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Martin Luther King Jr. Discussion Questions: Reflecting on His Legacy

Alex Honeysett Author

On August 28, 1963, civil rights leaders and Americans from around the country marched in Washington, D.C., and gathered for one of the largest rallies for human rights in U.S. history. This rally is rightly famous for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but what is less well known is that the event itself had a focus: jobs and freedom. Many feared the march, which included over 200,000 people, would be filled with violence and unrest. Instead, the nation protested peacefully, and Dr. King delivered his iconic speech.

The March on Washington, and in particular Dr. King’s speech, was a turning point for the civil rights movement. It increased pressure on Congress to take legislative action and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act, barring discriminatory voting practices that disenfranchised many African American citizens, followed a year later.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, on the third Monday of January each year—around the time of his January 15 birthday—we mark his contribution to the United States by celebrating his life with a federal holiday.

Dr. King's powerful message of equality and human potential will always be relevant and worthy of discussion. If you’re looking for ways to help your kids connect with Dr. King’s legacy and teachings, why not let his words start the dialogue?

MLK Day Discussion Questions

We’ve gathered three Martin Luther King discussion questions and activities inspired by his most famous quotes.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

To honor Dr. King's impact on not just his own community but also our wider national community, find an organization and/or cause that your students feel passionate about and encourage them to volunteer. Visit VolunteerMatch.Org to check out opportunities that fit their interests and availability. Then, have them take time to reflect on the experience and think about ways to continue helping others.

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

It is important to set aside time to talk with your students about concepts that may seem complicated, like forgiveness. Read to your students the above quote and use the following questions to start conversations around forgiveness. Share some of your own experiences as well—your children will appreciate the chance to connect your stories to their own.

  • Why do you think Martin Luther King Jr. thought it was important to forgive?
  • When was the last time someone hurt your feelings? What happened, and why were your feelings hurt? Can you forgive that person for what they did?
  • Why do you think it’s important to forgive the people who have hurt your feelings?
  • What does forgiveness achieve?

“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.” This quote is one of the most powerful in the American lexicon. It offers excellent entry points for discussion with kids about the impact of Martin Luther King Jr. on the civil rights movement—and where we are as a nation more than 50 years later. Ask your kids: If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today:

  • What do you think he would be most proud to see?
  • What do you think he would be most disappointed by?
  • Do you think he would approve of the way we treat one another today? Why or why not?

Encourage kids to keep thinking about Dr. King’s legacy and the connections to their own lives beyond this month’s observance. For additional conversation starters and materials on Dr. King’s life and work, including an amazing digital archive of primary source materials, visit The King Center online (or in Atlanta!). What additional insights can you glean from Dr. King’s writing? You’re likely to learn more than you expected from your students' unique perspectives and set a strong foundation for sharing important conversations in the future.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.

This blog post was updated in December 2019.

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I Have a Dream Speech

Martin luther king, jr..

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

I Have a Dream Speech: Introduction

I have a dream speech: plot summary, i have a dream speech: detailed summary & analysis, i have a dream speech: themes, i have a dream speech: quotes, i have a dream speech: characters, i have a dream speech: symbols, i have a dream speech: literary devices, i have a dream speech: theme wheel, brief biography of martin luther king, jr..

I Have a Dream Speech PDF

Historical Context of I Have a Dream Speech

Other books related to i have a dream speech.

  • Full Title: “I Have a Dream”
  • When Written: Early 1960s
  • When Published: King delivered versions of “I Have a Dream” in North Carolina in 1962 and in Detroit in June of 1963 before delivering the definitive version of the speech at the March on Washington on August 28th, 1963
  • Literary Period: civil rights movement
  • Genre: Speech, religious sermon
  • Climax: King begins calling for freedom to ring out across America, from the “mighty mountains of New York” to the “molehill[s] of Mississippi”
  • Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for I Have a Dream Speech

Ringing Into the Future. On August 28th, 2013—the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington—thousands of people gathered on the mall in Washington D.C. where King delivered his iconic speech to celebrate and commemorate the occasion. President Barack Obama spoke at the gathering. Obama paid homage to King while reminding those in attendance that King’s dream was still not yet complete, and that the work of justice and anti-racism is complex and ongoing.

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Lesson Plan

Jan. 15, 2024, 9:20 a.m.

Lesson plan: Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a work of literature

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

For a google doc version of this lesson, click here .

Introduction

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.

English, Social Studies, Government

Estimated Time

One 50-minute class period, plus extended activities

Grade Level

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most memorable speech from his life as an activist, “ I HAVE A DREAM , ” was delivered on 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. It not only helped to galvanize the already growing civil rights movement across the country at the time, but 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 still strongly resonates today.

  • Begin by supplying foundation material for the students through the NewsHour Classroom article and the NewsHour's Martin Luther King, Jr. section, the background explanation above and the links provided.
  • Distribute the COMPLETE TEXT OF "I Have a Dream."
  • Review the LITERARY TERMS HANDOUT with the students.
  • What examples of figurative language can be found in the text? (For example, "seared in the flames of withering injustice"; "manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination"; "whirlwinds of revolt"; "oasis of freedom and justice"; "symphony of brotherhood."
  • How do these uses enhance the overall impact of the speech? What oratorical devices does King use to add vitality and force to his speech? (For example, use of refrains such as "I have a dream," "let freedom ring" and "we can never be satisfied"; multiple shifts in sentence lengths; dramatic shifts in tone, such as from enraged to cautionary to hopeful; use of questions as well as exclamations, such as "when will you be satisfied?" and "I have a dream today!")
  • In what specific ways does King call forth his experience as a preacher to lend persuasive power to the speech? (For example, he uses several images that call to mind both the plight of black Americans as well as the Old Testament Hebrews under the oppression of slavery — "the manacles of segregation" and the "chains of discrimination"; the final line of the speech invokes "the old Negro spiritual" and is steeped in Biblical influence — "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
  • Discuss the responses as a class.

Extension Activity

  • How are the speeches alike and/or different in their choices of language? In other words, do the speeches seem as if they were composed for the general public or rather for specific groups?
  • Of the three, which do you see as being the most direct? That is, which speech uses the least amount of figurative language and/or obscure references?
  • Which of the three is the most metaphorical in its content? In other words, which makes the most use of figurative language?
  • For each speech, explain how relevant its ideas would be in society if the speech were delivered today. Do the mentioned struggles still exist? Has the country evolved since the speeches were given? Has society responded to the specific appeals for change?
  • Passionate?
  • Intellectual?
  • Persuasive?
  • 5-10 minutes in length
  • Clearly defined opening, body and conclusion
  • Clearly defined thesis (main point)
  • Use of supporting examples to support thesis
  • Use of figurative language
  • Use of oratorical devices such as refrain and hyperbole
  • Clearly expressed goals (legal reform; public awareness; etc.)

Written by Doug DuBrin, French International School, Bethesda, Maryland, in 2010.

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Broad Questions with Answers from ‘I Have a Dream’ by Martin Luther King Jr.

'I Have a Dream'

In This Article, We Have Some Important Questions And Answers From “I Have A Dream.” Some of the most important questions are answered.

Q.1. consider martin luther king’s i have a dream’ as a charter of freedom and equality for the black people of america. or, in what sense is luther’s speech, “i have a dream” a call for freedom and equality for the black people in america.

Ans. ‘I Have a Dream’ is a famous speech, delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. In this speech, King called for racial equality and an end to discrimination against black people in America. Actually, it was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in human history.

The American Declaration of Independence’ promised freedom and equality for all its citizens. But even after almost two centuries of that declaration the black people still live a life of racial segregation and discrimination. America even fought a civil war from 1861 to 1865 between its Northern and Southern states on the issue of slavery with an aim to end that social malady. Lincoln urged the Americans in his famous “Gettysburg Address”, delivered in 1863, to welcome “a new birth of freedom” that was at the point of emerging out of the ashes of the Civil War’. He envisioned an America where freedom and equality would be guaranteed for all its citizens. But still Luther found no significant change coming into effect in the social structure of his country. This situation led Luther to make a call for freedom and equality for the black people in his America in famous speech, “I have a Dream”.

Freedom for the black people in America is the motto of King’s speech. He is addressing a large gathering of the Civil Rights activists demanding freedom for all Americans. He says that about a century ago, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln, the great president of America issued the Emancipation Proclamation providing the black people with the “great lights of hope” in giving freedom from the shackles of slavery. But the “long night of captivity” did not come an end for the black people in America. Black people were not free in the truest sense of term. Negroes are virtually living “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”, and “languishing in the corners of American society,”

Luther, however, is not a man lost in frustration and hopelessness. He has a dream that one day his country will be an abode where the blacks and the whites will enjoy equal rights as the citizens of America. He goes on to say that he dreams of a time when the blacks and the whites will sit together at the table of brotherhood and will walk through the same roads of life. He hopes that a time will come when the Negroes will be judged not by the colour of their skin but by their merit. He envisions America as a “sweet land of liberty” for all its citizens and it will be a great nation on earth.

Alongside the demand for freedom, king also outlines the behaviour of the black people in action. With emphasis he says that they should not be violent and aggressive. They must make their demand in a non-violent way.

To sum up, King Luther’s speech, “I Have a Dream” is a powerful call for freedom and equality for the black people of America.

Q.2. What, according to Luther, are the ways of achieving freedom and equality for the blacks? Or, Why does Luther emphasise/lay stress on peaceful and non-violent movement for freedom and equality for the blacks?

Ans. King Luther’s famous speech ‘I Have a Dream’, delivered on 28 August 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was a clarion call for freedom and equality for the black people of America. The Negroes of America are now under the leadership of King Luther on the streets with their demand for freedom and equality but he advises them not to be violent while demanding their rights.

The American Declaration of Independence promised freedom and equality for all its citizens. But even after two centuries of that declaration the blacks still live a life of racial discrimination. They are now raising their voice under the banner of the Civil Rights Movement and the leadership of Luther has provided them with the right way of achieving their goals. The congregation of over 200,000 civil rights activists at the Lincoln Memorial, where Luther is delivering his speech, ‘I have a Dream’, is an effort to remind America of the fierce urgency of the demand of the Negroes. They demand things to change with a sense of urgency and without delay from the oppressor. They do not want to see slow change coming over time. They want to see significant change coming into effect immediately. King roars, “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children.” Luther warns his audience that this urgency of “now” might have a forceful ripple effect, but that must not turn to violence and chaos.

Luther King urges the nation not to overlook and underestimate the legitimate demand of the black people. He warns the decision makers of America that this Civil Rights Movement is not going to an end soon. It is rather a beginning. From now on America will be a bed of unrest and revolt if the Negro people are not granted their citizenship rights. The blacks are appealing to the nation and it must listen to them for the greater interests of the country. At the same time king urges his followers not to take the ways of violence and aggression in achieving their goals.

King further tells his black community not to show violence and militancy that might lead them “to a distrust of all white people”. They should not show hatred to the whites, rather should build up a close relationship with them. Referring to the presence of many white Civil Rights activists at the Lincoln Memorial congregation, King tells his black people to go hand in hand with the whites so that they may be able to add more value to the struggle of the blacks. So King says, “We cannot walk alone”.

To sum up, King’s leadership qualities are quite evident in his speech. Being in the highest pitch of emotion, he could have easily incited his followers to be violent in gaining their freedom and equality but he did not do that. Rather he urges his people to be peaceful and non-violent in their movement and tells them that this will be the best way to obtain their rightful place in society.

Q.3. Comment on the oratorical qualities of Luther King’s speech, ‘I have a Dream’.

Or, luther’s speech, ‘i have a dream’ is a fine piece of oratory appealing to human heart- discuss..

Ans. Martin Luther King’s speech, ‘I have a Dream’ is a master piece of oratory. The speech is a clarion call to the American nation for the rights of freedom and equality for the black people of America. The whole speech is full of power, energy and conviction. It proves the oratorical power, confidence and convincing skill of a great leader.

A good command over the subject is a precondition for a remarkable speech. King’s command over the subject matter, he talks, is unquestionable. His subject mater is the racial segregation and discrimination, the black people have been undergoing ever since the independence of America. Luther has ransacked every possible corner to gather knowledge on the subject. He mentions the Constitution of America, the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation and refers to what is necessary to justify the rights of the black people. He is addressing the Civil Rights Movement activists. He is making a call for civil right for the black people of America. So he explores the historically as well as nationally important documents and shows how these documents have granted the rights of freedom and equality to all the citizens of America.

Luther has a command over not only the subject matter but also the language he uses in his speech. His language is lively and powerful in creating a forceful ripple effect in the mind of the audience. The language is poetic, full of rhetorical flourishes, not prosaic with scattered thoughts. He has deliberately chosen words that would stir the audience before him. He speaks in plain, simple and lucid language, but mostly emotional and poetic. By using a poetic as well as emotive language, he makes his audience pay full attention to him and accept his arguments.

