A few weeks back, I celebrated MLK Day with a comic to honor the venerated activist and leader Martin Luther King Jr. To continue in this vein, and in honor of Black History Month, I’m sharing a few of my favorite resources for teaching MLK’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
(Get the full transcript and audio for his speech here.)
Getting Started
Before launching into the textual analysis, I like to give students a brief overview of MLK’s life, the Civil Rights Movement, and the purpose of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
MLK Bio
Give students a brief overview of King’s life and the Civil Rights Movement with this 4-minute video from Biography.com.
March on Washington Notes Activity
In order to give students an historical grounding that also helps them identify the purpose of King’s speech, I have them complete the following set of Cornell-style notes by reading the History.com explanation of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This is a great alternative to a lecture, and it can be completed independently or in pairs.
March-on-Washington-Notes-IHAD-ContextExtended Metaphors
One of the most impressive aspects of the “I Have a Dream” speech is King’s use of extended metaphor, or the development of a comparison of essentially unlike things at length and in several ways. To that end, I spend considerable time having students mine the speech for his use of metaphor; next, they create posters visualizing his metaphors, before wrapping up the lesson with a writing activity.
Extended Metaphors Chart
Before reading the speech, I review extended metaphors with students. Then I distribute the following chart so that they can document the extended metaphors they find. (I like to play the audio of King’s speech while students read. Access the audio here.)
Extended-Metaphors-in-IHAD-ChartExtended Metaphors Poster
Once students have identified multiple metaphors, I have them choose a metaphor and illustrate it on a poster. This is a great creative activity to help students visualize King’s use of figurative language, and it works as an individual assignment or a group project.
I-Have-a-Dream-Extended-Metaphor-Poster-FormatExtended Metaphors PEEL Paragraph
This PEEL paragraph assignment is a great summative assessment once students have identified several of King’s extended metaphors related to the idea of America’s “bad check.” (Download a free PEEL paragraph handout here.) See below for an example PEEL paragraph response.
Wrap-Up
There are so many other elements to study in this wonderous speech—including King’s use of rhetorical devices like anaphora and ethos, pathos, and logos—so this list is hardly exhaustive. However, if I have to pick and choose, I like to focus on his use of extended metaphor because of its potential to illuminate his words and activate students’ creativity through the poster assignment.
What are your favorite elements to teach for the “I Have a Dream” speech? Leave them in the comments!