Exercises and Assignments. I. The basic concept of the text can be considered as “freedom”

I. The basic concept of the text can be considered as “freedom”. Find key words dealing with this concept.

II. Identify the thematic groups of the following words:

– poverty, prosperity, insufficient funds, bankrupt, check;

– segregation, captivity, oppression, exile, slaveowners, crippled, persecution;

– brotherhood, to join hands, opportunity, rights, righteousness.

III. Study the imagery of the text and stylistic devices used to convey it. Are there examples of sustained metaphor?

IV. Speak on the emotional background of the text and mark the emotional key words and their stylistic value. Put these words in two groups: positive feelings and negative thoughts.

V. Which vocabulary do the words promissory note, gradualism, and tranquilizing drug belong to? What is their function in the speech?

VI. Point out examples of parallelism in “I Have a Dream”. For each example explain what the parallelism highlights in King’s message. Speak on the role of anaphora in the parallelisms.

VII. Explain how King uses imaginative comparison to weather and to day and night in order to describe the position of blacks in America. What is this position, as King sees it?

VIII. Comment on the syntactic structure of the speech sentences. Explain the role of short sentences. Give the examples from the text.

IX. What style and vocabulary are typical of oratory? Does King’s speech sound formal or informal? Give the examples to prove your point.

X. Speak on King’s frequent usage of the first-person pronoun “I”. Analyze the examples.

XI. Translate the following set expressions and comment on the vocabulary they belong to. Supply the context for the expressions from King’s speech:

to blow off steam, on the threshold of something, in a sense, to cash a check, to fall heir to, to reap the whirlwind, to march ahead, to put down roots, to live out something, on the high plane.

XII. Match each of the words in the first column with a suitable definition from the second column and give their translation.

1) tribulation	a) remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree
2) pledge	b) impossible to disentangle or separate
3) to languish	c) a small settlement, generally smaller than a village
4) promissory note	d) a metal band, chain, or shackle for fastening someone’s hands or ankles
5) manacle	e) to provide (someone) with a place to sleep or stay in return for payment
6) to default	f) a state of great trouble or suffering
7) invigorating	g) to lose or lack vitality
8) inextricable	h) a solemn promise or undertaking
9) prodigious	i) a signed document containing a written promise to pay a stated sum to a specified person or the bearer at a specified date or on demand
10) hamlet	j) the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart
11) segregation	k) giving strength or energy
12) to lodge	l) to fail to fulfill an obligation, esp. to repay a loan or to appear in a court of law

XIII. Match each word from the first column with a synonym from the second column. Use these words in the sentences of your own.

1) withering	a) outcast
2) exile	b) holy
3) pursuit	c) furious
4) sacred	d) discord
5) fierce	e) displeasure
6) sweltering	f) exhaustion
7) discontent	g) rebellion
8) revolt	h) destructive
9) fatigue	i) sultry
10) jangle	j) overwhelm
11) engulf	k) chase

XIV. Paraphrase the following sentences from King’s speech.

1. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

2. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

3. I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.

4. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

5. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

XV. Fill in the gaps using a suitable word from the synonymic row. Change the grammatical form of a word where necessary.