【正文】 tors of the twentieth century, and his speeches (both as Prime Minister and in other roles) contain textbook examples of classical rhetorical devices. Winston Churchill39。s speech “we shall fight them on the beaches” is one of the defining speeches during the Second World War. It uses the technique of repetition to very good effect. “We shall go on to the end。 we shall fight in France。 we shall fight on the seas and oceans。 we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air。 we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be。 we shall fight on the beaches。 we shall fight on the landing grounds。 we shall fight in the fields and in the streets。 we shall fight in the hills。 we shall never surrender.”In another example, Churchill used repetition in a 1941 speech at Harrow: this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.Churchill39。s the use of never”, is leaving out conjunctions such as and”, but this way gives a speech a blunter, more forceful tone.In a speech addressed by George Bush, “We know what works: freedom works. We know what’s right：freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on earth：through free markets, free speech, free elections and exercise of free will unhampered by the State.” Repeated the words ‘free’ and ‘freedom’, to express his strong faith in freedom.Throughout Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech, repeating words and sentence. Repetition is a very outstanding feature in this speech. It belongs to the stylistic device of syntactic overregularity. The term repetition is restricted to mean the case of exact copying of a certain previous unit in a text such as a word, phrase or even a sentence, because all the overregular features in literature are in some sense repetitious. Used in speech, repetition not only makes it easy for the audience to follow what the speaker is saying, but also gives a strong rhythmic quality to the speech and makes it more memorable. “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal.I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight。 and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”In these paragraphs, for example, King uses the words “I have a dream” nine times. This repetition helps to achieve the function of coherence in discourse and the function of reinforcement in mood and emotion, expressing the speaker’s strong emotion of longing for freedom, justice, righteousness and a much more united nation of all of God’s children. If we study the whole speech more carefully, it is easy for us to find many other examples of repetition used.More examples,①“If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in interstate travel.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can39。t ride your back unless it is bent.If I had sneezed If I had sneezed I wouldn39。t have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.If I had sneezed, I wouldn39。t have been in Memphis to see a munity rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I39。m so happy that I didn39。t sneeze.”(Martin Luther King, Jr.,I39。ve Been to the Mountaintop)②“I want to be the President who educated young children to the wonders of their world. I want to be the President who helped to feed the hungry and to prepare them to be taxpayers instead of taxeaters.I want to be the President who helped the poor to find their own way and who protected the right of every citizen to vote in every election.I want to be the President who helped to end hatred among his fellow men, and who promoted love among the people of all races and all regions and all parties.I want to be the President who helped to end war among the brothers of this earth.”(Lyndon Baines Johnson, Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation)③“As an American, I am shocked at the way Re