Saturday, 4 December 2010

Martin Luther King "I have a dream"


1. Characterize the effect of Martin Luther King's use of voice and body language.

2. Why does this speech work?

3. Find the most powerful examples of Martin Luther King's use of imagery.

For each example, make a note about the following analytical aspects:
- What is he concerned with in this example?
- Which form(s) of appeal do you find in this example? Provide evidence.

4. What makes this one of the most important speeches in the history of the USA?

5. Why did I make you read this speech together with the Declaration of Independence? ("guess what the teacher is thinking" - my fav game!)


8 comments:

  1. 1. Characterize the effect of Martin Luther King's use of voice and body language.
    MLK uses his body and voice to empathize his message; he speaks very clearly, and empathizes the words he wants people to notice and remember. He makes a lot of little breaks between sentences, which gives people time to take this in, to understand what he just said. He's not imposing in any way, he's simply "talking" about the topic, without being intrusive or demanding; he's more encouraging really. His body language is very calm and subtle. No big gestures or frantic movements (like Hitler did in his speeches). His speech rests on the words, really.

    2. Why does this speech work?
    Because he's not dividing people. He's bringing them together. I find it very interesting how he uses words like "us", "we," and "our" as opposed to an "us and them" mentality. He chooses words that unify people and he manages to include the white people into it too, but without blaming them. He creates sympathy instead of anger. I do believe this is a speech constructed with the sole purpose of unifying people, and not just black and white people, but people with people. He speaks to the nation as "fellow Americans", to the country as a whole, but at the same time he delivers warnings of what would happen if they were to not listen. This is very clever, as he's directly linked his speech to The Declaration of Independence, which addresses issues exactly like the ones they suffer from, just being imposed by Britain instead. He chose something which every American holds sacred and used it to show them his point of view; in the declaration it pretty much states that a people should overthrow tyranny - that they are in their own right to do so, if the leaders fail to fulfil their needs. Very clever.

    He's also using Lincoln; not only is the speech held in front of the Lincoln monument, but he mentions the Emancipation Proclamation, which was signed by Lincoln and concerned the freedom of slaves, as well as using a reference to Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address speech. Him using those is a way to remind people what America was to be like, what the American dream was about in the first place, he takes them all back to what they wanted this place to be. And don't get me started on the biblical references... ;)


    Oh also, he uses repetitive language, which supports the bits he wants people to remember later: I have a dream, One hundred years later, We must, We can never be satisfied, With this faith, Let freedom ring, Now is the time...

    3. Find the most powerful examples of Martin Luther King's use of imagery.
    - joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity
    - the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity
    - sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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  2. I had posted a reply to the rest of those too, but it seems to have vanished, so sorry for the... lack of the rest. I wasn't smart enough to save a copy of what I was writing. Blerg.

    Melanie

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  3. Everyone: Take a look at these modes of persuasion and elaborate on question 3:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modes_of_persuasion

    Oh, and Melanie (and others!); Bring on the biblical references... what? Who? When? Why?

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  4. A rough recreation of what I wrote last night.

    For each example, make a note about the following analytical aspects:
    - What is he concerned with in this example?
    - Which form(s) of appeal do you find in this example? Provide evidence.

    In the first one he uses something everybody can relate to; “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”. Everybody can relate to the wonders of daybreak and in this case he uses the phrase to give people hope and will to live through what they’re going through as well as wanting to change it. He’s telling them things can be different.

    That’s also why I chose the next one: “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”. I found that specific line very interesting, because not only is he comparing the oppressed party as being on an island (alas not scattered, but gathered in one place), but also that this island is surrounded by an ocean of material prosperity. I think the word material is worth noting, because if he’d just said prosperity it could be a lot of things, but what he is saying is that they have a lot of things, which has a by man chosen appointed value, whereas indirectly he’s telling people that there’s a lock of the prosperity that can’t be measured, borrowed or stolen: The prosperity of the mind and soul.

    The last one I chose because it holds both a negative and a positive; “sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” Again he’s using nature, the weather, to demonstrate what he wants to tell, but here he’s painting an image of the heat which is keeping you down, and then the release when you get to the oasis; this promised oasis is then of freedom and justice. He’s not raising a question; he is telling that this will happen.

