ENG3- Steph Boucher

Chapter One                                         

Martin Luther King Jr.

“I have a dream” speech 

 Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and a leader during the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1955 he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in 1957 he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and is most remembered from when he stood in front of over two thousand people on the steps of Lincoln Memorial, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and spoke his “I have a dream” speech. His message was clear; that one day, blacks and whites could coexist in peace, and that they would all be treated as equals. He was trying to raise awareness of the civil rights movement that was taking place.

He started with his pre-written speech, and later went on improvising on the theme of “I have a dream”. Throughout his speech he used biblical illusions, for example: “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” This was taken from Amos 5:24. He also uses some anaphoras; the most common in the speech would have to be “I have a dream”.

Martin Luther King Jr. is the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, he was rewarded this in 1968 for his efforts in leading the way to the end of racial discrimination, racial prejudice and segregation, through civil disobedience and other non-violent ways. He has also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 1986 Martin Luther King Jr. day was made a national holiday.