BACKGROUND
STUDY GUIDE
SPEECH
VOCABULARY
THEMES
LITERARY TERMS
READING A SPEECH
OTHER FAMOUS
SPEECHES
• Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)
– “Bobby” Kennedy, as he was usually known, was the seventh of
nine children. As a child, Kennedy traveled abroad with his father,
Joseph P. Kennedy, received letters from President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and he even met the Pope. Kennedy enjoyed proving
himself by taking risks. When his older brother, John was elected
President, he appointed Bobby his Attorney General. Robert
Kennedy used this position to help further the cause of civil
rights. After his brother’s assassination, he was elected Senator
from New York. Many people believe he would have won the
Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 if he had not been
assassinated.
Robert and John Kennedy were personally
supportive of Dr. King and his family. The Kennedys
believed in Dr. King’s nonviolent desegregation
efforts.
• On April 4, 1968, Senator
Robert F. Kennedy was in
Indiana campaigning for the
Democratic nomination for
President when he learned
that Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., had been shot and killed.
Just five years earlier,
Kennedy had lost his brother,
John, who was also shot and
killed by an assassin.
• That evening at a rally with a mostly black crowd, Robert
Kennedy announced King’s death in the heartfelt speech that you
will read. Kennedy went on to win the Indiana primary. On June
4, 1968, after he won the California primary, a man approached
him as if to shake hands. A shot rang out, and Robert Kennedy
crumpled to the floor. Two days later he, too, died.
17-year-old Juan
Romero tries to
hold Robert F.
Kennedy after he
was suddenly shot.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj80sODGYw
• This is a brief overview of the Civil Rights
Movement. The Kennedys and Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., were key players when
promoting NON-violent demonstrations so that
there would be desegregation (allowing whites
AND blacks to co-exist).
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A speech given at the
signing of a peace treaty
after a war would be very
different from a speech at
a memorial service for
children who died in a fire.
How a speech is written
and delivered depends on
its topic and purpose, the
occasion, and the audience.
The crowd that listened to
Robert F. Kennedy’s
speech undoubtedly heard
the news of the death of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.,
with great sorrow and
anger. The purpose of the
speech was to persuade the
crowd not to react to the
terrible event with hatred
and violence.
What are Kennedy’s
strongest statements?
(DISCUSS)
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Identify the main feeling
words:
 dedicate (verb) to give up wholly to some purpose; devote
 evidently (adverb) plainly; clearly
 polarization (noun) breaking up or separating into two opposing
sides
 compassion (noun) sympathy or pity
 abide (verb) live, reside
 desegregation (noun) the elimination of laws, customs, or
practices under which different races, groups, etc., are restricted to
specific or separate public facilities, neighborhoods, schools,
organizations, or the like.
 ALLUSION (noun) a reference to something outside of the text.
Robert F. Kennedy alludes to the poet “Aeschylus” in his speech.
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• Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.,
was shot.
• Evidence: “I have bad news for you,
for all of our fellow citizens, and
people who love peace all over the
world, and that is that Martin Luther
King Jr., was shot and killed tonight”
(para. one, page 530).
• Answer: This speech is written in second
person point of view.
• Evidence:
– “I have bad news for you […]”(para.one, page 530).
– “For those of you who are black and are tempted to be
filled with hatred and distrust […]”(para. five, page
530).
– “So I shall ask you tonight to return home […]”(para.
eight, page 531).
• Answer: Martin Luther King Jr., worked
for civil rights and achieving justice for
all people.
• Evidence: “Martin Luther King dedicated
his life to love and to justice for his fellow
human beings, and he died because of that
effort” (para. two, page 530).
• Answer: Kennedy feared that the people would
become hateful and violent.
• Evidence: “[…] you can be filled with bitterness,
with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can
move in that direction as a country, in great
polarization- black people amongst black, white
people amongst white, filled with hatred toward
one another (para. three, page 530).
• Answer: Kennedy encourages people to
continue to be hopeful, compassionate,
sympathetic, similar to King’s response
to people.
• Evidence: “Or we can make an effort, as Martin
Luther King did, to understand and to
comprehend, and to replace that violence , that
stain of bloodshed across our land, with an effort
to understand with compassion and love”(para.
four, page 530).
