Online Task 4

1. Think of at least 3 benefits of using speeches by famous figures, in the classroom.

• Speeches by famous figures give a lot of important information about historical events, unique cultures of other races / countries, inculcate moral values and discussing global issues.
• Speeches by famous figures can be used as a motivator to generate students’ interest.
• Speeches by famous figures contain interesting facts and quotes which can be used by student in enriching their speaking and writing skills.

2. Go to www.youtube.com and find the audio-visual on the speech. In not less than 50 words, state would the audio-visual be of any use in helping understand the speech better? State your reasons.

The audio-visual aid is definitely a useful device in helping listener to understand the speech better because the students can see a lot of things that give extra information. The students can see the speaker’s body language, eye contact, facial expressions and materials that being used by the speaker which can provide them with extra information like speaker’s emotions, attitudes and characteristics. The liveliness can attract the students’ attention to listen and focus. It also makes the students become more active listener through various responding.

3. Who is Martin Luther King?

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modem American liberalism.

4. Based on the questions below, analyse the features of the given written speech:

I Have a Dream Speech

by Martin Luther King Jr.

a. What is the purpose of the speech?

• To end to the racial discrimination and gain freedom.
• To demand for racial justice and an integrated society.
• To fight for racial equality for all Americans, regardless of skin colour.
• To fight for freedom in their own homeland.
• To express the dream of a better fairer future of racial harmony and integration.

b. What is the tone of the speech?

The tone of the speech is passionate, persuasive, motivational, intellectual, sincere and honest.

c. What interesting major feature(s) can you see from the speech? (i.e.Repetition of phrases, emphasis on certain things said etc)

Anaphora, the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences, is a rhetorical tool employed throughout the speech. An example of anaphora is found early as King urges his audience to seize the moment: "Now is the time..." is repeated four times in the sixth paragraph. The most widely cited example of anaphora is found in the often quoted phrase "I have a dream..." which is repeated eight times as King paints a picture of an integrated and unified America for his audience. Other occasions when King used anaphora include "One hundred years later," "We can never be satisfied," "With this faith," "Let freedom ring," and "free at last." Emphasis through repetition makes these phrases more memorable, and, by extension, make King’s story more memorable.

King used metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts. 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). Other examples are “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), and “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” (19).

d. Any interesting facts that you can gather based on the background of the speech?

• It lasts 17 minutes and is widely considered to have been drafted in New York and then in Washington in the hours before the rally.
• The speech is known as “I Have a Dream” but those words were never in the original draft, they were ad libbed on the day.
• As a result of the speech, Dr King was named Man of the Year by Time Magazine in 1963, and won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
• Dr King drew his references from a wide variety of sources, including the Bible, the US Declaration of Independence and Shakespeare.
• The speech was watched by more than 200,000 people assembled for the March on Washington, the largest march of the civil rights movement, as well as millions on television.
• According to his co-authors, Dr King was so busy with the march that, 12 hours before the speech, he still did not have a firm idea about what he was going to say.
• It was ranked the top speech of the 20th Century by a poll of academics.
• It is said to have had several names and drafts, including “The normalcy speech” and “A Cancelled check”.
• Dr King was the subject of one of the Irish band U2’s most famous songs, Pride (In the Name of Love).
• Describing watching the oration, his co-author Clarence B Jones said the speech “went on to depart drastically from the draft I'd delivered”, adding: “In front of all those people, cameras, and microphones, Martin winged it.”

5. Suggest a while-reading activity that can be derived from this particular speech.

Dramatic monologue – students express his/her thought and feeling while listening to the speech.