For this lesson, we were given a task to pick a poem or prose extract that has left a deep impression on me. We are supposed to write about why it left such a deep impression, and what I have learnt from it.
Extract from “I Have A Dream Speech” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
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."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
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.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
Setting of the speech
This speech was made by Martin Luther King during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with a congregation with over 200,000 people. The March was a political rally held at the Lincoln Memorial. The March advocates racial equality and harmony and a stop to discrimination against African-Americans. At that time, segregation was present in the society and African-Americans were deprived of civil and economic rights. They were exploited and were treated with violence from the other citizens and organisations in the South. This March was part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) which refers to the period where discrimination against African-Americans was outlawed as well as the restoration of voting rights in the Southern states.
Why has the speech left a deep impression on me?
The first time I had heard of this speech was in Primary 6 when I was doing a concept unit on Change. The teacher had advised us to listen to this speech and reflect upon it. I admired the speech made by Martin Luther King due to two reasons. Firstly, the content and secondly, the way in which he delivers his speech.
Martin Luther King’s speech was well prepared and well researched. The extract which I have taken out from the 17 minute speech draws a picture of the near-future when African-Americans are no longer discriminated against. The speech uses a lot of visual scenes and paints the future which all African-Americans were hopeful of. Notably, the speech makes references to the Bible, The United States Declaration of Independence and many others well known and influential sources. This extract from the full speech is a rhetorical one with the use of anaphora or the repeat of a sequence of words at the beginning of sentences. For me, the use of anaphora left a great impression. It emphasises on how much the African-Americans wanted racial harmony and equality in the United States. It portrays the unsettling souls of the people who persist to the end and stay firmly with their beliefs.
The speech left a huge impact on me and set me thinking about racism and racial discrimination in other countries. I thought about the reasons for racial discrimination and the actions taken by our government to prevent it in Singapore.
Secondly, Martin Luther King delivered his speech firmly and got his message across with clarity and precision. His speech was influential and powerful; it brought the Civil Rights Movement a huge step forward. His tone and body language were persuasive in their purposes, he emphasised on the anaphors used in his speech and his stand was clear and precise
What I have learnt from the speech
I have learnt several techniques that are useful in persuading others, these include using anaphora to get your message across clearly while at the same time leave a huge impression in the audiences’ minds, research comprehensively, include information that refer to items that the audience can relate to, contrast between present and desired outcome, the way in which he used vocabulary and writing techniques as applicable to the context as well as referring to previous examples, and use them as an example of a successful outcome. These are some of the many techniques which can be learnt from Martin Luther King’s speech.
As for the content of the speech, I have learnt that racial discrimination is inevitable during the transition of a country from a third-world one to a developed nation. It is one of the many challenges that a country has to face an overcome during its development. Discrimination as a whole has many reasons. It could be that the people discriminating have the viewpoint that they have some qualities that are superior to the discriminated but miss out that the discriminated might have qualities that are superior to them. It could also be due to some conflict over sensitive issues like religion and politics which then lead to tensions and result in riots and discrimination. Our government is so concerned with racial harmony within Singapore due to the many races present in our society and we have learnt our lessons during the racial riots in the 1960s. We should understand the fact that all humans are created equally and there is no one that is superior to any other human being. As long as we are all inhabitants of the earth, we are all equal regardless of race, religion or nationality.
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