Celebrating MLK's rhetorical significance

Photo by Madelina James

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr., I put together some resources for ELA teachers to help students appreciate the language Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

First his "I Have a Dream" speech is significant for many reasons, but it's also worthwhile to appreciate the elegance of the words themselves. It's one thing to say that the speech is powerful, but it's another to identify reasons that account for that power. That's what this lesson is meant to do (link to the PDF).

I also want my students to understand that "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is an important document historically, of course, but also rhetorically. It's one of the best written documents in American history. Here's a doc I put together that explains a few reasons why.