Subjects
English, Social Studies, Government
Estimated Time
One 50-minute class period, plus extended activities
Grade Level
9-12
Objective
Students will study Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and discuss the rhetorical influences on King’s speech, the oratorical devices that King used in delivering his speech and how a speech is similar to/different from other literary forms.
Background
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most memorable speech from his life as an activist, “I HAVE A DREAM,” was delivered August 28, 1963, before more than 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The speech was part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The speech not only helped to galvanize the already growing civil rights movement across the country at the time, it also became one of the most influential and inspirational pieces of rhetoric in American history.
Remarkably, midway through his delivery, King suspended his pre-scripted text and began to improvise; what resulted was the speech’s most recognizable section, the passage in which the words “I have a dream” are passionately repeated. Indeed, King’s background as a Baptist preacher in the South instilled in him a talent for improvisation as a speaker and the skill to frame the urgency of the moment.
What is also apparent in “I Have Dream” is King’s deep commitment to scholarship (he earned a Ph.D. from Boston University). King was clearly well-versed in both American history and religious scripture, and he seamlessly weaves references to both into the fabric of his oration. Overall, “I Have a Dream” can be held up as a masterful creative work in itself; its dramatic structure coupled with its image-laden content render a remarkably moving piece of American literature that when read even outside of its original context still strongly resonates today.
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