Comments and discussion

In your analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, you should also focus on statements and claims that are particularly interesting and worth discussing more.

For example, many people remember and focus on the part that gave the speech its title. In this part, the speaker improvised and listed his vision of America’s future of racial equality, by using the repetition “I have a dream” (ll. 114-1135).

It is less well-known that King used the “dream” structure in many of his previous speeches which are not as famous. Furthermore, although the speech moved the audience, there were also those who criticized this part of the speech, describing it as a cliché. Nowadays, some historians argue that what made the speech memorable was the context (the biggest march for equal rights) and the national and international audience that saw it (the speech was even broadcast in the UK). Nevertheless, it is undeniable that King’s speech remains important today and that it was a key factor in the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

Because the “I have a dream” (ll. 114-1135) parts are so memorable, people sometimes overlook other, more revealing, parts of the speech.

For example, when King creates the ...