Dream is One of the Most Famous Speeches in American Oratory (Reaction Paper Sample)
this task and sample are about showcasing my ability to not only write a reaction paper but also deliver correct harvard style citation. the sample is three pages and it is double spaced. the format is harvard, with one source. the total number of words is 836.
the paper is a reaction to the "i have a dream " speech delivered by dr. martin luther king junior in 1963.
i have organized it into three parts starting with an introduction followed by a body that contains my take on the speech and finally a conclusion which endorses the organization, messaging, and language of the speech. the source is the speech itself and since it was accessed online, it is cited as such.
Dream is One of the Most Famous Speeches in American Oratory
I have a Dream is one of the most famous speeches in American oratory. It was delivered on the 28th of August 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a Baptist minister who had gotten involved in the agitation for justice for African Americans who were suffering under extreme racism that left them ostracized from the larger American society. Despite the fact that Dr. King delivered many other speeches as did several other figures who were involved in the push for equal rights for all Americans, I have a Dream has managed to dominate the discussion of oratory, not just around the civil rights agitation period but indeed the entire history of American and world oratory.
In the speech, Dr. King starts by setting the stage for the case he is about to make, which is, the racism that African Americans are experiencing and how this is denial of the promise the American constitution holds for every American. He mentions the Great American who signed The Emancipation Proclamation, referring to President Abraham Lincoln who freed slaved after the bloody American Civil War. He moves forward to list the injustices that African Americans are enduring such as police brutality, poor quality accommodation whereby African Americans are only able to move from a smaller ghetto to a larger ghetto, being denied accommodation in “the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities,” and denial of voting rights (King 1963, p.1). Dr. King also names states that are notorious for racism such as Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