Further, oratory is closely connected with the performance on stage. A good orator must be a good stage performer. Using repetitions, voice modulation, while pronouncing the words and phrases, raising voice up and down, and giving pauses at certain places and strategic locations are the qualities of a stage performer. Luther’s success in this speech comes from his tailoring it to doing a stage performance.

A good orator speaks with authority. Luther speaks to his audience in a tone of authority. Only a speaker with authority can speak in this voice. His voice expresses his self-confidence and courage throughout the speech.

To sum up, Martin Luther shows his supreme oratorical skills in his speech, I have a Dream’. It is the powerful expressions of his ideas and philosophies in a language that is highly convincing and persuasive.

Q.4. Consider the literary merits of Luther’s speech, ‘I have a Dream.’ Or, Write a critical appreciation of Luther’s speech, ‘I have a Dream’.

Ans. ‘ I have a Dream’ is a famous speech, delivered by Martin Lither King Jr. on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom.

The speech is famous not only for its historical importance but also for its oratorical excellence. His language is mostly poetic and he deliberately uses figurative language with a view to moving his listeners. His skillful use of symbols, metaphors, images, repetitions, allusions and other rhetorical devices make his speech an excellent piece of literary work.

Luther has a supreme command over not only the subject matter of his speech but also the language he speaks. He deliberately chooses evocative and emotive language to reach the hearts of his audience. He is gifted with the skill of persuasive and convincing speech to make the audience spell-bound. As an orator his speech is ornamented by logical arguments, images, and rhetorical flourishes.

Luther’s speech is full of metaphors. A financial metaphor “check”, he uses with great emphasis. The cheek here is a metaphor for freedom and equality that the American citizens were to be offered by their country. But in case of the Negroes, they were given a bad cheek by America and they failed to “cash” that cheek from the bank, because of “insufficient funds”, which is also a metaphor for civil rights. The bank here is a metaphor for America; it is also a metaphor for justice that America is to offer to its citizens. Luther uses many other metaphors here like island, ocean, valley, rock, summer, autumn, dream, etc. “Island” and “Valley” are metaphors for the desolate and lonely condition in which the Negroes of America live.

Luther also uses a number of symbols in his speech. “America” itself symbolizes black segregation and discrimination. “Lincoln” is a symbol of emancipation that he offered to the Negroes. “Light” is a symbol of hope, while “dark” a symbol of despair. “Dream” symbolizes the dream of the American nation, and again “the Negroes” symbolizes persecution and discrimination; they face in their own country.

Further, Luther’s speech contains many images. For example, he sees the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 by delivering the Negroes free from the bo of very as “a great beacon light of hope.” The phrase “long night of captivity” is an image of the Negroes as slaves. In fact, the whole speech is packed with images. Besides, Luther makes abundant use of allusions and repetitions in his speech.

To sum up, ‘I have a Dream” is a masterpiece of oratory. Luther’s literary excellence lies in his exclusive use of figures of speech which appear delightful to the audience or to the readers. By using a poetic and evocative language he has taken his speech to a height almost unattainable by others.

Q-5. What is Luther’s dream in his speech “I have a Dream” and how is it connected with the ‘American Dream’?

Ans. Luther King’s speech ‘I have a Dream’ envisions an America where the black people or the Negroes will be treated as human beings like the whites with the fundamental rights of freedom and equality offered to them. Luther dreams of a nation which will give up racialism as a criterion for the judgment of an individual’s position in the society. His dream echoes the ‘American Dream’ in the sense that it also aims at creating an America with equal rights and privileges for all its citizens, irrespective of caste, creed or colour, and thus establishing the Americans as a great nation on earth.

The fathers of America’s independence had a noble vision of an America where all its citizens would enjoy equal rights and freedom. So they declared all men being equal in America. This basic state principle was promoted by the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. But contrary to the dream of the fathers of America the nation was divided into two classes, the blacks and the whites. The blacks virtually became the slaves of the whites. Luther expects that a time will come when this racial discrimination will be eliminated from the American society. He says, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold those truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”. He dreams of a day when “the heat of injustice and oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

Historically, the Negroes in America had been deprived of their rights of freedom and equality. Even the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves did not bring about the optimal change. It provided the black people with the “great light of hope” in giving freedom from the shackles of slavery. Lincoln also dreamt of a nation with freedom and equality guaranteed for all its citizens. The Emancipation Declaration was like a “joyous daybreak” after a “long night of captivity”. But the ” night of captivity” did not come to an end for the black people in America. But after a century of the civil war and the famous “Gettysburg Address”, Luther did not find any significant changes happening for the black people of America.

To sum up, Luther’s speech offers many instances of despair, but it is full of optimism. His dream is rooted in an optimistic belief that one day America will rise up to its expectations.

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The Pro Notes

I Have A Dream Summary And Important Questions

  • 1 I Have A Dream
  • 2 I Have A Dream Summary
  • 3 Some Important Questions And Answers From “I Have A Dream.”
  • 4.1 Short Questions:
  • 4.2 Long Questions:

I Have A Dream

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have A Dream Summary

“I have a dream” is a historical speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr., who is renowned all over the world for his policy of passive resistance and oratorical skills.

The campaign of Martin Luther King against color and racial discrimination began in 1950. It reached its historic climax in 1963, leading a mass of two hundred thousand people both blacks and whites from Washington Monument to Lincoln’s memorial. He delivered this memorable speech on 28 August 1963.

Martin Luther King begins his speech paying tribute to Abraham Lincoln, who signed the emancipation proclamation 100 years ago. This historical document has brought a light of hope among the negro slaves ending a long night of captivity. They had hoped that they would be free and that they would not be discriminated anymore. But a hundred years after the document has been signed; the Negros were still not free. They were still crippled by the chains of discrimination and manacles of segregation and still compelled to live a miserable life among wealthy white Americans. They were still compelled to live as an outsider in their own country.

So Martin Luther King says that they have gathered at the capital of the nation to cash check. When the leaders of the USA wrote the words of the constitution, they were signing a promissory note, but instead of granting the Negros the right promised by the constitution, the government of the USA has given a bad check.

Martin Luther King is not ready to believe that the bank of the USA is bankrupt, so he urges the government to fulfill the demands of all the negros without any delay. Failing to meet their requirements would be fatal for the nation. There will be neither peace nor rest in the nation until their rights are granted.

Martin Luther King reminds his people that they should not carry out any violent activities in the course of the protest. Martin wants to conduct the struggle in discipline and dignified way combining their physical force with the spiritual one. He also, asks his people not to distrust all the white people because some of the whites have been helping the negros to get equal rights. They cannot move alone as their destiny has been tied with that of the whites.

Answering a question, “When the negros will be satisfied, he says that they will not be satisfied?” He says that they will not be satisfied as long as the police continue brutality against them, they are deprived of getting rest at the hotels of the cities and motels of the highways, are deprived of their voting rights, equality, justice, and freedom. With the hope that their situation will be changed one day, he asks his people to go back to their respective places and work for the change.

In spite, of the difficulties and frustration of the movement, he has a dream that is deeply rooted in the American dream. He has a dream that the nation will be able to live according to the creed that all men are treated equally. He has a dream that the sons of farmers, slaves and those of the masters will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. He has a dream that his four children will be treated not in terms of the color of the skin but in terms of the content of their character. He has a dream that the black boys and girls will be able to walk together with white boys and girls as brothers and sisters. He has a dream that everyone will get freedom, justice, and equality. He is going to have his dreams fulfilled organizing a peaceful mass demonstration and passive resistance.

If America has to become a great and free nation, every part of the nation and the people living there should be free. Only then the people of different colors, races, and religions will be able to join hands and move together singing the song of freedom.

Have a watch at the original speech of “I Have A Dream’ delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Some Important Questions And Answers From “I Have A Dream.”

Question. Explain King’s analogy of the bad check. (Paragraph 3 and 4).

Answer. In paragraph 3 and 4 of the speech, I have a dream delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. uses an analogy of bad check to explain how the constitution of USA has failed to give the promises to the negros.

The constitution is written permission like cheque issued by a bank that promises to give the cheque bearer the amount of money stated in the cheque, but the constitution of USA had become a bad check for the negros because they have not been granted the rights promised by it.

Here the speaker is comparing the constitution of the USA with a bad check, the US government with a bank and the Negros with a check bearer.

Question. What does the term “Dream” refer to in Martin Luther king’s speech?

Answer. In Martin Luther king’s speech, “Dream” refers to the American dream. It means his expectation and needs to avoid racial discrimination between white and black peoples.

He has a dream of equality and justice, brotherhood and freedom and serenity. He dreams that the sons of farmers, slaves, and sons of the masters and owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. All his four children will be able to work and walk together without any discrimination. All the black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

He has a dream that the people of different colors, races, and religions will be able to join hands and move together singing the song of freedom.

Question. The speech “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King is regarded as an unforgettable speech. Why? Elaborate.

Answer. The speech I have a Dream by Martin Luther King is regarded as an unforgettable and memorable speech in the history of American human rights. “I have a dream” is a historical speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. who is renowned all over the world for his policy of passive resistance and oratorical skills. To listen to this speech more than 200 thousand black and white people gathered so this is a historic and unforgettable speech.

I have a dream includes almost all problems of injustice and inequalities faced and rooted in American society especially against the black negros. Negros were not given educational rights, social rights, voting rights, and any other basic Human rights.

Martin Luther King has labeled American people while many white peoples were also present in the protest. Martin sentimentally expresses that America would be rich and prosperous only if all the blacks would also be rich and prosperous. American black had been unable to use even constitutional rights like voting rights. When the leaders of USA wrote the words of the constitution, they were signing a promissory note, but rather of granting the Negros the right assured by the constitution, the state of USA has given a bad check.

This speech is also unforgettable because this encourages the black not to be offensive and destructive to the whites and the whole USA. He requested the black to lead the peace movement against the state

Some Important Questions From “I Have A Dream”

Short questions:.

  • What does the term “Dream” refer to in Martin Luther king’s speech?
  • What is the dream of Martin Luther King?
  • What is the apparent purpose of Martin Luther king’s speech? Do his actions contradict his non-violence philosophy?
  • What dream does Martin Luther King have? How does he want to fulfill it?
  • How does Martin Luther King want to fulfill his dream? Does he ask his activists to be very calm and civilized in the process of the protest? Explain.
  • Explain the purpose of Martin Luther king’s speech.
  • When will the colored people be satisfied, according to the king? Does he encourage them to start violence?
  • Why was Martin Luther king’s speech so popular? Explain.
  • What does the sad picture of the society as exposed by Martin Luther King refer to?
  • Martin Luther king exposes a sad picture of the colored people in America. What does this sad picture refer to and how does he want to over this sad picture?
  • To what extent does the king’s personal authority lend power to his words?

Long Questions:

  • Discuss the dream of Martin Luther king.
  • What dream does Martin Luther king envision for America? Write them in paragraph form.
  • Discuss “I have a Dream” as a plea for freedom and equality.
  • Argue in favor of some course of action in a situation that you consider an injustice, racial injustice is one possible area, or unfairness to any minority, the old, ex-convicts, women, children, the handicapped, the poor. If possible narrow subject to a particular incident or a local situation on which you can write knowledgeably.
  • What is the historical significance of Martin Luther King’s speech?

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The Pro Notes

The Flocabulary Blog

I Have a Dream Speech Analysis: Lesson Plan & Video

  • January 8, 2024
  • Lessons and Ideas

On November 2, 1983, Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday when Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law. But this day was a long time in the making and only became a reality after a 15-year campaign to officially celebrate King’s legacy nationwide. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a perfect opportunity to teach about Dr. King’s legacy and role in the civil rights movement—and Flocabulary’s I Have A Dream speech analysis FREE lesson plan is a great place to start. King was a prolific speaker and writer who left behind a treasure trove of speeches, sermons, letters, and essays that served as a window into King’s mind and evolving views. These primary sources are ideal for in-class analysis from both a content and style perspective.

In this blog post, you will find a lesson inviting students to connect style and content while analyzing King’s legendary I Have A Dream speech. Students will then incorporate some of King’s language and rhetorical moves into their writing as they outline their vision for the world.

New to Flocabulary ? Teachers can sign up for a trial to access our lesson videos and assessment activities. Administrators can get in touch with us to learn more about unlocking the full power of Flocabulary through Flocabulary Plus.

