Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. His speech, titled "I Have a Dream," was delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Dr. King used his speech as a gathering for people, black and white, who wanted equality and social justice, but there is much more than what appears on the surface. Dr. King employs a number of stylistic techniques, all of which serve a purpose too subtle to be understood by the naked eye. Dr. King uses the stylistic techniques of word choice, metaphors, and repetition to fuel hope and bring about change. One of the many stylistic techniques that Dr. King uses to end segregation and bring about equality is his choice of words. At the beginning of his speech, Dr. King said: “Five and score years ago. » These words are extremely effective in making his audience of African Americans and the millions watching at home think of one of the most famous Americans of all time, Abraham Lincoln. At a time in American history when racial injustices were beginning to become too much to bear, Dr. King had to find a suitable figurehead for his movement in whom all Americans could believe and trust. Dr. King's intention was to make his audience think about Lincoln, because it was Lincoln who freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation, and this affects every African-American in the country. Dr. King also intended the phrase "five-score years ago" to evoke Lincoln because Lincoln held the country together during the great turmoil of the Civil War. If Lincoln could end the violence of a civil war in a single presidential term, Dr. King wanted to show that he and anyone willing to join him could also end the violence against Afri...... middle paper... ...emphasizes the fact that Dr. King's dream is not that his race is better than another, or that one race is superior, but that everyone is brother. Dr. King's choice of repetitive lines is powerful and effective. King brilliantly weaves so many subtleties into a speech so short that nearly 50 years later it has yet to be analyzed in depth. Dr. King was a Southern Baptist preacher before he was drawn into the leading role of the civil rights movement, I'm sure that had a great effect on his ability to give a speech. Dr. King knew exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. From here we can see the lasting effect of Dr. King and the fact that although we have come a long way in civil rights, we still have a long way to go and it will be the timeless words of Dr. King that will open a new path for us. era of prosperity and fraternity.