The Language of Protest

... The Language of Protest The language of political protest and pressure has taken many forms. I shall try to show this range and variety by analyzing four examples that have very different historical contexts and which take very different approaches: Martin Luther King's famous `I Have a Dream' speech; Jonathan Swift's satire `A Modest Proposal'; and contemporary tests from New Internationalist magazine and from a Friends of the Earth advertisement. King's speech shows all the oratorical mastery than made him so indispensable to the US Civil Rights movement of the sixties. The language is that of the Baptist preacher, often biblical in tone, rich with metaphor and a great array of rhetorical techniques. It is appropriate to the circumstances: the charismatic leader heading a great crusade. Although the text appears to have been fully written - every phrase is carefully crafted - the sense of the audience is evident

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