Martin Luther King Jr. - "I have a dream"

  This speech, held in the times of racial segragation was abundant in USA, is one of the most beautiful speeches held in USA. The beauty of this speech - the beauty that moved a nation's heart - results from its poetic beauty as well as its context. The use of many literary devices such as anaphora, ethos and pathos.

   First, use of anaphora is too evident in this speech - all the lines starting with "We refuse to", "I have a dream that" and "Let freedom ring" are all classic examples of anaphora that builds rhythm and emphasis on the speech.
  Also, the use of ethos - the context Martin Luther King Jr. lived in - is just too obvious: he was an African American who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. His speech was completely pararell with his actions, which let the speech elicit absolute response from its audience.
  Pathos is also evident throughout the speech, but it is most emphasized in the lines from "I have a dream that one day......Thank god almighty, we are free at last!" WIth combined usage of anaphora and imagery, Martin Luther King Jr. created an enormous swell of emotion that can infest everyone's hearts.
  Among all the lines, the line I favor the most is the metaphor Martin Luther King Jr. used in the earlier parts of the speech: the "bad check" America gave to the negroes from the "bank of justice". This, to me, explained the pain and despair the African Americans must have felt.