, I would like to say that your speech “I have a dream” impresses me a lot. The rich literary, social, and personal values in that speech make the speech wonderful. I do not find anything wrong in your speech as a consequence I could not criticize your speech. A valuable speech that is simply nothing but “awesome.”
The writer can be contacted at ollie_rachmat@yahoo.com