Celebrate Black History Month with a rap-writing student contest

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

In honor of Black History Month, we’re inviting students to be the researchers, lyricists, and rappers. Every February, we host a student rap contest where students select a significant Black historical figure to write a rap about. The winning students will have their lyrics turned into a Flocabulary video lesson, be featured in the video for classes nationwide to see, and sit in with our writers, rappers, and editors to get an inside look into the video creation process! This contest is the perfect opportunity to empower student voice, choice, and creativity. Click below to learn more about the content, practice culturally responsive teaching, and elevate student voices in your classroom.

How did Martin Luther King Day become a national holiday?

The first appeal to honor King with a holiday came just four days after his assassination in April 1968. Michigan Congressman John Conyers proposed a bill to create a new federal holiday, but it was largely ignored. John Conyers Jr. , one of the few Black members of Congress, persisted, reintroducing the bill every year alongside the Congressional Black Caucus until 1979. It was during that year, on what would have been King’s 50th birthday, that the bill finally came to a vote in the House. Despite a petition with 300,000 signatures in favor of the holiday and the support of President Jimmy Carter, the bill was rejected.

As the ’70s gave way to the early ’80s, public support for the holiday grew as the Congressional Black Caucus collected more than 6 million signatures and Stevie Wonder released a hit song, “Happy Birthday,” about King. By the 20th anniversary of King’s I Have a Dream speech, the bill made it back to the floor for a vote. This time, the bill passed with a 78-22 vote; Reagan immediately signed the bill into law.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in DC

Although the first federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated in 1986, it took nearly 15 more years for the holiday to become official in all 50 states. Several southern states later combined Martin Luther King Jr. Day with holidays celebrating Confederate General Robert E. Lee. In other states, like Arizona, debates about whether to celebrate MLK Day went back and forth for years before finally being settled. By 2000, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was recognized in every state. Today, the holiday is fully ingrained in American life—and a perfect opportunity to invite students to review King’s legacy and analyze his words in the classroom.

Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and civil rights leader born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in the Jim Crow South, attending segregated schools throughout his childhood. The son of a minister, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He graduated from Morehouse College and then studied theology in Pennsylvania before earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University. In 1955, shortly after King was hired as a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts were sparked by Rosa Parks. King helped organize the 381-day boycott—a jumping-off point for his life as a public figure and civil rights activist. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, King began promoting and organizing nonviolent protests across the United States. He traveled more than 6 million miles, leading marches, boycotts, and sit-ins to draw attention to widespread racial injustice in the United States.

By August 1963, King had become one of the most prominent civil rights leaders in the United States. At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , he delivered his famous I Have A Dream speech to a crowd of 250,000 people, outlining his vision of racial equality in the United States and the world. In 1964, King became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize. His work helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, ending segregation in public places and outlawing discrimination in hiring. King also played a part in the 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, that garnered support for voting rights for Black Americans and helped lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 .

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s later years

In the latter half of the 1960s, King’s tactics were increasingly questioned by a younger, more radical wing of the civil rights movement. They believed he was too accommodating to those in power in the United States. Still, King continued his work as an activist, fighting racism, opposing the Vietnam War, and advocating for poor Americans. In 1968, while visiting Memphis, Tennessee, to support striking city workers, King was shot and killed on the balcony of his hotel room. Following his death at the age of 39, King’s reputation grew. To this day, he is remembered for his critical role in the civil rights movement and his eloquent, clear-eyed speeches and letters. Each year, on the third Monday of January, we celebrate his legacy and consider his impact on American society.

Bringing Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy into the classroom

One of the best ways to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. is to revisit his most famous speeches and letters. Primary sources like these are a terrific opportunity for students to not only bear witness to a historical figure’s words and ideas firsthand but also to analyze the content and style of a speech or piece of writing. The following speech analysis assignment will guide students through closely analyzing King’s most famous address.

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In this I Have A Dream speech analysis lesson, students will experience both the text and audio of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech while learning about King’s key contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. They’ll define and explain keywords and phrases from the speech, including examples of figurative language. The lesson culminates with students writing their original lyrics about their dreams for the world using language from King’s speech and their own figurative language.

I Have A Dream Speech Analysis Lesson Plan

Lesson plan information.

  • Time: Recommended for two class periods (can be modified for one)
  • Grade level: Recommended for Grades 3 to 8
  • Standards Alignment: This speech analysis assignment is aligned to these CCSS standards and all 50 state standards. Find the alignment to your state standards .

In Flocabulary’s I Have A Dream speech analysis lesson, students will be able to…

  • Describe key events in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and King’s major contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Explain the meaning of keywords and phrases in King’s I Have a Dream speech, including examples of figurative language.
  • Write an original rap about a personal dream for the world using quotations from King’s speech and original figurative language.

Class and student output

  • Class discussion about King’s life and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement
  • I Have A Dream speech analysis focusing on word choice, allusion, and figurative language
  • Original raps or poetry about personal dreams for the world that include quotations from King’s speech and original figurative language

1. Play the Martin Luther King Jr. Flocabulary video . Turn on Discuss Mode and play the video again. Discuss Mode will ask questions that check for understanding and prompt discussion about King’s life and contributions.

Here’s a preview of the video lesson!

2. After discussing the final Discussion Mode prompt, click pause on the video (around 2:55). This is right before the extended clip of the I Have a Dream speech. Pass out the Martin Luther King Jr. printable activity , which includes excerpts from the I Have a Dream speech on the first page. Give students an I Have A Dream speech summary to provide additional context.

Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream analysis printable activity page 2

3. Press play on the video to re-watch the clips from the speech. Students can follow along in the text. (NOTE: The video clip starts on the 5th paragraph down on the page.)

4. As you watch, point out the lines from the song “My Country ’Tis of Thee” and the spiritual “Free at Last” that King quotes toward the end of the speech. As a class, discuss why King may have included lines from other texts in his speech.

5. As a class or in groups, complete the top part of page 2 of the I Have a Dream activity. Ask for suggestions of words or phrases from the speech that stood out to students. Using context clues, generate definitions or explanations of these words and phrases.

6. Review the meaning of figurative language . As a class or in groups, complete the bottom part of page 2 of the activity, explaining the meaning of some of King’s figurative language.

7. As a class, discuss why King may have used figurative language in his speech. What does this add to the speech?

8. Tell students that tomorrow, they will follow King’s lead by writing their own lyrics about their dreams for the United States or the world. They can start brainstorming what they’d like to write their rhymes about.

Martin Luther King Jr. famous speech analysis I Have a Dream activity

1. Start by playing the Martin Luther King Jr. video again to refresh students’ memories of the I Have a Dream speech.

2. Have students individually complete page 3 of the activity. Students should first write their dream at the top. They should then return to the text of King’s speech and their I Have A Dream Speech analysis from day one to identify words or phrases they’d like to include in their raps, just as King included quotations from other texts. These should be words and phrases that relate to their dream somehow. Encourage students to feel free to choose words and phrases other than the ones you defined as a class.

3. Have students develop at least one example of figurative language to include in their lyrics. They can start by writing a line with literal language and then brainstorm how to revise this line using a simile, metaphor, personification, or another literary device.

4. Have students write at least six lines explaining their dream and what needs to be done to achieve it. They should include the words/phrases and figurative language they identified. Students can use Lyric Lab to write their lyrics or help them develop rhymes. If you or your students haven’t used Lyric Lab before, click “Lyric Lab” on the left panel next to the video on the lesson page.

5. Invite students to share their lyrics with the class. Have students identify the quotations from King’s speech and the examples of figurative language in each other’s songs.

Wrap-Up & Extensions

  • Replay the clips of King’s speech in the video, and ask students why they think certain images and video clips were chosen. Have students imagine the song they wrote will have images added to it. Ask students to brainstorm the types of images they would include.
  • Have students complete the Read and Respond I Have a Dream activity accompanying the video. In Read and Respond , students will read passages of informational text, including one that provides an “I Have A Speech Dream summary and context for the speech, to learn more about King’s life and achievements, and they’ll answer text-dependent questions about these passages.

Use Flocabulary to teach beyond I Have A Dream speech analysis

The lesson above focuses on I Have A Dream , but King’s prowess as a public speaker goes well beyond his most famous address. If your class enjoyed experiencing, analyzing, and reacting to King’s words, this list of King’s most memorable speeches will provide ample material for further viewing and analysis.

And for those classes that want to go deeper into the civil rights movement, be sure to check out Flocabulary’s videos on Civil Rights , the Voting Rights Act & Selma , Fannie Lou Hamer , Malcolm X , John Lewis , Yuri Kochiyama, and Jackie Robinson .

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  • Britannica Kids
  • The National Archives
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Constitution Center

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Mike Judd is a Curriculum Manager, lyricist, and rapper at Flocabulary.

This Post Has 9 Comments

Thank you for sharing this solid, practical, and flexible English language arts lesson that can be used from 6th grade to community college!

hiya, thanks for this usfull information i have a degree in englishh and found this very special

Chingy Wiong

This was great! It helped so much with a rhetorical analysis essay I’m writing about the speech for my AP language and composition class.

This was well written

This help me woth my home work. About this speech amd the figuretive language.

This help with my home work .

Thank you so much for this excellent lesson plan! I am using this for my 9th grade English class.

Great Lesson idea! I’m tweaking a bit to use with my 8th Grade proficient/advanced ELA enrichment classes. For a 50 yr old teacher to quote rap…WOW!

Excellent lesson.

Comments are closed.

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History Resources

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

By tim bailey, unit overview.

This unit is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History resources, designed to align to the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand, summarize, and analyze original texts of historical significance. Through a step-by-step process, students will acquire the skills to analyze and assess primary source material.

Over the course of five lessons, students will read, analyze, and gain a clear understanding of "I Have a Dream," a speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr., at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The first four lessons require students to read excerpts from the speech "like a detective." Through summary organizers, practice, and discussion, they will master the technique of identifying key words, creating summaries of document sections and, as an assessment in the final lesson, writing an argumentative essay.

Unit Objectives

Students will be able to

  • Read and demonstrate understanding of a complex document
  • Identify the main ideas and synthesize and draw logical inferences from the document
  • Summarize the author’s words and restate the author’s meaning in their own words
  • Write an argumentative essay using evidence from the document to support their ideas

Number of Class Periods

The unit is structured for 5 class sessions, but Lessons 1 and 2 can be combined and Lessons 3 and 4 can be combined. In addition, the essay could be assigned as a take-home exercise.

Grade Level(s)

Common core state standards.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5: Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Historical Background

On August 28, 1963, approximately a quarter million people converged on Washington, DC. They came from all over the United States to demand civil and economic rights for African Americans. Many traveled for days—and at great personal risk—to participate. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was one of the largest political rallies in history. There were fears of violence, but the huge crowd remained peaceful as they marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.

The last speech of the day was given by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King drew on history—including the Declaration of Independence’s promise of equality and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation—to highlight how far African Americans were from reaching the American ideal. He urged his audience to demand equal opportunities and access to jobs and facilities and housing and voting. But what transformed the speech into one of the most memorable in American history for the millions of Americans watching and listening in Washington, on radio and on television, was the recurring phrase "I have a dream," repeated eight times with increasing urgency—a dream of what could happen in the nation as well as a more intimate dream of what his own children could achieve when freedom rang everywhere in the United States.

Students will read the first section of the "I Have a Dream" speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. In a step-by-step process they will identify key words employed by King and then summarize the text to demonstrate that they understand what King was saying.

  • Understand what was explicitly stated in the speech
  • Draw logical inferences
  • Summarize a portion of the speech using the author’s words and then their own words
  • Teacher Resource:  "I Have a Dream" Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (excerpts) . Source: Reprinted by arrangement with The Heirs to the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr., c/o Writers House as the proprietor New York, NY. Copyright: © 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. © renewed 1991 Coretta Scott King.
  • Summary Organizer #1
  • Overhead projector, Elmo projector, or similar device

Note: The first lesson is done as a whole-class exercise.

