Rhetorical

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
cowrote his “I Have a Dream” speech with his

close confidant Clarence Jones. In 2011, Clarence Jones and Stuart Connelly
published Behind the Dream, a behind-the-scenes account of the weeks leading
up to King’s delivery of that speech at the March on Washington.1 The following
passage is an excerpt from the prologue to Behind the Dream. Read the passage
carefully. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Jones makes to
achieve his purpose of introducing the reader to the book.
In your response you should do the following:
 Respond to the prompt with a thesis that analyzes the writer’s rhetorical
choices.
 Select and use evidence to develop and support your line of reasoning.
 Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
 Demonstrate an understanding of the rhetorical situation.
 Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your
argument.
A quarter of a million people, human beings who generally had spent their lives
treated as something less, stood shoulder to shoulder across that vast lawn, their
hearts beating as one. Hope on the line. When hope was an increasingly scarce
resource.
There is no dearth of prose describing the mass of humanity that made its way to
the feet of the Great Emancipator2 that day; no metaphor that has slipped
through the cracks waiting to be discovered, dusted off, and injected into the
discourse a half century on. The March on Washington has been compared to a
tsunami, a shockwave, a wall, a living monument, a human mosaic, an outright
miracle.
It was all of those things, and if you saw it with your own eyes, it wasn’t hard to
write about. With that many people in one place crying out for something so
elemental, you don’t have to be Robert Frost to offer some profound eloquence.
Still, I can say to those who know the event only as a steely black-and-white
television image, it’s a shame that the colors of that day—the blue sky, the
vibrant green life, the golden sun everywhere—are not part of our national
memory. There is something heart-wrenching about the widely shown images
and film clips of the event that belies the joy of the day. But it could be worse. We
could have been marching in an era before cameras and recording devices; then
the specifics of the event would eventually fade out of living memory and the
world would be left only with the mythology and the text. Text without context, in
this case especially, would be quite a loss. One might imagine standing before an
audience and reading Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech
verbatim, but it is a stretch to believe that any such performance would sow the
seeds of change with, as Dr. King put it that day in Washington, the “fierce
urgency of now.” The vast crowd, the great speaker, the words that shook the
world—it all comes as a package deal. We are truly fortunate to have a record.
Yet what the television cameras and radio microphones captured that August day
is but a sliver of the vibrancy of the event. When a film adaptation of a beloved
novel premieres, the people who say “Oh, but you’ve got to read the book” are
inevitably right. The density of the written word makes the flat motion picture a
pale artifact in comparison. In a similar fashion, although watching the black-and-
white news footage of Dr. King’s historic call to action is stirring to almost
everyone who sees it, learning about the work that went into The March and the
speech—the discussions and debates behind closed doors—offers a unique
context that magnifies the resonance of hearing those famous words “I have a
dream” in that phenomenal, inimitable cadence.
If taken together, the images and recordings of Martin make up that “movie” of
the 1963 March on Washington in our collective consciousness, and if it’s true, as
people often say, that “If you loved the movie, you’ve got to read the
book,” Behind the Dream is that book. It is a story not known to the general
public or disclosed to participants in The March—or, in fact, to many of its
organizers. I acquired private truths and quiet insights during the months leading
up to this historic event. For the most part, I’ve kept them to myself. But as this
book is published, I will be entering my eighth decade on this Earth, and as I move
closer to the final horizon, I realize the time has come to share what I know. The
experiences cannot die with me; the full truth is simply too important to history.
In his prologue to Behind the Dream -- Martin Luther King's close
confidant -- Clarence Jones vividly describes the March on Washington,
exposes the reflection of the March, and narrated the reason behind
his writing of the book, in order to evoke his purpose of introducing the
reader to the book, ultimately moving the audience to engage with the
setting and the book in reference to Martin Luther King's "I Have a
Dream" speech.
Jones begins by authentically describing the March on Washington in

order to showcase the power of the event. Jones describes the event in
the introduction of the book to allow the reader, after years, to
visualize the scope and importance of the event. Millions of people
"stood shoulder to shoulder" in the March in front of MLK Jr's podium,
while their hearts were "beating as one". The description of the status
of the audience emphasize how impactful the speech was. In addition,
to the fact that Jones was able to obtain this feeling from the large
crowd. Moreover, he expresses his sorrow towards the people "who
know the event only as a sleek black-and-white television image".
Moving forward to mentioning the "colors of that day" from the "blue
sky" to the "golden sun". Jones was able to create a full image of the
event for the readers of the book, making them eager to know the
secret behind this energy. To grabs the reader to the background
behind the "words that shook the world" -- that were given by MLK -- ,
Jones tells them that "if you loved the movie, you've got to read the
book". By the movie Jones refers to the description of the event that he
provided moving the reader forward towards the rest of Behind the
Dream.
Highlighting the impact that the March drew in history, Jones shifts by
exposing the effect of the details behind the March. Jones stresses on
how the event was reflected to the people who did not attend it, and to
the upcoming generations that must know about it. The "film clips of
the event" seems to be underestimating the impact of the event;
however, "it could be worse" if the March was in an "era before
cameras and recording devices". This evidence proves how impactful
the event is and that even with the low quality of the recording it still
drew the power of the event. "The event would eventually fade out" if
the event was not recorded, this indicates that the atmosphere
pictured is as important as the words said.
Jones finishes by narrating his relation to this event, in order to evoke

the reason behind writing Behind the Dream. As part of introducing his
book, Jones made it essential to mention why he has written the book,
since he was the close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. He "acquired
private truths and quiet insights" during the period of writing and
preparing the details of the March. After 80 years of his life Jones
realizes that "the time has come to share" what he knows. The
importance of the background of this historic event "cannot die" with
Jones; the "full truth" is as important as the day itself. This evidence
showcases the reason why Jones -- after 80 years -- decided to write
what happened in the period of preparation of the event. Furthermore,
the vast scope of the event and the impact that the March drew makes
the details behind it as important to introduce Behind the Dream.
Behind the Dream is a book with the purpose of showcasing the

background and the impact of the March on Washington. To introduce
the book and engage the readers with his book, Jones was required to
show the large scope of this historical event.

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Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

cowrote his “I Have a Dream” speech with his

In your response you should do the following:

Jones begins by authentically describing the March on Washington in

Jones finishes by narrating his relation to this event, in order to evoke

Behind the Dream is a book with the purpose of showcasing the

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