TOW #17- I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King (written text)

Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is one of the most famous American speeches in history. What makes it famous is not only King’s powerful words, but also the effectiveness of this speech for the Civil Right’s Movement. King uses allusions and anaphora in an attempt to inspire change in the unfair treatment of black Americans in his “I Have A Dream” speech. King uses allusions in the beginning of his speech when he references the documents on which the country was built. He first references Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech, writing “Five score years ago...” in a reference to the beginning of Lincoln’s speech (“Four score and seven years ago...”) (2). In doing this, King draws the connection to the freedom granted upon the black Americans after the Civil War and the freedom they deserve to have now. Additionally, King references the famous “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” line of the Declaration of Independence in order to help emphasize the point that the black Americans deserve the same “inalienable rights” as the other Americans, as granted to them in the Declaration of Independence (4). King also references the Bible through allusions in order to show the support of religion for his cause, and provide additional ethos for his point. However, King uses anaphora to also emphasize his point, most famously in his repetition of “I have a dream” (17). By doing this, King emphasizes all of the goals and changes he wants made for the black Americans. He also repeats “one hundred years later...” in the beginning of his speech in order to emphasize the lack of change that has come about after the Emancipation Proclamation and the hardships faced by the black Americans (3). This helps King gain the support of his fellow black Americans, as well as appeal to pathos in an attempt to gain the support of the white Americans. King’s use of the pronoun “we” throughout the speech establishes his connection to the black Americans, as well as to all Americans in general, which helps King in an attempt to gain the support of all Americans as he promotes change. Overall, as seen through history, King’s speech was successful at inspiring this change amongst Americans. 

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm