"I Have a Dream", by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Due January 25

Perhaps on of the most influential speeches in American history was given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, DC, in 1963.  Dr. King was a Baptist pastor but is better known as a civil rights leader.  He became famous as a young minister, still in his 20s, when he organized a bus boycott in Birmingham, Alabama after Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger.

Dr. King and others organized a "March on Washington" to peacefully protest the abuses and lack of freedoms suffered by black Americans.  His speech made a big impact on the way that Americans thought about race and the importance of protecting the rights of others.

Your assignment is this: you are to watch a video of the speech (which you can find here) then bring me a note of confirmation from home written and signed by a parent.  The note should say "I will personally vouch for the fact that (your name here) watched the I Have a Dream Speech". (Then parent signature).

We will discuss the speech in class next week, then (drum roll) you will have your own public speaking debut.  Fun will be had by all.

Assignment 1, Due Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Welcome to the IPS (Introduction to Public Speaking) class site! You will come here most weeks to complete your homework assignments.  Remember that assignments must be posted by midnight on Wednesday evening for credit.

Here are the websites we will reference regularly: TED Talks (they are all on youtube.com but can also be found at www.ted.com.  The class material will come from www.publicspeakingproject.org, although I doubt you will ever be required to visit the site for class purposes.  Keep it in mind though, as it is a fantastic resource and may come in handy in other classes down the road.

Here's your first assignment: After watching a TED (Technology/Education/Design) Talk video, give a short response by replying to this post.  We will want to know a) the speaker's name and topic; b) your assessment of the speech.  Did the speech make sense to you?  Was it well-organized?  Did it impact the way you think? Did the speaker use humor or get emotional?  If you were speaking on the topic, how might you have addressed the issue to be more effective?  Answer these questions in your post.  Use complete sentences, appropriate paragraph structure, and real words (not "cuz" or "kinda", etc.).

Your answer should be 200-250 words and must be entirely your own work.  Plagiarized (copied) work will be given a grade of zero and will result in punishment.  If you have obviously made minimal effort to complete the assignment or it appears that you did not actually watch the speech, your grade will be affected accordingly.

Best of luck.  Email me if you have questions.  Make sure the answer to your question isn't in the above paragraphs before contacting me.