  • Tell the students that they will be exploring what Martin Luther King, Jr., said in the "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Resist the temptation to provide more information as you want the students to develop ideas based solely on King’s words.
  • Read aloud the excerpts from the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., and ask the students to read it silently to themselves. It is important for the students to experience a text as the writer meant it to be experienced—in this case as a speech before a large crowd.
  • Tell the students that they will be analyzing the first selection from the document today and learning how to do in-depth analysis for themselves. The whole class will be going through this process together for the first section of the document.
  • Pass out Summary Organizer #1, which includes the first section of the speech. Display the organizer in a format large enough for the whole class to see. Make certain students understand that the original text has been edited for this lesson. Explain the purpose and use of ellipses.
  • "Share read" the text with the students. This is done by having the students follow along silently while you begin to read aloud, modeling prosody, inflection, and punctuation. Then ask the class to join in with the reading after a few sentences while you continue to read aloud, still serving as the model for the class. This technique will support struggling readers as well as English language learners (ELL).
  • Explain that the objective is to select "Key Words" from the first section and then use those words to create a brief summary of the text that gets at the gist of what Dr. King was saying.
  • Guidelines for Selecting Key Words: Key Words are very important contributors to understanding the text. They are usually nouns or verbs. Don’t pick "connector" words ( are , is , the , and , so , etc.). The number of Key Words depends on the length of the original selection. This selection is 249 words long so you can pick up to ten Key Words. The students must know what their Key Words mean, so there will be opportunities to teach students how to use context clues, word analysis, and dictionary skills to discover word meanings.
  • Ask the students to select up to ten words from the text that they believe are Key Words and write them down on their organizers.
  • Survey the class to find out what the most popular choices were. After some discussion and with your guidance, the class should decide on ten Key Words. For example, let’s say that the class decides on the following words: freedom , Emancipation Proclamation (two words that together make up a single idea can be selected if it makes sense in context), hope , Negro , segregation , discrimination , shameful , Declaration of Independence , promise , and unalienable rights . Now, no matter which words the students had previously selected, have them write the words agreed upon by the class or chosen by you into the Key Word list.
  • Explain that the class will use these Key Words to write a brief summary (one or two sentences) that demonstrates an understanding of what King was saying. This exercise should be a whole-class discussion-and-negotiation process. For example, "The Emancipation Proclamation brought hope, but segregation and discrimination are still part of Negro life. That is shameful because the Declaration of Independence promised all people unalienable rights." You might find that the class doesn’t need some of the Key Words, which will make the summary even more streamlined. This is part of the negotiation process. The final sentence(s) should be copied into the organizer.
  • Now guide the students in putting the summary sentence(s) into their own words. Again, this is a class negotiation process. For example "African Americans were promised the same rights as everyone else, but that hasn’t happened yet."
  • Wrap up: Discuss vocabulary that the students found confusing or difficult. You could have students use the back of their organizer or a separate vocabulary form to make a note of these words and their meaning.

Students will read the second section of the "I Have a Dream" speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. In a step-by-step process they will identify key words employed by King and then summarize the text to demonstrate that they understand what King was saying.

  • Summary Organizer #2

Note: For this lesson, the students will be working with partners and in small groups.

  • Review what the class did in the previous lesson and what they decided was the gist of the first selection from King’s speech.
  • Distribute Summary Organizer #2 and display a copy in a format large enough for the whole class to see. Tell the students that they will work on the second section of the document with partners and in small groups.
  • Share read the second selection with the students as described in Lesson 1.
  • Review the process of selecting Key Words, writing a summary of the text using those words, and then restating the summary in their own words to show their understanding of King’s words.
  • Pair the students up and have them work together to select the best Key Words. This passage is 258 words, so they can choose up to ten words.
  • Now put two pairs of students together. These four students will negotiate with each other to come up with their final ten Key Words. Be strategic in how you make your groups in order to ensure the most participation by all group members.
  • Once the groups have selected their Key Words, each group will use those words to create a brief summary (one or two sentences) of what Martin Luther King was saying. During this process, try to make sure that everyone is contributing. It is very easy for one student to take control and for the other students to let them do so. All of the students should write their group’s negotiated sentence into their organizers.
  • Ask groups to share out the summary sentences that they have created. This should start a teacher-led discussion that points out the qualities of the various responses. How successful were the groups at getting at King’s main idea, and were they careful to use the Key Words in doing so?
  • Now direct the groups to restate their summary sentences in their own words. Again, this is a group negotiation process. After they have decided on a summary, it should be written into their organizers. Again, have the groups share out their responses and discuss the clarity and quality of the responses.
  • Wrap up: Discuss vocabulary that the students found confusing or difficult. If you choose you could have students use the back of their organizer or separate vocabulary form to make a note of these words and their meaning.

Students will read the third section of the "I Have a Dream" speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. In a step-by-step process they will identify key words employed by King and then summarize the text to demonstrate that they understand what King was saying.

  • Summary Organizer #3

Note: For this lesson students will work individually unless you decide they still need the support of a group.

  • Review what the class did in the previous two lessons and what they decided was the gist of the first two selections.
  • Distribute Summary Organizer #3 with the third selection from King’s speech. You may decide to share read the third selection with the students as in prior lessons or have them read it silently to themselves.
  • Review the process of selecting Key Words, writing a summary using the key words, and then restating the summary in the students’ own words to demonstrate their understanding of King’s words. This text is 237 words, so the students can pick up to ten words.
  • After the students have worked through the three steps, have them share out their summaries in their own words and guide a class discussion of the meaning of the text.
  • Wrap up: Discuss vocabulary that the students found confusing or difficult. If you choose you could have students use the back of their organizer or a separate vocabulary form to make a note of these words and their meaning.

Students will read the fourth section of the "I Have a Dream" speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. In a step-by-step process they will identify key words employed by King and then summarize the text to demonstrate that they understand what King was saying.

  • Summary Organizer #4

Note: Students will continue to work independently in this lesson.

  • Review what the class did in the previous lessons and what they decided was the gist of the first three selections.
  • Distribute Summary Organizer #4 with the fourth selection from King’s speech. You may decide to share read the text with the students as in prior lessons or have them read it silently to themselves.
  • Review the process of selecting Key Words, writing a summary using the key words, and then restating the summary in the students’ own words to demonstrate their understanding of King’s words. There are 224 words in this selection, so the students can select eight or nine key words.
  • After the students have worked through the three steps, have them share out their summaries in their own words and guide a class discussion of the meaning of King’s words.

The class will first review the meaning of each section of Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech. Second, the students will look closely at how Dr. King constructed his speech, particularly his choice of words. Finally, they will write about Dr. King’s speech in a short argumentative essay in which they support their statements with evidence taken directly from Martin Luther King’s own words.

  • Synthesize the work of the prior four days
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of the primary source
  • Analyze the writing craft (speech construction, rhetorical style)
  • Explain and defend whether they believe the craft and style makes the speech more effective
  • Write an argumentative essay based on evidence in the text 
  • Summary Organizers #1–4 from previous lessons
  • The students should have the four Summary Organizers they completed in the previous lessons.
  • Review the work from the previous lessons by asking the students to provide a summary in their own words of each of the four text selections. This is done as a class discussion. Write these short negotiated sentences on the overhead or similar device so the whole class can see them. These summaries should reinforce the students’ understanding of the meaning of King’s speech.
  • Discuss with the students Dr. King’s rhetorical style as well as how the construction of the speech affects its meaning. How does repeating certain phrases strengthen his point or focus his arguments? How does the construction help guide the audience?
  • If the students do not have experience writing an argumentative essay, proceed with a short lesson on essay writing. Otherwise, have them write a short essay in response to one of the prompts in class or as an out-of-class assignment. Remind the students that they must back up any arguments they make with evidence taken directly from the text of King’s "I Have a Dream" speech. The first prompt is designed to be the easiest.
  • What is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, and according to Dr. King how could it become a reality?
  • In his speech Dr. King says that "we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check." What does he mean by this and what, as he sees it, will be the result of this action?
  • In his speech, how does Dr. King respond to the question, "When will you be satisfied?" Explain both the reason for this question put to civil rights activists and Dr. King’s response.

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Questions on the speech 'I have a dream'

Why does King chose the word DREAM?

I think there are various reasons why Martin Luther King chose to use this word and repeat it as a leitmotiv. Firstly, as the opening lines clearly show, it is a direct reference to the American Dream itself in which most Americans believe: a dream where people have access to a high standard of living and a decent way of life. Secondly, the idyllic situation he describes for the Blacks in America stands in contrast with the reality they have known for centuries and even the reality of the 1960's. Compared with this ideal, their existence is but a nightmare. Last but not least, to dream is one of the last thing left to a man when he is desperate. What does h e dream of? He dreams of a time and place where his fellowmen will no longer be segregated, prejudiced against or treated as inferiors. He wishes the blacks and the whites were really equal, he wishes they shared the same rights in America.

Why does he quote the 'Declaration of Independence'?

I think Martin Luther King quotes the 'Declaration of Independence' because this important turning point in the history of the American nation means a lot to all its citizens. All the Americans know this text and most of them respect it. In a nation which has fought for its independence in the past 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal' makes it illegal to segregate people. The word independence itself could be applied to the blacks in America. It echoes the word emancipation used after the Secession War. These words sound ironical in his mouth if we consider the situation of the blacks at the time of King's speech. To take up George Orwell famous line, we could say that in America 'some are more equal than others'.

Why does he mention many different places, religions, types of people?

Mentioning many different places, religions, and types of people gives to his message a sort of universal scope: in his speech, Martin Luther King addresses all the citizens of the world, and more particularly his fellow countrymen. His audience should not be limited to the blacks present in Washington for that special event. Besides, the message he wants to pass on is that all the people living in this world are ' God's children ', in other words equals.

Would you say his message is realistic or idealistic?

In my opinion, some aspects of his message are very realistic while others, the major part, are idealistic. What is realistic here is the description he makes of the Blacks' past and present. In his opinion Black people have always been treated as slaves, and it is still true in some American states. I quote 'a state sweltering with the heat of injustice' and 'a mountain of despair'. Now, what is idealistic is the hoped-for situation he would like to see in his country: he dreams of the day when his 'four little children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character'. Considering the troubled times of the Civil Rights Movement in 1960's America, we realise much faith and determination are necessary if we want this dream to become true. However, the overall tone of the speech is optimism.

In your opinion, has King's dream become true in today's America?

More than thirty years have passed since the day Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech in Washington. We may wonder whether the dream he had then has become true. Optimistic people would say much has been achieved since then: the blacks can vote, segregation has become illegal in the South, black people enjoy more freedom than three decades ago. On the other hand, a pessimistic (realistic?) person would say not much has changed: for many people, the Blacks are still discriminated against, in spite of some famous black's success-stories. In my opinion, many things can still be improved upon as concerns real equality between races in today's USA.

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Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most memorable speeches of all time.

It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King’s historic masterpiece.

This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.

Speech Video: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream”

I encourage you to:

  • Watch the video;
  • Read the analysis in this speech critique;
  • Study the speech text in the complete transcript; and
  • Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Speech Critique – I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, I’ll focus on five key lessons in speechwriting that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.

  • Emphasize phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences
  • Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech
  • Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions
  • Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments
  • Use metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts

Lesson #1: Emphasize Phrases by Repeating at the Beginning of Sentences

Anaphora (repeating words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses) is a commonly used rhetorical device. Repeating the words twice sets the pattern, and further repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical effect.

“ I have a dream ” is repeated in eight successive sentences, and is one of the most often cited examples of anaphora in modern rhetoric. But this is just one of eight occurrences of anaphora in this speech. By order of introduction, here are the key phrases:

  • “One hundred years later…” [paragraph 3]
  • “Now is the time…” [paragraph 6]
  • “We must…” [paragraph 8]
  • “We can never (cannot) be satisfied…” [paragraph 13]
  • “Go back to…” [paragraph 14]
  • “I Have a Dream…” [paragraphs 16 through 24]
  • “With this faith, …” [paragraph 26]
  • “Let freedom ring (from) …” [paragraphs 27 through 41]

Read those repeated phrases in sequence. Even in the absence of the remainder of the speech, these key phrases tell much of King’s story . Emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more memorable, and, by extension, make King’s story more memorable.

Lesson #2: Repeat Key “Theme” Words Throughout Your Speech

Repetition in forms like anaphora is quite obvious , but there are more subtle ways to use repetition as well. One way is to repeat key “theme” words throughout the body of your speech.

If you count the frequency of words used in King’s “I Have a Dream”, very interesting patterns emerge. The most commonly used noun is freedom , which is used twenty times in the speech. This makes sense, since freedom is one of the primary themes of the speech.

Other key themes? Consider these commonly repeated words:

  • freedom (20 times)
  • we (30 times), our (17 times), you (8 times)
  • nation (10 times), america (5 times), american (4 times)
  • justice (8 times) and injustice (3 times)
  • dream (11 times)

“I Have a Dream” can be summarized in the view below, which associates the size of the word with its frequency.

Lesson #3: Utilize Appropriate Quotations or Allusions

Evoking historic and literary references is a powerful speechwriting technique which can be executed explicitly (a direct quotation) or implicitly (allusion).

You can improve the credibility of your arguments by referring to the (appropriate) words of credible speakers/writers in your speech. Consider the allusions used by Martin Luther King Jr.:

  • “Five score years ago…” [paragraph 2] refers to Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address speech which began “ Four score and seven years ago… ” This allusion is particularly poignant given that King was speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
  • “ Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness ” [and the rest of paragraph 4] is a reference to the United States Declaration of Independence.
  • “ It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. ” [paragraph 2] alludes to Psalms 30:5 “ For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. “
  • “ Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. ” [paragraph 8] evokes Jeremiah 2:13 “ for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. “
  • More biblical allusions from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech can be found here .

