Great Speeches

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST PAGE CAREFULLY. IT SHOULD BE DELETED WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT FOR GRADING.

General Rationale

This document contains the instructions for the Great Speeches Assignment. It is designed as a listening opportunity for one of the most influential presentations in modern history and also as an exercise to aid in developing an appreciation for the impact that language has on public speaking.

Instructions

1. Carefully listen to and view the assigned presentation for this assignment. If your professor has not provided another requirement for this assignment, locate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech online. The entire presentation is roughly 20 minutes in length.

2. Write at least 100–200 words about the context (e.g., year, season, location, time of day, etc.), the audience (e.g., demographics, characteristics, frame of reference, etc.) and events (e.g., what happened before, what was planned to happen afterward, motivation, etc.) surrounding this presentation.

3. Write at least 100–200 words about style from the four canons of rhetoric described in Week 3. Address one or two ways in which language aids in making this presentation a success. Give examples to support your point of view.

4. Write at least 100–200 words about how you can use this example to refocus your efforts for language use in your public speaking and communication skills.

Additional Expectations

* Use headings to identify clearly which prompt you are addressing.

* Write in complete sentences.

* Check carefully to ensure that your spelling, grammar, syntax, and overall writing style are professional or college level. This should not show sloppy writing.

* Save your file with the following naming convention: First Last SPCH275 Week 4 Great Speeches Assignment.

The context of this speech is extremely important for what took place on August 28th, 1963. It the height of a race war going on between blacks and whites in...