课前准备 Warm-up

Racial prejudice has long been a problem as well as a hot topic debate in the United States. Before you read the text, think about the following questions:

（1）What have read or heard about black people’s life in the United States?

（2）What is your opinion of racial discrimination?

（3）How much do you know about the Civil Rights Movement?

本章概览 An Overview

The text is a speech delivered by the famous Nobel Prize winner Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of the Civil Rights Movement, whose constant fight for equal rights between the white and the black.

His insights into the problems with American social system and the deeply-ingrained prejudice against the black was revealed in this speech. His analysis of riots and revolution in the United States is sound and convincing.

This speech, delivered in 1967, is more on the side of reasoning and persuasion and less on emotional appeal. The occasion and the task call for that. However, the speech is still full of rhetorical devices such as metaphors, antitheses and parallel structures.

学习目标 Objectives

Through textual analysis and learning, the students should

（1）Get the theme of the text

（2）Comprehend the social significance of the text

（3）Acquire relevant rhetorical devices used in the text

知识结构 Knowledge Structure

The text can be roughly divided into seven parts, which can be subdivided into several sections.

Part I (paras. 1-2)

Beginning: an introduction to the current situation of negroes.

Part II (paras. 3-5)

First task: affirmation of manhood.

Part III (paras. 6-9)

Second task: how to organize the strength of negroes in terms of economic and political power.

Part IV (paras. 10-15)

Economic security: guaranteed annual income.

Part V (paras. 16-20)

Commitment to nonviolence.

Part VI (paras. 21-25)

Restructuring American society.

Part VII (paras. 26-28)

Conclusion: determination and faith in spite of challenges and setbacks.