Lesson #4: Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments

Your speech is greatly improved when you provide specific examples which illustrate your logical (and perhaps theoretical) arguments.

One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech:

  • Mississippi, New York [paragraph 13]
  • Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana [14]
  • Georgia [18]
  • Mississippi [19]
  • Alabama [22]
  • New Hampshire [32], New York [33], Pennsylvania [34], Colorado [35], California [36], Georgia [37], Tennessee [38], Mississippi [39]

Note that Mississippi is mentioned on four separate occasions. This is not accidental; mentioning Mississippi would evoke some of the strongest emotions and images for his audience.

Additionally, King uses relatively generic geographic references to make his message more inclusive:

  • “slums and ghettos of our northern cities” [paragraph 14]
  • “the South” [25]
  • “From every mountainside” [40]
  • “from every village and every hamlet” [41]

Lesson #5: Use Metaphors to Highlight Contrasting Concepts

Metaphors allow you to associate your speech concepts with concrete images and emotions.

To highlight the contrast between two abstract concepts, consider associating them with contrasting concrete metaphors. For example, to contrast segregation with racial justice, King evokes the contrasting metaphors of dark and desolate valley (of segregation) and sunlit path (of racial justice.)

  • “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” [paragraph 2]
  • “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity” [3]
  • “rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” [6]
  • “This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” [7]
  • “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” [19]

How can you employ contrasting metaphors in your next speech?

Speech Transcript: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Note: The formatting has been added by me, not by MLK, to highlight words or phrases which are analyzed above.

[1] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

[2] Five score years ago , a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

[3] But one hundred years later , the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later , the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later , the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later , the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

[4] In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

[5] But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

[6] We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

[7] It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

[8] But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

[9] The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

[10] We cannot walk alone.

[11] And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

[12] We cannot turn back.

[13] There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

[14] I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

[15] Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

[16] 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.

[17] 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 self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

[18] 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.

[19] 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.

[20] 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.

[21] I have a dream today!

[22] 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.

[23] I have a dream today!

[24] 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.”

[25] This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

[26] With this faith , we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith , we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith , we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

[27] And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

[28] My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. [29] Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, [30] From every mountainside, let freedom ring !

[31] And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

[32] And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

[33] Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

[34] Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

[35] Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

[36] Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

[37] But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

[38] Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

[39] Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

[40] From every mountainside, let freedom ring .

[41] And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

[42] Free at last! Free at last!

[43] Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

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95 comments.

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I realize that there are several good reasons that Mr. King had to stay rooted at the lectern with the microphones, yet even if he had a nice stage area with freedom to walk around and still be heard by his audience, I have a hard time imagining his speech being more powerful. It all comes down to the voice, and still more importantly, the content, rhetorical devices and structure.

When a new speaker in my club stays rooted at the podium, and the evaluator encourages him/her to move around as the number 1 critique, I sometimes would disagree. Sure most speeches are more lighthearted than “I have a dream”, and more movement is often called for, yet remaining rooted at the lectern can often give a very good impression of being calm, stable, and anchored. Especially if one is speaking as some form of authority as Mr. King obviously was, these are good qualities.

I just wonder if there has been an unfortunate shift in the way speeches are now perceived (in Toastmasters and everywhere else) that we’ve sometimes lost sight of the fact that at the end of the day, content and substance are the MOST important, and the most memorable elements of a speech. Not whether the speaker moved around or not, not what he or she was wearing, not what he or she did with his hands (and for the record Martin Luther King Jr. did have good usage of his hands in the speech). Those are all just gravy. These classics are a nice reminder of the fact though, so thanks for including it.

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One of the greatest speeches of all time and a fantastic anaysis also. Many thanks indeed for the hard work that goes in to producing such valluable insights. Rgds Vince

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This was an excellent article. Thank you for posting it here for us, for it really opened my understanding to some things I’d not really seen with the eye of an aspiring, hopeful, future speech writer and speaker, nor even (to my shame), a decent listener!

To explain, I am a new Toastmaster, or Toastmaster Wannabe, I should say, and I need all the tips and help I can get. Public speaking “paralyzes” me. So thanks not only for this particular lesson, but a great big thanks for the entire web site! I have already bookmarked it.

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His contribution into equality of races in America that we witness now is tremendous.

And it’s not just my opinion. That’s what famous peers said on Martin Luther King: http://www.tributespaid.com/quotes-on/martin-luther-king

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That was a really good video from one of the most hard working men of all time. Without him, I’m sure slavery would be still going on. And it’s sad how right when the freedom started, he was killed, and not able to see his dream. But I’m sure he’s watching from heaven in peace.

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this analysis was very helpful and had lots of good note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Excellent critique on the content of one of the best speeches of all time.

Maybe in a previous post you critiqued the Delivery of Dr. King’s famous speech. If not, it is something you might consider writing about.

He is a master at using all the Verbal Elements of Delivery: Pronunciation and Enunciation, projection, inflectional, cadence, and the pause.

Thanks! Fred

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i found this speech very wonderfull and effective because of its words and expressions whiche were very persuasive also the manner whiche marten lother king had delivered the speesh was very amasing because it stems from heart

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I have a dream comes up a lot and he wants to get the point through peoples mind and so he uses a lot of sentences because he doesn’t want to live like this or have his family and other families all across the world live the way he had to. what he is saying is I don’t want to put up with this anymore, and we people do not want to be judged by our colour, hair, or the way we look but by the way our personality is.

Metaphor: let the freedom ring. thank you

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This was a great analysis. It showed not only what a great speaker Dr. King was but also the depth of his spiritual awareness. I believe that Dr. King was a great man. He along with other brave men and women, transformed American society from a fake democracy into one in which all people can participate and achieve. The miraculous aspect of his great work is that he transformed an openly racist culture into one of tolerance almost overnight and led a spiritual transformation of our nation. I once met Dr. King when I was a teenager. He led a protest/picket campaign against a supermarket chain, in a community where I lived that refused to hire black teenagers as “Bag boys” in its stores. I was one of those teenagers. I met him after a speech he presented at a local movie theater prior to the protest campaign. I got to talk to him one on one. I relive and retell this meeting and conversation in my book, “Talking Penny.” I’ll never forget the words he said to me.

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This article is amazing, it really helped me understand King´s speech in a deeper way. Furthermore it is very good structred and short but easy to follow and to understand. Thank you for your help with that article!

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Thanks for sharing this resource! I look forward to sharing it with my students.

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THIS WAS GREAT HELP. Thank you so much.

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i love you right now. biggest help ever on my rhetorical analysis essay for my writing class. biggest life saver. i owe you.

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Thanks for your analysis of this powerful speech. I have my HS public speaking students analyze this speech, and you’ve added to what I can help them see.

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Great article and website find. I’m subscribed now… How did I miss this before now?? Will promote this too.. Great blog!

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It’s not about the words is it? It’s about the delivery/passion? How you deliver it – It’s not about the words?

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hello andrew am s fascinated by this analysis infact am gonna peruse through like ten more times. besides am a speaking champion in uganda but still need more of these, am gonna contest for guild presidency this year march 2011 tchao!

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Why does he repeat the word justice?

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This page was EXTREMELY heplful! Thank you!

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Questions: -Some examples of repetition in King’s speech were “we cannot be satisfied” and “now is the time.” This adds to the appeal of the speech because it makes it stronger and more powerful. These terms that King repeats are key words that have to do with ending racism. People remember these words and it wraps the entire speech into a couple of repetitive words. Other examples of repetition in this speech are “we must,” “go back,” and, “I have a dream.” That one repetition example was so important that it became the title of the speech. Something that I noticed about repetition is that it starts at the beginning of the sentence then continue with something different to stress the repeated term.

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Wow! This Article really helped me understand this speech at a whole new level. Way to go Andrew!! Thanks so much for your help.

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I once never thought that one day the speech will be suitable in my academic study, but it is so important, thank you!

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I think martin’ repetition of “I have a dream” ‘s phrase is significant;by stressing on it he wants to assure the audience about his unbreakable optimism viewed as prophesy

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Excellent critique. Would like to read similar critiques of his other speeches

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The more memorable and more dynamic 2nd 10-minute part of the speech-which starts with the “I Have a Dream” theme-was impropmptu. It was not part of the written speech draft that Dr. King prepared and read on the podium. Essentially, Dr. King was constructing the 2nd part as he spoke.Dr. King achieved this rare feat because of the abundant collection of speech material he has assembled thru the years from prodigious reading and actual speeches delivered in other locations.

Continued…

Invariably, Dr. King was the most dynamic when he is unshackled from the written draft. While the 1st (prepared and written) part of the speech was good, the 2nd impromptu part was much better-more like electrifying.

Dr. King’s rare genius results from his rare ability to seamlessly merge his own eloquence with the eloquence of others (direct quotes, allusions or paraphrases)> The whole eventually appears as if written by him in one coherent whole.

There are those who propound that the more memorable 2nd part was inspired at a higher level. Some use the words “divinely inspired.” Whatever its genuine nature,it is amazing than a speaker could craft an impromptu portion that would be considered a oratorical masterpiece.

How did Dr. King come to deliver the 2nd 10-minute improptu part that starts with the “I Have A Dream” segment? A gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, sitted at his right, blurted out: “Tell them about the dream, Dr. King.” Dr. King must have heard it, as he began to articulate his “dream.” The rest is history.

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it is a very nice speech

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great work andrew,i am taking a course in public speaking and i absolutely love your work. i look forward to be like you one day – an excellent public speaker..

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This article was very interesting and very helpful in a paper I had to write for school. Thank you for posting this.

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Martin luther king jr. uses repetition to get his point across. to stop the segregation between white and african americans. one way he uses repetition is when he says “let freedom ring” four times in a row to give african americans all the rights that a white man has. the most common use of repetition is when he says “i have a dream” to show what he thinks is right, and what should change wich can grab peoples attenion

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Thank you for sharing this insightful, detailed, and illuminating analysis. I will be recommending your site to my speech students.

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Thank you for this excellent analysis, Andrew. I saw it in the Ragan newsletter and referenced it in my blog. I especially like your focus on repetition in speaking, a subject I harp on quite a bit.

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I find this man inspirational and am choosing to wirte about him for an english literature piece. This has really started me off and has really helped. Dr. Luther King was an amazing man and he changed the way that we look at the world. He changed the world and is arguably the worlds most significant person.

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this work is absolutely amazing!

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I found this feature very helpful with my current linguistics topic of study.

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“I have a dream” that you would be my teacher, I understand the speech after looking at your website keep up the good work.

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Thank you for sharing this amazing masterpiece. It is well clarified and well presented and organised. I agree that it is one of the high standard and posh speech. Thanks again

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that was a very good speach and that martin luther king was still mostly famoum. martin was an insperation and that we should all have a dream that the nation will rise up to meet the standeds of america

thats a very good speach and my grandad would be proud of this website and of the creator

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Why did King say “Five score years ago” when he could of said “One hundred years ago” and then later, why did he say “One hundred years later” instead of “Five score years ago”? I’m analyzing his language in this speech and I came across this, so it made me wonder… anyone care to answer?

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Here five scores means 20 years ago..

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I studied Rev. King’s I Have a Dream speech in a writing class; it is a speech, a piece of writing, that always moves me. The anaphora is so pronounced, so captivating, the listener cannot help but be swept away. I am always in tears by the time I reach the end, and I have read this speech many times. I hope every student is given the opportunity to study these words, to understand them, and to appreciate the sacrifices made since then.

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This is an excellent analysis of Dr. King’s speech! I have learned a lot, and will use it as a reference for future speeches I make.

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I enjoyed this analysis. I would love to this speech highlighted with different colors like the critique on Churchill’s “iron curtain.”

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I thought all five lessons were important, and easy to understand. They broke each part of his speech down in a way I wouldn’t have thought to. However, I particularly liked and took an interest in lesson 1 and 2. The repetition was strategic and purposeful rather than like in high school we were always told to use synonyms and expand our vocabulary. It was making a point, and it is true, when I think of this speech “I have a dream” is the very first thing that comes to mind, and this was a strategy and exactly what he wanted when he wrote this! Excellent!

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I have read MLK’S speech several times. It is always fresh and timeless.It is the master of all speeches. The above analysis helped me to appreciate the speech than ever before.

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The visual representation and summary of the frequency of word usage in the speech is a great idea. It appears to be similar to concept maps, and would be useful for both writing and analyzing speeches. It could serve as an initial framework to clear up ideas and ensure that a speech is centered around the intended themes. The quotations used, especially those from the Bible, add extra power to the speech. At that time, more Americans were familiar with the contents of the Bible and would be motivated to action at the quotations and allurement to scriptural passages. Religion is a subject that is always taken very seriously and is something people are highly passionate about, so a well-used quotation or reference can do more to persuade people many techniques.

