I Have A Dream Speech

1. “Four score and seven years ago” is an example of what rhetorical device?

A) hyperbole

B) metonymy

C) allusion

D) understatement

2. When King says, “Four score and seven years ago,” he:

A) emphasizes his extensive knowledge of American history.

B) creates a lighthearted tone by referencing a popular and famous speech.

C) Indicates the purpose of his speech to the audience.

D) connects the present day to a previously momentous day in American history.

3. King’s use of the phrase “We can never be satisfied” is an example of:

A) allusion

B) anaphora

C) synecdoche

D) metaphor

4. Which best states the overall message of King’s speech?

A) It has been one hundred years since the Emancipation Proclamation, but Black people are still not free in the United States.

B) Freedom for all in the United States requires the dedication and cooperation of multiple stakeholders.

C) The United States’ promise of freedom will never be realized while the current administration is in office.

D) The United States will never be able to atone for the sins of its past, but future generations may be able to change things.

5. King’s use of the phrase “cash a check” is an example of:

A) simile

B) metaphor

C) hyperbole

D) allusion

6. When King says, “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment ... 1963 is not an end, but a beginning” he is primarily emphasizing:

A) The message of the speech.

B) His identity as the speaker.

C) The purpose of the speech.

D) The exigence of the speech.

7. Consider this excerpt:

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.

These sentences serve to:

A) appeal to a sense of logic and reason.

B) acknowledge the experiences of the audience directly.

C) affirm King’s authority on the subject of justice.

D) summarize King’s overarching argument.

8. What is the effect of King’s repetition of the phrase “I have a dream”?

A) It emphasizes how King introduces evidence that supports his argument.

B) It explains what matters most to King as a man, not a leader.

C) It reveals that King’s message is one of celebration.

D) It transitions the speech’s tone from somber to optimistic.

9. Consider this excerpt:

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

King’s repetition of the word faith is likely intended to:

A) appeal to his audience’s sense of spirituality and purpose.

B) create a reverent and spiritual tone.

C) emphasize that King’s own beliefs sometimes waver.

D) convey an image of devotion and hope.

10. Consider this excerpt:

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

What is the significance and purpose of the phrase “not only that” in King’s speech? (short answer)

11. “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people” contains an example of

A) synesthesia

B) personification

C) metonymy

D) alliteration

12. Consider this excerpt:

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

What rhetorical device does King use in the excerpt, and what purpose does it serve? (short answer)