28 pages • 56 minutes read
Martin Luther King Jr.A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Story Analysis
Dr. King’s speech is in the style of a sermon which, like many sermons, connects the past and present to tell a moral story. While King makes repeated reference to spiritual elements and “God’s children,” the speech’s rhythm, pacing, and cadence (especially the way King delivered it, which the transcript of the speech cannot capture) are all lifted from the Baptist sermons King watched his father deliver and he, too, delivered as a reverend. Like other sermons, King’s speech uses inclusive pronouns (“we” and “our”) to connect the audience and the speaker; it also employs repetition of key words and phrases and, especially, call and response. The audience’s responses are not included in the transcript of the text, but the repetition is. King provides lists of injustices in identical syntax and repeats this tactic again later when listing locations to celebrate. He also uses full phrases—not just singular words—in repetition. For example, he uses the phrase “I have a dream” at the start of eight separate sentences. This repetition comes straight from the church tradition.
By Martin Luther King Jr.
A Testament of Hope
Martin Luther King Jr.
I've Been to the Mountaintop
Martin Luther King Jr.
Letter From Birmingham Jail
Martin Luther King Jr.
Stride Toward Freedom
Martin Luther King Jr.
Where Do We Go From Here
Martin Luther King Jr.
Why We Can't Wait
Martin Luther King Jr.