I chose to watch the famous “I Have A Dream” speech, delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This speech was delivered on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C., at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It is estimated that 250,000 people were in attendance. The speech was given 100 years after slaves had legally been freed, and the content of the speech tackled the reasons why "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free."
Dr. King was a very charismatic speaker, and he used words in a way that made people able to easily remember what he had said. For instance, he said, "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!" By using the words Color, Content, and Character together, it sounds poetic as well as profound. It feels very theatric, because of the lilting way Dr. King uses his voice.
Another thing that worked well was his use of scriptures and quotes that were familiar to the audience, used in a way to further his point. For instance, King quotes from Isaiah 40:4-5—"I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted"and Amos 5:24, "But …show more content…
King was standing in front of a podium with a microphone, so the only visible part of his body was his upper torso. He was reading the speech, but he looked up frequently, and used a sing-song voice that had a lot of variety to the volume and pitch. He frequently shook his head “no” very slightly, for emphasis. Toward the end of the speech, the last 3 minutes or so, Dr. King had memorized what he would say, so he was able to look at the audience the whole time. He used his hands and arms for emphasis, and increased the volume of his voice until he was veritably shouting at the end, which stirred up the
Dr. King was a very charismatic speaker, and he used words in a way that made people able to easily remember what he had said. For instance, he said, "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!" By using the words Color, Content, and Character together, it sounds poetic as well as profound. It feels very theatric, because of the lilting way Dr. King uses his voice.
Another thing that worked well was his use of scriptures and quotes that were familiar to the audience, used in a way to further his point. For instance, King quotes from Isaiah 40:4-5—"I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted"and Amos 5:24, "But …show more content…
King was standing in front of a podium with a microphone, so the only visible part of his body was his upper torso. He was reading the speech, but he looked up frequently, and used a sing-song voice that had a lot of variety to the volume and pitch. He frequently shook his head “no” very slightly, for emphasis. Toward the end of the speech, the last 3 minutes or so, Dr. King had memorized what he would say, so he was able to look at the audience the whole time. He used his hands and arms for emphasis, and increased the volume of his voice until he was veritably shouting at the end, which stirred up the