The Dream...

Today I read ‘I have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. This speech was delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. King was considered to be a peaceful warrior. He gave this speech to proclaim his desire for a future where blacks and whites among others would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's speech resembles the style of a Baptist sermon. The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of sentences is a rhetorical tool employed throughout the speech. He also used a lot of oppositional images to show differences. He used words like shadow vs. light, Island vs. ocean, poverty vs. prosperity to highlight the conditions on the Black and his desire for their future. There were plenty of imageries of money used in the speech and King used this to draw attention to the issue of moral bankruptcy of the American Society. I believe this is a great text to use in a classroom. Apart from the rich literary elements to the text, this text also could give an emotional impact to the readers. It could also help in their personal growth where they may take their owe initiative to know more about Martin Luther King and his speech. I think it’s a great achievement to a teacher when their students learn literature outside the classroom.