Dr. King's Historic Speech - I Have a Dream - Forward by Coretta Scott King

The idea behind this book is simple: publish the text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech--delivered in the 1963 March on Washington--accompanied by the illustrative art of fifteen artists whose work has featured in books that have received the Coretta Scott King Award or Honor. The result is a moving and beautiful remembrance of this historic moment in the American story, a worthy tribute to the visionary Dr. King who delivered the speech, and a powerful call to renew the work of forgiveness, justice, and love that Dr. King pushed forward so forcefully in his day.

Two things will draw young readers to I Have A Dream. At the top of the list, of course, is the power of Dr. King's words. At least three things moved me in re-reading these amazing words. First, King's laser focus on the problems he confronted. For example, near the beginning of the second half of the speech (p. 21), in answer to the question from his detractors, "When will you be satisfied?", Dr. King launches a trademark rhetorical rhythm, beginning each sentence with "We can never be satisfied until...", or "We cannot be satisfied until...", followed by a litany of injustices that King wished to see abolished, including police brutality, segregation, and denial of voter rights. Dr. King pulled no punches in laying out the grave problems that African-Americans faced.

Second, power lies in the compelling vision of justice, equality, and brotherhood that King cast in the speech. Here the rhetorical pulses begin with the famous, "I have a dream...", followed by beautiful and compelling articulations of Dr. King's vision of racial equality and justice: "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" (p. 25).

Third, the power of Dr. King's words lies in the non-violent means he advocated. Despite the grave injustice Dr. King and his followers faced, and the daunting distance between reality and the vision King cast, he remained unwaveringly committed to non-violence. For example, King said, "We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force" (p. 19). With Gandhi, King believed that one's means contained the end that one would reach, and so if peace and justice are the ends sought, peaceful and just means are the only way to reach them. Just as the power of Dr. King's words sent chills down my spine once again, I believe they will also grip children in the 9-to-12 years age category, with a little explanation from an adult at key points.

Children will also be stirred by the beauty and stylistic diversity of the illustrations in I Have A Dream. Both the images of injustice, and the images of the hopeful new day ahead are compelling. For example, on the page where Dr. King urges non-violent means (p. 19), there is an image of angry Caucasians crowding in a diner, standing behind three African-Americans and one Caucasian seated behind the counter in steadfast yet peaceful resistance. Two of the angry mob are pouring ketchup on the heads of two of the African-Americans. The image makes both the injustice of segregation and the difficulty of non-violence palpable.

In addition to the subjectively appealing words and illustrations of I Have A Dream, the book has much developmental value for children in the 9-to-12-years category. First, the book constitutes an obvious opportunity to discuss with children Dr. King's life and pivotal role in the civil rights movement of the 20th-century. As such, the book is an opportunity to learn about an important period of recent American history. A brief but helpful biographical sketch of Dr. King printed after the text of the speech will facilitate such learning.

Second, I Have A Dream provides an excellent opportunity for moral and religious learning. The moral themes raised by Dr. King's speech (justice, peace, love, segregation, etc.)--and particularly the non-violent means Dr. King advocated--will naturally raise moral questions for children, thereby prompting conversations with adults that can lead to valuable moral learning. Similarly, the religious themes of Dr. King's speech--e.g., his quotations of Amos 5:24 ("Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream") and Isaiah 40:4-5 ("Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low...Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together") from the Hebrew Bible--provide an opportunity to discuss the faith that animated Dr. King's words and deeds, and more generally the connection between religious conviction and right action.

In sum, I highly recommend I Have A Dream.

How to Write an Informative Speech

If you have ever told your parents about your daytime at school, or if you have explained to a friend how to cook chicken noodle soup, you already have practice giving an informative speech. An informative speech can be used to tell people about something you are interested in or to explain how to arrange something. If that sounds elementary, it's because it is. Simply pick your topic and make sure you know what you are speaking about.

Steps:

Choose a topic. Unless you are writing your speech for a school assignment, you probably already know what your subject is. If you're writing your speech for school, still, a good rule is to choose something you know a lot about; this will require the minimal amount of research. Alternatively, you may want to choose a topic you're really interested in, so you can research it and discover it. Keep in mind, informative speeches just inform people. You better don't choose a topic that will require you to build your speech on your opinion: that's for a persuasive speech.
Narrow down your topic. If your speech is restricted to five minutes, you don't have plenty of time to tell people everything about the history of invention or to explain how to build a car. You may, however, be capable of telling people about the history of the zipper or how to take apart a carburator. You should be able to thoroughly cover your topic in the time allowed.
Develop your thesis. Your thesis should be a summary of what the speech is about, a phrase that describes your topic. For example, "I am going to explain how to take apart a carburator," or "In this speech you'll discover how the zipper came to be" might be good thesis.
Do your research. If there's one formula to writing an informative speech it's this: know your topic. If you're writing about something you know good, you may not want to do much, if any, research. Otherwise, hit the ebooks, and study as much as possible about your subject. Take notes of crucial information as you go along.
Consider your audience. In general, unless your designation says otherwise, it might be a nice idea to assume your audience knows nothing about your topic. With this in mind, you may want to give a lot of background information and be careful about what shortcuts you bring in explaining your subject. If, however, you are having your speech on carburators to a group of auto mechanics, you don't need to give a lot of information, because they already know the subject fine.
Outline your speech. Write a listing of the info you think better be included. Arrange the list in logical order. If you are telling people how to do something, your outline might look alike the bolded first sentences. Keep in mind you want everyone listening to leave with at least one piece of information they didn't know.
Write an introduction. Your first appearance should grab the audience's attention, maybe with a funny anecdote or an interesting citation relevant to your topic. Then you ought to proceed to give your thesis statement, and then, if it is a long or complicated speech, provide your audience with a roadmap.
Expand your outline to create the body of the speech. Go through all key points on your outline and it.
Write your conclusion. A conclusion should rapidly summarise the primary points of the speech. Ideally, your ending should refer back to the introduction in some way--this shows the speech is cohesive and tells the audience that you have come full circle.
Time your speech. If you have been given a time limit, practice your speech - out loud - and time it. Cut down unneeded material if your speech is too long. Unless your assignment says differently, do not worry if the speech is short of the time limitation. The speech should be just long enough to cover the material thoroughly.

Tips:

Your outline is meant to be a guide to help you organize your speech, but it's not set in stone. As you fill in the details to actually write your speech, you may find that some points in your outline are unnecessary or out of order. Feel free to add, delete, and edit steps to make sense.
Be sure to edit and exercise your speech to make sure everything goes swimmingly once you deliver it to your audience.
If you have trouble thinking of a topic for your speech, search the internet for topics. There are sites with lists of potential topics.
Stick to the facts. Keep in mind, you are not attempting to persuade people to accept an opinion. You are just informing them.
Do not speak too quick; give people a chance to take in the information you are giving them.
Speak loud enough for the audience to hear you.