Teaching rhetoric using Martin Luther King Jr.?

Question

I am creating a lesson plan on rhetoric to show that how you use language to express yourself is as important (if not more) than your specific message.

I am using "I Have a Dream" because it is a masterpiece of rhetoric.

I am looking for either
1.) a parody speech, using the same powerful structure on a more inane topic (have a dream of no homework, I have a broccoli etc.) or
2.) a writing that expresses the same views but by using more bland, non-powerful language.

If you have any such thing, I would greatly appreciate it.

Answer 1

my immediate thought after reading your question was that you could try using a modern hip-hop/rap song with a similar message as Dr. King's...not to say that such songs exemplify "bland [or] non-powerful language," i just figured the language used in most would be contrary to the desired rhetoric of Dr. King. anyway, political correctness aside, i'm sure there are a number of such songs out there, but not being a conisseur of this genre i could offer only one example: "I Have a Dream" by Common, which expresses the theme of the "I Have a Dream" speech in less "proper" language. attached is a link to the lyrics...hope this helps.

Great Idea, regardless!

Answer 2

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and say no to a Starbucks on every corner and 5 dollar cups of coffee.

I have a dream that one day people on the internet will learn how to spell and we will stop having to answer questions like "ASL?" and that people will finally realize that a 3 in no way resembles the letter E as in P3AC3. On that great day, we will join together at the table of brotherhood of good grammar and proper spellling.

I have a dream that one day even in the state of California, people will actually learn to drive and that cutsey vanity license plates will become extinct in our own lifetime.

I have a dream that my one little child (who is really a 20 year old oaf who is eating me out of house and home) will one day realize that there is more to life than Nintendo and actually get a haircut and a real job.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, when a guy tells you he will call you, he actually does it.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valleygirl shall be forced to shop at Walmart, every hill and mountain shall be climbed so that we can stop singing that annoying song Climb Every Mountain, that Mac Donald's will hire people who can actually manage to get your order right the first time, that somebody will come up with some new ideas for movies so that we don't have to keep watching old Nick at Night shows get remade for the big screen, that somebody will fix the pothole at the corner of my block, that all infomercials (especially the ones with that wierd guy in the suit with dollar signs on it) will be made illegal, that songs with words we can actually understand will come back in style and that Ben and Jerry's will invent a calorie-free version of Cherry Garcia ice cream.

I have a dream -- in fact I have a whole lot of them. C.