How did Martin Luther King, Jr., use anaphora in the “I Have a Dream” speech?

In his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. utilized anaphora—a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses—to build emotional intensity and rhythmic power.12

The most prominent example occurs during the improvised portion of his address, where King repeatedly begins sentences with the phrase "I have a dream." By anchoring these successive statements with this identical opening, he creates a cadence that emphasizes his vision for a future defined by equality and liberty.1

This repetition serves a vital moral purpose: it transforms a series of individual hopes into a unified, relentless call for justice. By adopting the cadence of a Baptist preacher, King used this structure to ensure his message resonated deeply with the crowd, effectively articulating the aspirations of the civil rights movement and cementing the speech as a defining moment in American history.1