Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I Have a Dream’: Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to examine Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream” using Gee’s [1] building tasks. To specify, the paper highlights King’s use of language to build and destroy identity, relationship, and politics. The selected lines and paragraphs of the speech are divided into these three categories that are used in appropriate code scheme for analysis. Furthermore, the results show the ideologies and philosophical dogmas behind the speech, which relates to freedom, equality, and civil rights.