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A very good analysis of this famous speech that not only gave good advice on speech writing in general, but also helped me understand the speech on a deeper level.

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I thought this analysis was absolutely amazing. I found it very insightful and gave me a look into the details of the speech. I’ve learned about MLK and the “I have a Dream” speech but I’ve never learned this much about it. This gave me a different perspective of what it actually took him to write the speech. I particularly took interest in the theme of freedom, learning what Anaphora is and the impact on the pauses, pronunciation, projection, and of course, the repetition. This was a great analysis and I think many people can learn more about the speech with this critique.

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The breakdown of the speech brought things to my attention that I had otherwise over looked. It is clear that much time and consideration was put into the construction of the speech. The metaphors used, added a power to the speech that showed the commitment and passion Dr. King felt. It is also clear that he knew what he was doing. The time he took to connect things together in the speech was evident. While reviewing the video, it seemed that he kept a strong and steady pace from the beginning until almost the end; then toward the end of the speech, when he really wanted to show emphasis, his voice and physical motions showed changed to show his feelings. Something else I viewed as powerful was Dr. King’s use of examples that the audience could relate to. The use of events that had taken place pulled in more audience support, and again showed his commitment and passion.

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The best speech of all time. So motivating and important. I like this new look at it too. Helps me see it in a whole new light.

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I think the analysis was amazing. I’ve learned about the “I Have a Dream” speech in just about every year of school, but I have never looked this deep into it. I have listened to the speech before, but would have never understood or picked up on anything like I did after reading this. The metaphors used the allusions, and very strong arguments all came together to make a perfect speech. No wonder this is nationally known, he is a genius. His strategy to go around points that were needed to be made was phenomenal. Apart from the speech, the analysis broke it down beyond perfect to show everyone what exactly was going through Dr. King’s head. Everyone can benefit from listening to this well constructed speech and speech analysis.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” is one of the most memorable speeches of all time. This speech was one of the main reasons for the breaking of the color barrier. Dr. King is very passionate and emotional throughout his speech, which is seen through his vocal variety, the way he emphasizes certain words, and how overall powerful he is while giving this speech. Through the use of repeating specific phrases, “Now is the time, I have a dream, Let freedom ring,” his use of allusions, and the way he uses his metaphors, really make this speech so personal. By repeating the phrases, people throughout America see how passionate he is, and he gets his point across. His use of allusions when quoting Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and quoting multiple biblical verses, really adds a personalized effect to Dr. King’s audience. He is stating that one of America’s former presidents, who gave the Gettysburg Address, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and when quoting the bible verses, saying that God created man equal. Finally with his use of metaphors, Dr. King uses the phrases of dark and desolate valleys to mean segregation. Its the little things that Dr. King did to make this speech so powerful and ultimately, destroy the color barrier for the United States.

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I really enjoyed this analysis of MLK’s speech. It’s really interesting that he repeats things so many times. You always hear how you should come back to a point to get that certain point across, but I never thought about going back to the same point or saying the same thing numerous times. Reading all of the statements he repeated was a huge eye opener. I also never really thought about how he brought all of this other history into his speech like the geography of the states he decribed or the statements from other important documents. This was overall a very good analysis and I actually enjoyed reading about it.

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This is an outstanding speech made at a very crucial time. I feel that one of the major points is that many speakers of this time were very focused on retaliatory a acts, and specific incidences for relations to people. Though there are a few geographical references in Dr. Martin Luther Kings speech, what set it apart to me is that he took a collection of many local problems, categorized them into regions, then into speaking about the state of the nation as a whole. By doing this he gives everyone a feeling of unity and purpose, followed by relating this now entire group of people to other major historical events that people can relate to. By referring to Lincoln, this was something that people had heard personal stories and first hand accounts about their own ancestors fighting for justice. Then relating the same group to the trials of the people and perseverance of biblical characters, which are very well known, helps give credibility, a sense of relation, and a foundation to build up and succeed just as others who faced towering obstacles had overcome them. By referencing these groups and making repetitive notations from their trials to those of the current situation makes this a great speech. It not only motivated the intended audience but became, in itself, the next story that future generations could refer to in times of trial.

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I thought this analysis was great. In high school we barely talked about the “I Have A Dream Speech” and it was great to finally learn about it and go into detail about the organization of the speech. I never would have noticed some of his strategies without reading this analysis. I think anyone who is attempting to write a powerful speech would benefit from watching Dr. King’s speech and reading this analysis.

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I always believed that in order to speech to count it has to change the way of the people and the way that ourselves think today. Martin Luther King’s speech did just that and it was a speech that made history and really saved our society and our nation from what could have been a terrible future up until today for America.He used the term “we” the most which for a speech like this is very important because he’s addressing what he wants all America to be like. Overall, one of the greatest speeches ever to take place in history.

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The “I Have a Dream” speech has always been iconic, since the day it was first given and even now. The vividness of Martin Luther King JR.’s descriptions and the strong words he chooses to express his wishes communicate on a deep level with listeners and inspire the wish for change, just as they did then. All of this combined with strong his strong voices and unique delivery style leaves listeners aching to make a change, even years after his voice rang out across the reflecting pool at the Lincoln memorial.

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The “I have a Dream Speech” has been a well known speech among people for several years. I have listened to the speech before but I never picked up on certain verbal accents and change in volume throughout the speech. In the speech he kept a very good pace,but would change his volume when he was trying to get his point across. I also paid attention to the words that he choose to use because he was very good at conveying his message and I felt that his word choices were a positive factor. I also noticed that he said “we” a lot which I also liked because he was not just referring to himself, but his entire audience. This speech is a great speech and is a great tool for someone who wants to conduct a speech.

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I thought that the critique was very interesing. Everyone knows that the “I Have A Dream” speech is a very memorabe one indeed. We always listened to it at school, but we never really looked into the speech with great detail so the critique really taught me a lot. I learned from this critique that Dr. Msrtin Luther King Jr. used a lot of metaphors througout his speech, and I think that’s one of the reasons the speech was so strong, and his repetition at the beginning of his sentences really caught the attention of everone listening that day, and when people listen to it today.

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Andrew– an amazing analysis!!

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A very good analysis to help students understand the requirements for speech writing. Students did benefit from it. thank you

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This is a great article. Breaks everything down on how great this speech was and how and why it was so great. Martin Luther King used repetition in the perfect way to get his message through. The beginning of the speech had consecutive repetition which actually grabbed the audience attention. This article was extremely helpful in understanding why this speech was so great.

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Thanks a lot for this well-structured analysis of the speech. It is a speech that has touched me ever since I first encountered it as a teenager. Now being an English teacher (at a German high school) I finally get to teach young adults (like I once was) about it and your analysis is of great help to me!

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This website with the critiques to the Martin Luther King speech was very useful i really enjoyed and liked it!

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What a fabulous article you wrote! I will be letting my children read it.

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Many many thanks for making this available to the general public.I intend to use this with my students, if I may, and shall report on their reaction.

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I have read this speech over twenty times and this analysis has given me a different perspective. This analysis was inspirational and I felt as if I were reading it for the first time. was

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The line “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” is still so relevant in 2016.

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I feel like this was a great speech. This man was a great man and did great things. I like when he started to talk about how every one should be free, it is true every one should have freedom no matter where your from or who you are. When he said i am free in the last word of his speech i thought that was very powerful, because that was a statement he wanted to be free so he was. I’m glad he was part of are history and that he did what he thought was right, because he has help the world out.

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I agree with Andrew Dlugan, on what he believes to be the key factors or most important parts of the “I Have A Dream” speech. He gives different lessons on all parts of the speech, in which he breaks down the different aspects of them. Lesson #2 states the important themes, phrases and words Dr. King used throughout the speech. Andrew believes that this was very important part of the speech because it’s where Dr. King emphasized what he was saying by repeating them over and over indicating the importance of it.

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I think that the most important thing in this speech is when he repeats the key “theme” words. That way the people know who/what you’re talking about and whom you’re talking about. Especially with a speech like this spoken among thousands of people.

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What makes this speech a great speech is that there is a lot of dedication towards equality.

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This speech is great because he wants freedom and justice for all, not just for African American people.

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Lesson number four was a very unique importance reflecting the “I have a dream…” speech. I believe your perspective and the way you feel in this case is very important. Especially since MLK gave specific and clarity throughout his speech. Lesson number four is all about providing examples that could give you an logical illustration of what is being said and that is specifically what makes a great speech.

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This is a great speech, I liked how he used repetitiveness. It really makes a point on what he’s trying to get through.

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This article is a great analysis to the speech. Martin Luther King’s speech is powerful and strongly impacting to whoever has heard or listened to it. In line 41 to me was very powerful that shows that when it would happen we would all be equal that we always were but it would finally be accepted by more. Martin Luther King is an amazing speaker and his voice was powerful and used his voice to speak what he wanted to prove.

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This was a wonderful analysis to this speech. Martin Luther king’s was very powerful especially how he spoke it with ,importance and a powerful impact. My favorite line was line (7) Nineteen sixty three is not an end but a beginning. My personal preference on what it means is it is the beginning to start all over with everyone being able to be treated the same and not be judged by the color of their skin. This was a wonderful speech.

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What makes “I have a dream” speech great is the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. used his voice to fight against racial segregation and discrimination. “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.” is my favorite quote from the speech. I believe this quote is so powerful because in this world, there are a lot of judgement on people’s appearances and having Martin Luther King Jr. lecture people on that, I believed it opened a lot of minds.

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Mahalo for sharing this lesson … It’s perfect for breaking down King’s message and increasing awareness of figures of speech for students to learn to use in their own writing.

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An excellent analysis. I have a question, Why did Martin Luther King use Alabama, Georgia, and Missisipi in his speech? Please enlighten me.

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To show emphasis in the deep South,

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Iam so impressed. I like the step by step approach with examples.I wish to to learn as an M.ed English student. Also,I wish to start public speaking club with students I teach and my church.I will like you to support me.

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Thank you for this article.

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There is a good reason why speeches like this are often presented as good examples; something to feel inspired from. It is so full of wonderful elements, like the repeated phrases for instances, which make a huge impact on the overall speech. Public speaking courses can benefit a lot from showing such an example.

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” Now is the time…” is actually a form of parallel structure, not repetition.

Actually it is anaphora, and what comes after “Now is the time …” is the parallel structure. I hope it helped you.

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Thank you for your inspiring analysis of this historic speech!

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This was such a great eye opener to the various mistakes I have been making in most of the speeches I have been giving! Kudos!!!

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Thank you so much for this very helpful analysis of language of Luther’s speech. I was preparaing my lesson and ı found this! I ve found lots of useful info for my students. Thank you so much 🙂

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The speech analysis of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous ” I Have A Dream Speech”inspired me to teach a fabulous lesson to high school speech-language therapy students of multi-ethnic backgrounds.

