Comparing Political Speeches

Old Majors Speech "... No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth. "But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! The soil of England is fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it... Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word--Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever. "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own ..What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! No argument must lead you astrayAll men are enemies. All animals are comrades.Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend... And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him...All the habits of Man are evilAnd now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream of last night... ..I will sing you that song now, comrades.It is called 'Beasts of England. Martin Luther King, Jr.s I have a Dream Speech One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. 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 live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, .And if America is to be a great nation this must become truewhen we allow freedom to ringall of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Analyzing Political Speeches

Name___________ Per____

Directions: Use this form to compare the structure and content of Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech with Old Majors speech in Animal Farm. Find phrases from each speech that serve as appropriate examples for each box below. Basic Structure
Describe the present situation Who is benefiting under the current conditions? Old Majors Speech

I have a Dream Speech

Prove unfairness Who is suffering under the current conditions?

Provide a vision of a better way What would conditions be like if they were fairer than they are now?

Call for action What must be done to achieve fairer conditions?