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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s I Have a Dream Speech:

Breaking Down the Text

Essential Questions:

What does it mean to question authority? Who or what is the “authority” in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech? How can a speaker’s tone affect the message of a speech?

Step One:

Number the paragraphs in the speech. Read Dr. Kings’s I Have a Dream. While reading, use the following marks to highlight the speech’s content:

Circle = Vocabulary

Underline = Allusions to features of America’s shared culture—including literature, religion, history, mythology, sports, etc, and

Star = Figurative language, specifically the metaphors Dr. King uses.

Also, note any questions and thoughts you have about the text.

Step Two:

Summarize the speech. First, start your summary with the main details:

In his speech _____, _____ argues that _____.

Next, divide the speech into four sections based on the content of the speech. Watch for transitions in the text, places where Dr. King goes from one idea to the next. Then, clearly explain the main idea of each section, building your summary one sentence at a time.

Step Three:

Using a two-column chart, answer the following questions:

1. Identify at least three allusions in Dr. King’s speech. Explain each allusion (what feature of American culture is referenced?) and why it’s effective.

2. Identify at least three metaphors in Dr. King’s speech. Explain what each metaphor means and why it’s appropriate for his argument and audience.

3. Identify at least two examples of parallelism in Dr. King’s speech. Briefly explain the impact this structure has on the text.

Step Four:

After answering the questions and citing evidence from the speech, discuss your findings with your group. Below each two-column chart, record how your understanding of the text changed and/or deepened following your discussion. What new information and/or evidence did your discussion reveal?

Step Five:

Answer the following text-dependent questions. Use the A-P-E format:

1. What does Dr. King mean when he says “America has given the Negro people a bad check” (p5)?

2. What specific words did Dr. King use to create a sense of urgency for action in paragraphs five and six?

3. What is the “American Dream” (p12) and how is Dr. King’s dream related to it?

4. Dr. King ends his speech with two refrains, “I have a dream” and “Let freedom ring!” How does this work as a rhetorical strategy? What effect does it have on the speech and Dr. King’s message?

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