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RT @craigstacey1: GREAT place to watch Dr. King’s speech & apply his lessons to make an impact http://t.co/Rnb9tTRzkY @6minutes #DreamDay — @TuckExecEd Aug 28th, 2013
What a great analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. http://t.co/8eY24TNwoe via @6minutes — @marietaillard Aug 28th, 2013
Grade 12s: check out the insightful analysis of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It will help your Sales Pitch. http://t.co/Ad2atgo0Jd — @sean_donaghey Oct 18th, 2013
#Speech critics: Why study other speakers? Here a speech analysis about “I have a dream” – Martin Luther King http://t.co/9SP47tJSYd #learn — TheRedCarpetAcademy (@TheRCAcademy) May 6th, 2015
A rhetorical analysis of “I Have a Dream” speech https://t.co/BCVt8m3RgX — @Ms_Krueger_HHS Jan 18th, 2016
Spend some time today with the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech: https://t.co/j1koUpMS7C https://t.co/E05Kl0rMLd — @ValpoLife Jan 18th, 2016
Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. https://t.co/6e37ukhLHs by @6minutes @DrCoffae #eng225 #functionalredundancy — @JoyCamachoMSM Sep 15th, 2016
Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. https://t.co/PEkZMxQdD7 by @6minutes — @JackwoodwardJ Jul 2nd, 2017
Here’s an insightful analysis that I share with my university #ESL classes. It’s definitely worth reading.… https://t.co/bCKCv04513 — Eric H. Roth (@compellingtalks) Jan 20th, 2019
Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. by Andrew Dlugan read it here… https://t.co/hPTqWX1kQM — Sandra Zimmer (@sandrazimmer) Jan 21st, 2019

27 Blog Links

Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream - Martin Luther King Jr. MLK « Gilbert Toastmasters — Jan 19th, 2009

Analysis of MLK’s I Have a Dream Speech - Speaking Freely — Jan 19th, 2009

Jkwadraat weblog » Blog Archive » Leren van Martin Luther King - I have a dream! Speech Analysis — Jan 20th, 2009

Analyzing a Speech: “I have a dream.” « Talk for Change Toastmasters — Jan 24th, 2010

Starting 2011 with a brand new meeting — Jan 17th, 2011

MLK Jr & the the power of speech « KCOBY — Jan 17th, 2011

Speeches that Changed the World — Jan 28th, 2011

McKinnon Language Solutions » Blog Archive » Speech Analysis – I have a Dream – Dr Martin Luther King — Jan 29th, 2011

March 8th + 10th « Ms Kleen's English course's weblog — Mar 8th, 2011

danielstillman.com - What I learned about Sketchnotes — Apr 8th, 2011

Production Assignment 17 « Sanfordb1's Blog — Jan 8th, 2012

Speech as Case Study: Martin Luther King, Jr. « RCM 401: Oral Rhetoric — Jan 16th, 2012

Break it down | simpson speaks — Feb 7th, 2012

“I Have a Dream” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) « DARISOANJ — Feb 7th, 2012

Presentation Lessons from Kevin Hart « Alex Rister — Feb 8th, 2012

Corpus Study [Antconc] « Language and Personality of Facebook Users — Apr 30th, 2012

Concordance Exercise « Language and Personality: A Case Study of 5 Respondents based on 'The Big 5 Personality Domain' — May 9th, 2012

Concordance Exercise | SKBP 1023_Lisa Noorazmi — May 11th, 2012

Concordance exercise « Language and Personality: Based on 'The Big 5 Personality Domain' — May 23rd, 2012

Corcodance Exercise « Language and Personality: A Case Study of 5 Respondents based on 'The Big 5 Personality Domain' — May 27th, 2012

AntConc – Concordance | 'Aisyah Zaili A137793 — May 29th, 2012

Martin Luther King’s inspirational speech- I Have A Dream « Language and Personality of Facebook Users — May 29th, 2012

“I HAVE A DREAM” |GROUP WORK|CONCORDANCE|ANTCONC « Language and Personality of Facebook Users — May 30th, 2012

ENGLISH RESOURCES - MLK SPEECH – RHETORIC — Oct 30th, 2012

Martin Luther King Jr I Have A Dream Speech | Public Speaking Singapore — Feb 24th, 2013

Links of the Week: 2013.10 | Creating Communication — Apr 28th, 2013

English for Social Interaction - “Being economical with the truth” — May 16th, 2013

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I Have A Dream Speech

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28 pages • 56 minutes read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

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What are the facets of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream? Are these realistic or idealistic? Can they be accomplished?

Dr. King advocated for nonviolent responses to police brutality. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Michael Brown, and other acts of police brutality, what might Dr. King advise? What would he say in a speech on the subject?

In what ways is “I Have a Dream” a speech for a specific time and place, and in what ways is it universal? Does reading it more than a half century later change its meaning and if so, how?

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Related Titles

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Why We Can't Wait

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A crowd near the Reflecting Pool listens to Martin Luther King Jr. and other speakers during the March on Washington in 1963. (National Archives/Public domain)

A crowd near the Reflecting Pool listens to Martin Luther King Jr. and other speakers during the March on Washington in 1963. (National Archives/Public domain)

Louis Jacobson

Trump’s False crowd comparison with his Jan. 6 speech and the crowd at MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech

If your time is short.

The House select committee that investigated the events of Jan. 6, 2021, estimated 53,000 people attended President Donald Trump’s speech at the White House Ellipse.

The National Archives says 250,000 people attended Martin Luther King's Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington.

On Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters to "fight" and walk to the U.S. Capitol to pressure leaders not to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. His speech preceded a violent assault on the Capitol.

Almost six decades earlier, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his landmark "I Have a Dream" speech from the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that called for racial harmony and civil rights for Black Americans.

Now, Trump says the two Washington, D.C., speeches share something else in common: crowd size. 

During his Aug. 8 Mar-a-Lago press conference that touched on myriad topics, Trump claimed there was a "peaceful transfer" of power when he left office in 2021. Biden was sworn in as president under heavy security, but the effort to stop the counting of electoral votes two weeks before was unprecedented and brutal . 

When a reporter challenged Trump’s "peaceful transfer" framing, Trump answered that "nobody was killed on Jan. 6," which is also wrong . Trump then pivoted to his own remarks to supporters  that day on the White House Ellipse, which is on the South Lawn, facing the Washington Monument.

"And, you know, it's very interesting, the biggest crowd I've ever spoken to, and I said ‘peacefully and patriotically,’ which nobody wants to say," Trump said. (Trump also told the crowd on the Ellipse to "fight.")

Then he said:

"The biggest crowd I've ever spoken to, and you've seen Maggie (Haberman, a New York Times reporter), I was in at the mall. I was at the Washington Monument. I was at the whole thing. I had crowds. I don't know who's ever had a bigger crowd than I have, but I had it many times. The biggest crowd I've ever spoken before was that day, and I'll tell you, it's very hard to find a picture of that crowd. You see the picture of a small number of people, relatively, going to the Capitol, but you never see the picture of the crowd. "The biggest crowd I've ever spoken. I've spoken to the biggest crowds, nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything — same number of people, if not, we had more. And they said he had a million people, but I had 25,000 people. But when you look at the exact same picture, and everything's the same, because it was the fountains, the whole thing — all the way back from Lincoln to Washington. And you look at it, and you look at the picture of his crowd, my crowd, we actually had more people. They said I had 25,000 and he had a million people, and I'm OK with it because I like Dr. Martin Luther King."

A PolitiFact reader asked us to fact-check Trump’s comparison with King’s "I Have a Dream" speech during the 1963 March on Washington.

The evidence shows Trump’s Ellipse speech was much smaller than the packed National Mall for King’s address . 

A close listener might pick up that Trump offered imagery about the location that doesn’t line up with Trump’s Jan. 6 "Save America" rally, such as that it happened on "the mall," and stretched "from Lincoln to Washington." Those details line up with the Trump administration’s July 4, 2019, "Salute to America," which attracted a larger crowd to the mall. Trump may have conflated the events, and the Trump campaign did not respond to our requests to clarify.

In recent years, government agencies have not wanted to validate or debunk turnout for political events. (Trump’s first press secretary made the ridiculously false claim that Trump’s 2017 inauguration drew the biggest inauguration crowd ever.) So, recent estimates, if they are made at all, tend to come from media outlets, sometimes with the assistance of experts using aerial photography and mathematical formulas.

The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a planned, peaceful display of unity among several organizations and grassroots activists that had been fighting for civil rights through boycotts and marches. The event included many celebrities and musicians and multiple speeches in addition to King’s speech.

The crowd stretched from the Lincoln Memorial, past the Reflecting Pool and toward the Washington Monument.

Here is an image of the crowd during King’s speech:

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

A crowd near the Reflecting Pool listens to Martin Luther King Jr. and other speakers during the March on Washington in 1963. (U.S. Information Agency, Press and Publications Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The National Archives says 250,000 people attended the March on Washington during King’s speech.

The U.S. Census Bureau uses a somewhat smaller number of "more than 200,000."

Featured Fact-check

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

The NAACP said that the rally drew over "260,000" people from across the country.

Trump had repeatedly encouraged his supporters the month before his speech at the Ellipse around noon on Jan. 6 to come for a "big protest" in Washington. 

By the time Trump finished his speech, crowds had started to gather outside the Capitol.

Estimates are fairly loose, but none exceed King’s turnout. 

The New York Times reported that "tens of thousands" of Trump supporters gathered for the rally. The Washington Post said "thousands" had assembled at the Ellipse for the speech. 

The House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack put the crowd number at 53,000 , or at most a quarter of the generally accepted size of the crowd during King’s speech.

"From a tent backstage at the Ellipse, President Trump looked out at the crowd of approximately 53,000 supporters and became enraged," the House committee found . "Just under half of those gathered — a sizeable stretch of about 25,000 people — refused to walk through the magnetometers and be screened for weapons, leaving the venue looking half-empty to the television audience at home."

The day after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that law enforcement’s estimates of the overall crowd size in the protests "were all over the board" from as low as "2,000 to as many as 80,000." 

We found several photos from that day, including one Reuters wide-shot image that features the Washington Monument in the background.

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

With the Washington Monument in the background, people attend a rally in support of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP)  

The question that triggered Trump’s crowd-size answer was about Jan. 6, and Trump called it "the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to." But some of the things he said — such as "the exact same picture" and "from Lincoln to Washington" — correlate with features of a different Trump speech on July 4, 2019.

The 2019 "Salute to America" event, which draws hundreds of thousands of people each year, honored the military’s branches and featured a military flyover and fireworks. On the Capitol side, many came to hear singer Carole King and Trump was the first president in nearly 70 years to add a speech onto the event. 

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

A crowd at the Reflecting Pool listens to a July 4 celebration hosted by then-President Donald Trump in 2019. (Credit: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Steve Doig, a professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication who has studied crowd size estimates, told PolitiFact that, the photos show the crowd stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the end of the Reflecting Pool, but give no hint of how far the crowd extends beyond the trees that line the pool. 

We were not able to find crowd estimates from the 2019 event.

Describing his speech to supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump said he spoke to the "same number of people, if not, we had more" than King’s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.

The crowd-size comparison is wrong. Credible estimates say many more people attended the 1963 March on Washington during King’s speech than attended Trump’s Ellipse speech.

We rate the comparison False. 

RELATED: All of our fact-checks of former President Donald Trump on the Truth-O-Meter

RELATED: All of our fact-checks of Vice President Kamala Harris on the Truth-O-Meter

PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. 

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

Our Sources

C-SPAN, Former PResident Donald Trump news conference at Mar-a-Lago , Aug. 8, 2024

U.S. Census Bureau News, The 50th Anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" Speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Aug. 28, Aug. 21, 2013 

Mapchecking.com search, Aug. 8, 2024

Wikipedia Commons, View of crowd March on Washington , Aug. 28, 1963

Wikipedia Commons, Salute to America , July 4, 2019

National Archives, Official Program for the March on Washington , 1963

U.S. Census Bureau, The 50th Anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" Speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Aug. 28 , Aug. 21, 1963 

Justice Department, 43 Months Since the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol , Aug. 6, 2024

The New York Times, What are magnetometers, or mags? June 28, 2022

Snopes, Was Trump's Jan. 6 Crowd Bigger Than for MLK's 'I Have a Dream' Speech? Aug. 8, 2024

The NAACP, The 1963 March on Washington , Accessed Aug. 9, 2024 

The Associated Press, FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made by Trump at news conference , Aug. 8, 2024

The New York Times, Fact Checking Trump’s Mar-a-Lago News Conference , Aug. 8, 2024

The New York Times, These Are the People Who Died in Connection With the Capitol Riot , Jan. 5, 2022

Reuters Photos, Photo of supporters attending Trump's Jan. 6 rally , Jan. 6, 2021 

The Associated Press, Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob, Jan. 7, 2021

Politico EE News, Trump wanted crowd size from NPS, but this man nixed estimates , Jan. 27, 2017 

House select committee, Report , 2022

PolitiFact, Donald Trump had biggest inaugural crowd ever? Metrics don't show , it Jan. 22, 2017

PolitiFact, A timeline of what Trump said before Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Jan. 11, 2021

PolitiFact, Newsmax host falsely claims ‘only one person died’ at Capitol Jan. 6 , Feb. 9, 2021

PolitiFact, Jan. 6 defendants were armed with guns, other weapons, documents show , July 13, 2021

Email interview, Mike Litterst, spokesperson for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, Aug. 9, 2024 Email interview, Steve Doig, professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Aug. 8, 2024

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

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FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made by Trump at news conference

Trump lashes out at Harris, recommits to a Sept. 10 debate at hourlong news conference

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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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FILE - Crowds are shown in front of the Washington Monument during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. (AP Photo, File)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks about his ear as he speaks to reporters during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In his first news conference since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, former President Donald Trump said he would debate her on Sept. 10 and pushed for two more debates. The Republican presidential nominee spoke for more than an hour, discussing a number of issues facing the country and then taking questions from reporters. He made a number of false and misleading claims. Many of them have been made before.

Here’s a look at some of those claims.

CROWD SIZES

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CLAIM: “The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken — I’ve spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not we had more. And they said he had a million people, but I had 25,000 people.”

THE FACTS: Trump was comparing the crowd at his speech in front of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, to the crowd that attended Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial.

But far more people are estimated to have been at the latter than the former.