• “Or we can make an effort, as Martin
Luther King did, to understand and to
comprehend, and to replace that violence ,
that stain of bloodshed across our land,
with an effort to understand with
compassion and love”(para. four, page
IMAGERY: When the author paints a picture with
530).
his/her words. Here, Robert F. Kennedy is painting a
picture of how bad the violence is – that it leaves a
“stain” of “bloodshed” across the nation.
• Answer: Kennedy asks his audience to
pray for Dr. King, for our country, and
for understanding and compassion.
• Evidence: “So I shall ask you tonight to return
home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin
Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to
say a prayer for our own country, which all of us
love- a prayer for understanding and that
compassion of which I spoke” (para. eight, page
531).
• Answer: Yes, Kennedy believes that the
people in the United States want to have
justice for all Americans.
• Evidence: “But the vast majority of white people
and the vast majority of black people in this
country want to live together, want to improve
the quality of our life, and want justice for all
human beings who abide in our land” (para. ten,
page 531)
• Answer: He refers to the assassination of
his brother, John F. Kennedy.
• Evidence: “[…] I feel in my own heart the
same kind of feeling. I had a member of
my family killed, but he was killed by a
white man. But we have to make an effort
to understand, to go beyond these rather
difficult times” (para. five, page 530).
• Answer: The “savageness of man” refers to the cruel
side of humankind, the side that would kill a
peacemaker such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
– “[…] to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has
spread across our land, with an effort to understand with
compassion and love”( para. four, page 530).
•
To “make gentle the life […]” means to work towards
living peacefully among all people.
– “But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of
black people in this country want to live together, want to
improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human
beings who abide in our land”(para. ten, page 531).
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• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT3H
p9kSrpA
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• Tone: describes the author’s or speaker’s
attitude towards the subject and the
audience, or reader.
• What tone (attitude) does Kennedy take in
his speech?
– Forceful, persuasive, optimistic, hopeful,
comforting, humble
Read each quote and identify the tone for
those specific words.
 “I have bad news for you.”
 mournful, sad
 “Martin Luther King, Jr., dedicated his life to
love and to justice…”
 respectful, hopeful
 “What we need in the United States is not
division; what we need in the United States is
not hatred; what we need in the United States is
not violence or lawlessness…”
 forceful
• MOOD focuses on ME.
– TONE = AUTHOR
– MOOD = READER
• The tone of a speech or written work
provides the mood, the atmosphere or
feeling the reader gets from the speech.
The choice of details and words all
contribute to create a specific mood.
• Explain the difference in tone and mood when
reading this speech and when viewing it.
TEXT version of
speech
LIVE recording of
speech
• TONE:
affirmative,
sorrowful, hopeful
• MOOD: somber,
sad
• TONE: optimistic,
humble, urgent
• MOOD: hopeful,
optimistic,
encouraged
• Repetition: word or phrase used over and over
again for emphasis.
• What words and phrases does Kennedy repeat in
his speech?
– Possible Answers:
• “Let us dedicate….”
• “…want to live together, want to improve
the quality of our life, want justice….”
• “What we need…”
• “We have to make an effort…”
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• Theme: recurring idea or insight found in
the story; also known as the HIDDEN
MESSAGE. It can also be the lesson the
character learns.
• What do you think the theme of Robert
Kennedy’s speech is?
•
.
Theme #1
Theme #2
Theme # 3
• Overcoming Differences
• What did we learn? What is the moral/lesson?
• Dealing With a Loss
• What did we learn? What is the moral/lesson?
• Death of a Friend/Someone Important
• What did we learn? What is the moral/lesson
learned?
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• Kennedy emphasizes the importance for
all Americans to “overcome” the
“differences” that they believe separates
them and unite as Americans, and not
create division because it will only lead to
hatred and violence. He warns them not
to move in a “direction” of “great
polarization” (para. three, page 530).
• Kennedy tries to help the people in the
crowd cope with the “loss” of Martin
Luther King. His speech focuses on how
Americans need to come together “[…]
with an effort to understand with
compassion and love” (para. four, page
530).
• ALLUSION (noun) a reference to something
outside of the text. Robert F. Kennedy alludes
to the poet “Aeschylus” in his speech.
– “My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: ‘In
our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by
drop upon the heart until, in our own despair,
against our will, comes wisdom through the awful
grace of God.’ “ (paragraph 6, page 530).
• In our past, in our present, and in our
future, many people have made, make,
and will make powerful speeches that
make powerful and emotional connections
to their audiences.
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPi8cAYLYO0
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