Question

Excerpt from I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr.

3 But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In paragraph 3, which rhetorical technique is being used to add emphasis?
A) overstatement
B) understatement
C) parallel structure
D) rhetorical question

Answer 1

The rhetorical technique used in paragraph 3 of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is parallel structure, as noted by the repeated phrase "One hundred years later,".

Step-by-step explanation:

In paragraph 3 of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, the rhetorical technique used to add emphasis is C) parallel structure. Parallel structure involves using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can be observed in the repeated use of the phrase "One hundred years later," which emphasizes the ongoing struggles faced by African Americans despite the passing of a century since the Emancipation Proclamation.

Answer 2

A. Overstatement is correct