Remember…..
We are comparing three mediums of information: speech, analysis of the speech, and short video
about the March on Washington (keep in mind the performance task question: Should freedom be
given or taken?)
from Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington by Charles Euchner
(Lexile 130L)
Before the second read…..
Questions to consider
1) Advantages and Disadvantages for each medium
2) Why might it be important for you to read the text of Dr. King’s speech, rather than simply read an
analysis and watch a video about it
Share thoughts-take notes on why you agree or disagree with speakers from class
Please focus on the “as you read” note on page 55: “How the author structures the text to help you
visualize the events. Write down any questions you generate.”
1) Analyze Ideas and Events (Authors often structure an analysis of an event by providing background in the
introduction)
Euchner offers background information that includes details about the way King spoke. Reread lines 122 and notice how he pronounced specific words. What does Euchner accomplish by including these
details?
2) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Euchner opens the selection with a simile, a figure of speech that compares
two dissimilar things using the word like or as)
Read lines 1-2 and explain what the simile means.
3) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Anaphora is a type of repetition in which the first word or words are
repeated in a series of statements)
In analyzing King’s use of anaphora, Euchner himself uses this rhetorical device. Cite the lines in which
Euchner uses anaphora. Why did he use anaphora here?
4) Analyze Ideas and Events (Analysis of an historical event usually depends on Primary Sources (materials from
the time the event happened). These included speeches, documents, and firsthand accounts such as interviews,
television footage, photographs, and news reports)
What main primary source does Euchner use for his analysis and how do you know?
5) Analyze Ideas and Events (Structure of an informational text is the order in which the author presents ideas.
The author must make the connections between ideas, sentences, and paragraphs clear. In line 62-64, Euchner
explains King’s metaphor of a bad check)
Cite Textual Evidence: Cite evidence that Euchner uses to support his analysis of the bad check
metaphor. How does providing this excerpt (small part) after his analysis help readers understand his
point?
6) Analyze Ideas and Events (Euchner’s analysis of King’s speech is unusual in that he does not simply provide a
line-by-line interpretation of King’s words. He also weaves in audience reactions)
Cite Text Evidence: Indicate where Euchner describes the audience’s reaction to King’s idea of providing
the audience’s reaction to King’s idea of the “bad check.” What is the effect of providing the audience’s
reaction?
7) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Print Cues include punctuation as well as italics and boldface type)
Euchner reproduces some of King’s words in italics, even though most copies of the speech do not show
words in italics. Which word appears in italics and why?
8) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Euchner uses descriptive words and figurative language, or words and
phrases whose meaning is not literal; to help convey the power of Kings’ words and the atmosphere on the National
Mall on the day that King delivered his speech)
Reread lines 95-99 and explain why Euchner chose the verb ripples. What does he mean when he says
King’s line “release some toxin from the body”?
9) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Mood is the atmosphere of general feeling conveyed by the details an
author includes. Mood can refer to the entire work or to one particular part of a work)
Cite text evidence reread lines 114-118 and describe the mood that Euchner creates in the paragraph,
citing specific words that help create the mood.
10) Analyze Ideas and Events (The author of an informational text develops ideas with supporting details and
examples. These may include direct quotes from other sources)
Cite text evidence: Identify the details Euchner uses to support his idea that King conjures images of
apocalypse in his speech.
11) Analyze Ideas and Events (Authors often weave in allusions, or references to well-known people, events, or
literary works that the author expects the audience to know)
He mentions Malcolm X in line 146. Read the footnote at the bottom of the page. How does mentioning
Malcolm X help to underscore Euchner’s point that King was warning people to reject violence?
12) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (In the tradition of black churches in the South, ministers use a technique of
call and response, to which Euchner earlier alluded. The minister speaks, and congregants shout back words of
agreement and encouragement)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 152-158 and cite the instance of call and response. What is the effect
of including this call and response in the text?
13) Analyze Ideas and Events (Euchner uses primary sources to support his analysis of events during the March on
Washington)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 179-186. Cite the primary sources Euchner uses to support his
contention that not everyone could hear King’s words. Explain the effect of including Ms. Rael’s words.
14) Determine Point of View (Understanding the author’s perspective of point of view can help them analyze a
text)
Reread lines 211-217. Explain how the lines provide clues the author’s perspective on Martin Luther
King, Jr. How does knowing the author’s perspective help to evaluate the author’s analysis?
