Martin Luther King Jr. and Maya Angelou each have they’re own style. The tone of a writer shows the reader or listener how the author feels about the subject at hand. Imagery is used as a way for the writer to express what they’re seeing or have seen. King’s speech, “I Have A Dream” had a formal, consistent tone, while Maya Angelou’s book I Known Why The Caged Bird Sings had a casual, conversational, varying tone, yet both used quite a bit of imagery.

Both pieces of writing have a strong sense of tone, but they each show it in different ways. In the speech, “I Have A Dream”, M.L.K. Jr. was serious and formal when he spoke, such as when he says “… A great beacon light of hope…” This shows that he is formal because he could have said something much more casual such as “I have hope” which is much less motivational and hopeful. When he quotes the Declaration of Independence, it shows that he is serious about what he is doing. For example he says “inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” On the other hand, in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird sings, she uses a different tone depending on what is happening, although the whole time, she keeps a conversational way of writing. For example, when she says “… And my image of her would have been shattered like the unmendable Humpty-Dumpty.” She compares her perspective of someone with a nursery rhyme, and therefore more people of different ages are able to relate.

In both writings, the authors used imagery to express their thoughts. By doing this, sometimes they used metaphors and similes. In “I Have A Dream” M.L.K. Jr. used imagery in both positive and negative connotations. He shows this when he says things such as “… to satisfy our thirsts for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” This shows that they can only get freedom if they go through pain. In “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, Maya used a small bit of imagery, although not as much as M.L.K. Jr. An example of this is when she says “Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged,…” about her new friend Ms. Flowers.

In both pieces of writing, the writers used both tone and imagery to express their feelings. Both Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr. used both writing techniques to make their stories or speeches better. In the end MLK Jr. and Maya Angelou got their wish, and civil rights was granted.