In Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream,” King uses rhetorical devices to stress the fight for equality everyone person of color was going through. The fight for equality in the time of Martin Luther King was big, people of color did not have the same rights as whites did. King was a major supporter of blacks refusing to be treated this way. Martin Luther king used used rhetorical devices to help people understand the purpose and to be a role model for everyone in his speech.

In King’s speech he used pathos to connect with the audience. In his speech he stated, “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.” King used this to have the audience connect with something that they went through, and they can relate too. King also said, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” By having the audience relate to what he's saying, he can make them feel certain way, almost to feel bad. King used a majority of pathos in his speech.

King uses anaphoras to emphasize how important some statements are in his speech. He stated, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” King would repeat himself to make sure the audience and his fellow people of color got the point across, and also some points were more important than others. “But one hundred years later, the n**** still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the n**** is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” King said this statement in order for the people to understand. By using anaphoras, he really emphasize important points.

In Martin Luther King jr's. Speech, he used  rhetorical devices to help people understand what the fight for equality was more like. King had to use whatever he could to have people fight alongside him. The fight for equality was very difficult, and that is why Martin Luther King jr. used rhetorical devices.