Image

Approximately 250,000 people attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which King gave his speech, according to the National Park Service . The Associated Press reported in 2021 that there were at least 10,000 people at Trump’s address.

Moreover, Trump and King did not speak in the same location. King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial , which looks east toward the Washington Monument. Trump spoke at the Ellipse , a grassy area just south of the White House.

CLAIM: “Nobody was killed on Jan. 6.”

THE FACTS: That’s false. Five people died in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and its immediate aftermath. Pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol that day amid Congress’ effort to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Among the deceased are Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter shot and killed by police, and Brian Sicknick, a police officer who died the day after battling the mob. Four additional officers who responded to the riot killed themselves in the following weeks and months.

Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot and killed by a police officer as she climbed through a broken part of a Capitol door during the violent riot. Trump has often cited Babbitt’s death while lamenting the treatment of those who attended a rally outside the White House that day and then marched to the Capitol, many of whom fought with police.

DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION

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CLAIM: “The presidency was taken away from Joe Biden, and I’m no Biden fan, but I tell you what, from a constitutional standpoint, from any standpoint you look at, they took the presidency away.”

THE FACTS: There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents the Democratic Party from making Vice President Kamala Harris its nominee. That process is determined by the Democratic National Committee.

Harris officially claimed the nomination Monday following a five-day online voting process, receiving 4,563 delegate votes out of 4,615 cast, or about 99% of participating delegates. A total of 52 delegates in 18 states cast their votes for “present,” the only other option on the ballot.

The vice president was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by the party’s deadline following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race on July 21.

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THE ECONOMY

CLAIM: Suggesting things would be different if he had been in office rather than Biden: “You wouldn’t have had inflation. You wouldn’t have had any inflation because inflation was caused by their bad energy problems. Now they’ve gone back to the Trump thing because they need the votes. They’re drilling now because they had to go back because gasoline was going up to 7, 8, 9 dollars a barrel.”

THE FACTS: There would have been at least some inflation if Trump had been reelected in 2020 because many of the factors causing inflation were outside a president’s control. Prices spiked in 2021 after cooped-up Americans ramped up their spending on goods such as exercise bikes and home office furniture, overwhelming disrupted supply chains. U.S. auto companies, for example, couldn’t get enough semiconductors and had to sharply reduce production, causing new and used car prices to shoot higher. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022 also sent gas and food prices soaring around the world, as Ukraine’s wheat exports were disrupted and many nations boycotted Russian oil and gas.

Still, under Biden, U.S. oil production reached a worldwide record level earlier this year .

Many economists, including some Democrats, say Biden’s $1.9 trillion financial support package, approved in March 2021, which provided a $1,400 stimulus check to most Americans, helped fuel inflation by ramping up demand. But it didn’t cause inflation all by itself. And Trump supported $2,000 stimulus checks in December 2020, rather than the $600 checks included in a package he signed into law in December 2020.

Prices still spiked in countries with different policies than Biden’s, such as France , Germany and the U.K. , though mostly because of the sharp increase in energy costs stemming from Russia’s invasion.

IMMIGRATION

CLAIM: “Twenty million people came over the border during the Biden-Harris administration — 20 million people — and it could be very much higher than that. Nobody really knows.”

THE FACTS: Trump’s 20 million figure is unsubstantiated at best, and he didn’t provide sources.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports 7.1 million arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico from January 2021 through June 2024. That’s arrests, not people. Under pandemic-era asylum restrictions, many people crossed more than once until they succeeded because there were no legal consequences for getting turned back to Mexico. So the number of people is lower than the number of arrests.

In addition, CBP says it stopped migrants 1.1 million times at official land crossings with Mexico from January 2021 through June 2024, largely under an online appointment system to claim asylum called CBP One.

U.S. authorities also admitted nearly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela under presidential authority if they had financial sponsors and arrived at an airport.

All told, that’s nearly 8.7 million encounters. Again, the number of people is lower due to multiple encounters for some.

There are an unknown number of people who eluded capture, known as “got-aways” in Border Patrol parlance. The Border Patrol estimates how many but doesn’t publish that number.

CLAIM: Vice President Kamala Harris “was the border czar 100% and all of a sudden for the last few weeks she’s not the border czar anymore.”

THE FACTS: Harris was appointed to address “root causes” of migration in Central America. That migration manifests itself in illegal crossings to the U.S., but she was not assigned to the border.

NEW YORK CASES

CLAIM: “The New York cases are totally controlled out of the Department of Justice.”

THE FACTS: Trump was referring to two cases brought against him in New York — one civil and the other criminal.

Neither has anything to do with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The civil case was initiated by a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James. In that case, Trump was ordered in February to pay a $454 million penalty for lying about his wealth for years as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to stardom and the White House.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a state-level prosecutor, brought the criminal case . In May, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.

___ Associated Press writers Melissa Goldin and Elliot Spagat and economics writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this article. ___

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck .

An earlier version of this story mixed up “latter” and “former” in the third paragraph. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, drew a far larger crowd than Donald Trump’s speech near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021.

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VFW Admonishes Former President for Medal of Honor Remarks

The following is a message from vfw national commander al lipphardt.

discussion questions about i have a dream speech

WASHINGTON — “On Thursday, former President Donald Trump spoke at an event where he made some flippant remarks about the Medal of Honor and the heroes who have received it. In the video that has circulated online and in the media , the former president was recognizing Miriam Adelson in the audience who he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his time in office. As he described the medal as the civilian version of the Medal of Honor, he went on to opine that the Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the military’s top award, because those awarded the latter are, in his words, “ … either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.” He continued by comparing Miriam to MoH recipients saying, “She gets it and she’s a healthy beautiful woman. They are rated equal.”

These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.

When a candidate to serve as our military’s commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position. It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better.

While the Presidential Medal of Freedom maybe our nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Honor is more sacred as it represents the gallantry and intrepidity of courageous and selfless service members, often at the cost of grievous wounds and even their lives. It’s because of our Medal of Honor recipients that great Americans like Miriam Adelson have the freedom to live to their fullest potential and make such lasting contributions to our great nation.

We would like to remind Mr. Trump that the 12 times he had the honor of awarding the Medal of Honor as president of the United States, those were heroes not of his own choosing. He bestowed those medals on behalf of Congress, representing all Americans of a grateful nation. We hold the donation of their lives in service to our country in the highest esteem, and so should he.”

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COMMENTS

  1. I Have a Dream Speech Discussion Questions

    Digging Deeper into the ''I Have a Dream'' Speech. One of the most famous speeches in U.S. history is the ''I Have a Dream'' speech given by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on ...

  2. PDF Discussion Questions Students Reflect on "I Have

    the videos to see how other students have responded. Use these questions to talk to students about their reaction to both the videos and the speech. You can watch more videos of student reactions from Student Reporting Labs here. Discussion Questions Read the text of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

  3. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Discussion Questions & Reflection

    On August 28, 1963, civil rights leaders and Americans from around the country marched in Washington, D.C., and gathered for one of the largest rallies for human rights in U.S. history. This rally is rightly famous for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, but what is less well known is that the event itself had a focus ...

  4. "I Have a Dream" Speech Questions and Answers

    In his "I Have a Dream" speech, how does King support the claim that "the Negro is still not free" in lines 8-14? Analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.'s use of rhetorical strategies in "I Have a ...

  5. Lesson plan: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech as

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Students will examine why the speech was a defining ...

  6. I Have a Dream Speech Study Guide

    Download. Historical Context of I Have a Dream Speech. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to an audience of over 250,000 people at the March on Washington in August of 1963. The march was one of the largest civil rights rallies in American history, and it came at a crucial moment in the decades-long struggle for ...

  7. PDF I Have A Dream Speech

    A lesson on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington Course | U.S. History/A.P. U.S. History, 9-12 ... But the speech as a whole repays close study and raises interesting questions. The speech begins (and ends) by emphasizing freedom: what does King mean by freedom, and ...

  8. PDF Group 1: Handout "I Have a Dream Speech"

    ys and white girls as. isters and brothers. I have a dream today!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. vealed and all fl.

  9. Lesson plan: Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech as ...

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most memorable speech from his life as an activist, "I HAVE A DREAM," was delivered on August 28, 1963, before more than 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln ...

  10. PDF A Special Presentation

    The following document is an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. On this day over 250,000 people had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation's capital. This speech, and the March on Washington overall, is considered the high

  11. "I Have a Dream" Speech Analysis

    Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions ... Download the entire "I Have a Dream" Speech study guide as a ...

  12. I Have a Dream Teaching Guide

    Teaching approaches and discussion questions; A list of complementary texts; ... Download the entire "I Have a Dream" Speech study guide as a printable PDF! Download Related Questions.

  13. Broad Questions With Answers From 'I Have A Dream' By Martin Luther

    Some of the most important questions are answered. Q.1. Consider Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream' as a charter of freedom and equality for the black people of America. Or, In what sense is Luther's speech, "I Have a Dream" a call for freedom and equality for the Black people in America? Ans. 'I Have a Dream' is a famous speech ...

  14. I Have A Dream Summary And Important Questions

    Some Important Questions And Answers From "I Have A Dream." Question. Explain King's analogy of the bad check. (Paragraph 3 and 4). Answer. In paragraph 3 and 4 of the speech, I have a dream delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. uses an analogy of bad check to explain how the constitution of USA has failed to give the promises to the negros.

  15. I Have a Dream Speech Analysis: Lesson Plan & Video

    The following speech analysis assignment will guide students through closely analyzing King's most famous address. In this I Have A Dream speech analysis lesson, students will experience both the text and audio of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have A Dream speech while learning about King's key contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

  16. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech

    Over the course of five lessons, students will read, analyze, and gain a clear understanding of "I Have a Dream," a speech delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr., at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. The first four lessons require students to read excerpts from the speech "like a detective."

  17. PDF I HAVE A DREAM WORKSHOP

    Luther King, Jr's, "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963. [Included in discussion guide.] Watch the speech together and have your child or student read along. Encourage your child to create their own "I Have a Dream" speech using our fill -in-the-blanks activity sheet. [Included in this discussion guide.]

  18. PDF I Have A Dream Worksheet

    -- This worksheet allows the students to analyze the "I Have a Dream Speech" -- As they answer the following questions they talk about their personal experience viewing this video, as well as its impact on society. NCATE/NCTE STANDARD: 4.7:-- Students will use this worksheet to look at how the power of language and this speech have on viewers

  19. Questions on the speech 'I have a dream'

    Questions on the speech 'I have a dream'. Why does King chose the word DREAM? I think there are various reasons why Martin Luther King chose to use this word and repeat it as a leitmotiv. Firstly, as the opening lines clearly show, it is a direct reference to the American Dream itself in which most Americans believe: a dream where people have ...

  20. Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream

    Published: Jan 18th, 2009. "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most memorable speeches of all time. It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King's historic masterpiece. This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent ...

  21. I Have A Dream Speech Summary Essay (pdf)

    A Rhetorical Analysis: of I Have a Dream Essay In Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech, King makes use of an innumerable amount of rhetorical devices that augment the overall understanding and flow of the speech. King makes the audience feel an immense amount of emotion due to the outstanding use of pathos in his speech. King also generates a vast use of rhetorical devices including ...

  22. I Have A Dream Speech Essay Topics

    Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "I Have A Dream Speech" by Martin Luther King Jr.. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

  23. "I Have a Dream" Speech Teaching Guide

    Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered ... Download the entire "I Have a Dream" Speech study guide ...

  24. I Have a Dream Speech Lesson Plan for Elementary School

    Instructor Kristen Goode. Kristen has been an educator for 25+ years - as a classroom teacher, a school administrator, and a university instructor. She holds a doctorate in Education Leadership ...

  25. Trump's false crowd size comparison to MLK's speech

    Describing his speech to supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump said he spoke to the "same number of people, if not, we had more" than King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. The crowd-size comparison ...

  26. FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made by Trump at news conference

    THE FACTS: Trump was comparing the crowd at his speech in front of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, to the crowd that attended Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial. But far more people are estimated to have been at the latter than the former.

  27. Fact check: Trump makes more than 20 false claims at news ...

    Former President Donald Trump held a news conference on Thursday in which he continued to be highly dishonest - again making more than 20 false claims, as he also did in his Monday conversation ...

  28. VFW Admonishes Former President for Medal of Honor

    WASHINGTON — "On Thursday, former President Donald Trump spoke at an event where he made some flippant remarks about the Medal of Honor and the heroes who have received it.In the video that has circulated online and in the media, the former president was recognizing Miriam Adelson in the audience who he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his time in office.

  29. Trump, Elon Musk talk about Harris, climate change in X interview

    The former president's speech during the interview sounded different from his usual delivery, drawing the attention of many social media users and an attack from Harris's campaign.