15) Analyze Impact of Word Choice
In lines 212-214 Euchner adds in italics the sentiments that he believes King signals with his words, his
style, and the work he has done. Why did Euchner include these sentences? How does the repetition of
the word and the parallel construction in these sentences help make Euchner’s point?
16) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Euchner chooses his words carefully to ensure that they convey the meaning
he intends. He also uses figurative language in his analysis to help make his writing interesting and to help reader see,
hear, and fell the intensity of the day)
Cite text evidence: Identify the two similes in lines 228-233. What do the similes mean and why does he
include them in the text? What is the effect of referring to Harold Bragg as Harold, rather than Mr. Bragg
or Braff?
17) Analyze Ideas and Events (Euchner unfolds his analysis by proceeding through the words of the speech and
weaving in interpretation and audience reaction. He begins the discussion of King’s most famous lines from the
speech by providing the topic to focus on an audience member)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 268-277 and explain what they learn about the origin of the “I have a
dream” lines. Euchner explains that the bad check metaphor was written by someone else. Why does
he provide these specific details about the “I have a dream” lines in the speech?
18) Analyze Impact of Word Choice
In Line 279-281, Euchner notes that Clarence Jones, King’s advisor, watched as King turned over his
speech and then said, “These people don’t know it, but they are about to go to church.”
Remember…King was a minister. Reread lines 278-284 and explain what Jones may have meant by the
statement.
19) Analyze Ideas and Events
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 297-301 and explain how Pritchard is different from the other people
whose stories and reactions Euchner has featured, namely Harold Bragg and Mahalia Jackson. Why does
Euchner make a point of mentioning people’s race? He relays details about Richard Pritchard, including
when and how he arrived at the speech, how he felt when he heard King, and why he attended the
March on Washington. Where did he likely get his information?
20) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Look for examples of figurative language and the use of italics to emphasize
specific words)
Reread lines 302-304 and explain the meaning of “lightning shots through his body.” In line 303
Euchner adds the word feels in italics and sets it off by dashes. Why does he do this and how does the
addition of the italicized word change the meaning of the sentence?
21) Analyze Ideas and Events (Unfolding his analysis of the March on Washington and King’s speech, the author
draws connections between the audience members whose reactions he records and the words of King’s speech)
Cite text evidence: Reread liens 313-324 and explain what central word or idea Euchner uses to
connect Pritchard to King’s speech. What is the significance of his statement “King’s dream is his
dream”?
22) Analyze Impact of Word Choice
Line 344 Euchner states “Talk about the dream transforms time and space.” What does he mean by this
statement and how does it help readers understand the effect King’s words has on people?
23) Analyze Impact of Word Choice on Tone (The tone of a work conveys an author’s attitude toward his
audience and toward the subject matter he is covering. Word choice and sentence structure help convey the tone of
a passage. Tone can be formal, humorous, joyous, or condescending, to name a few)
What tone does Euchner use in lines 351-369 and which words help create that tone?
24) Analyze Impact of Word Choice on Tone (Euchner reproduces dialogue and sometimes dialect, or the way
people speak in a particular region, to allow readers to “hear” the conversations and exclamations of people in the
audience)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 361-369. Which lines help you can “hear” people’s exclamations?
Explain what print cues best convey the way people spoke.
25) Analyze Ideas and Events (Analyzing King’s speech, Euchner break down passages to clarify their meaning)
Reread lines 401-421 and explain how Euchner’s division of the passage helps clarify the passage’s
meaning.
26) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Euchner chooses to use sensory language-words that appeal to the sensesso that readers can experience what he describes)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 427-431 and point out words that help you visualize each scene. “The
people in the crowd follow their King.” What is the significance of referring to King as “their King”?
27) Analyze Impact of Word Choice (Euchner uses figurative language to describe events on the day of King’s
speech)
Cite text evidence: Reread lines 442-444 and cite the use of figurative language. Think about King’s
background as a minister, what does Euchner mean by this description?
28) Analyze Ideas and Events
Euchner concludes his analysis by quoting the final lines of King’s speech. Why might Euchner have
concluded with King’s words rather than his own?
Analyze Ideas and Events
Authors structure a text so that it makes sense and is easy to follow. Consequently, they usually
focus on a central idea and then move from one point to another in support of this idea. Euchner’s
analysis is unique in the he not only focuses on king’s speech, but he also weaves interpretation and
audience reaction into the speech. Euchner’s vivid language leaves readers with the feeling that they
were there when King delivered his famous words.