    4. What makes this one of the most important speeches in the history of the USA?
    Now, there are a million reasons why this speech is important, but why it went into the history of the states (and the rest of the world too) is not hard to figure either; here’s a man who himself is the pillar who carries his speech. He didn’t just deliver an idea to the people – he was the idea. MLK was not just a somebody, he was a preacher, a man of God. His person himself adds an ethical aspect to a case which is already seething with ethical dilemmas. He’s also a sophisticated person; he’s educated, he’s smart and he stays levelheaded. He knows his history, the history of all the people in the states, he knows what the American dream was about and he explained it to people, he reminded them of their own roots. He reminded them of a time when they were as small as the black people currently were. He’s not telling anyone what to do; he’s saying what will happen sooner or later. He’s not placing blame either. MLK did not use one direction only; he spoke to the ethical aspects, he used emotion to touch people and he used his knowledge and wits to logically outmaneuver people with their own history, their own background. Nobody can argue with the Declaration of Independence, at least not without offending pretty everybody else. MLK was a pillar, a fundament on which he built a case, and because he himself was the sum of his cause, his idea became impenetrable. He might have gone unheard if he’d not had the presence to get through to people, but he knew how to use what he had. He’s a brilliant example of how you don’t need a lot to make something out of what you have.

    5. Why did I make you read this speech together with the Declaration of Independence? ("guess what the teacher is thinking" - my fav game!)
    Well, I think the rest I’ve written pretty much says it, but to sum it up: The situation the black people found themselves in was similar to the situation the States found themselves in under the British king. MLK explained this to everybody in a way that couldn’t be misunderstood, and the likenesses between the two are spot-on.

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  5. Please comment on Melanie's interpretation of "The vast ocean of material prosperity".

    Also, take a look at Julie's last comment - why did the founding fathers miss the part about America's black population?

    (Wish I could post smileys or "like" buttons under your comments - here's one for all of you :0))

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  6. 1. Characterize the effect of Martin Luther King's use of voice and body language.
    Martin Luther King’s speak has the effect that he makes us all listen to every word he has to say. He speaks slowly and in a very deep voice, and he does a lot of repeating, because he really wants us to listen and feel the same as he feels for independence. He is also using his arms a lot and by that you can see that he is very avid to tell us about the fight for freedom.

    2. Why does this speech work?
    Because his is talking like he is one with the nation. He is saying WE and US instead of I and that encourage to community. He also makes some good and strong arguments that people can related to.

    3. Find the most powerful examples of Martin Luther King's use of imagery.
    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.
    His concern in this quote is that even do everyone are created equal, some people are still living as slaves and has no saying over their own life.
    In this example he is using Ethos as an appeal form. He is talking to the peoples moral and marks himself as a trustworthy person.

    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.
    Here his concern is that even do his children are as clever as the white little boys and girls, they will still be judged by the color of their skin and they will never have the same chance in the world as the white people.
    In this example he is using Pathos as an appeal form. He appeals to our feelings by telling us about his children, and he is creating a community feel.

    For each example, make a note about the following analytical aspects:
    - What is he concerned with in this example?
    - Which form(s) of appeal do you find in this example? Provide evidence.

    4. What makes this one of the most important speeches in the history of the USA?
    This is one of the most important speeches in the history of the USA because, in 1964 adopted the senate a low stopping all race separation in the USA. Same year Martin Luther King got the Nobel peace prize for his peacefully fight for the black American rights.

    5. Why did I make you read this speech together with the Declaration of Independence? ("guess what the teacher is thinking" - my fav game!)
    Both texts are fighting for the same thing – independence and that all men are created equal.

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  7. MLK talks as a minister to his community. He uses a lot of the same means, as a minister does when he is preaching in the church. He is repeating his words, and he is using the words from the Declaration of Independence, in the same way as if he was citing the holy Bible.
    This is a very powerful way of addressing the people, especially because the Declaration of Independence is kind of sacred to the American people. The Declaration of Independence is indeed an expression of the American dream, and it is very powerful to show that the American dream is for whites only. MLK says it very clear:” And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.” He wants to make the nation ashamed of itself. A very important detail is his request to make this a nonviolent revolt. This is an expression of Christian charity, and in the same time he is saying that there is no reason to fight, since this is simply a claim for “unalienable Rights” because, ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” No one can argue that he is right, and it is crystal clear that anyone, who wants to fight the Blacks on this issue, is fighting his own constitutional rights.

    Martin

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  8. So, this is the thierd time I write this in.
    1) I agree with the other comments on his bodylaunguage and can only add that he stands for the crowd as a very humble and sincere man.
    2) The speech works because he uses Ethos: his speech is reliable and ethical. Logos: He has arguments for his allegations. Pathos: He speeks with such passion and emotions. He uses reiterations and metaphor to underline his point.
    3) Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. His concern is that the black community in America will be devoured in their despair and give up before they reach their goal but thei should see the light at the end of the tunnel. He uses pathos/emotions in this sentens.
    4) T think this speech is the most important one in the history of the USA, because MLK speaks to the crowd about racism, independence and that all men are created equal, not only as a black man but also as a reverend and father of 4 children.
    5) I think you put them together because MLK speech is about their rights written in the declaration of independence.

    Please work, please.

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