Author's Use of Structure and Rhetoric

What is the meaning of the refrain in this excerpt?

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama … little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low. … (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963)

• The refrain explains a dream that King had about children playing together.

• The refrain shows how the lives of children in Alabama are improving.

• The refrain identifies the goals that King holds for African Americans.

What is the meaning of the refrain in this excerpt?

… this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)

• The refrain stresses the important roles people play in government.

• The refrain announces Lincoln's new form of government.

• The refrain gives people in this nation new freedoms under the law.

What is the meaning of the refrain in this excerpt?

I know you are asking today, “How long will it take?” … How long will prejudice blind the visions of men … It will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again. … How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. ... How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1965)

• The rhetorical question/refrain promises that justice will eventually be achieved.

• The rhetorical question/refrain gives King's plan for ending prejudice.

• The rhetorical question/refrain indicates the time when the truth will come out.

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, …

What is Kennedy's central idea?

• As a nation, we have decided to go to the moon.

• Going to the moon is an impossible challenge.

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, …

What rhetorical question (word) does Kennedy ask in the first paragraph?

• Who

• What

• When

• Why

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, …

How do the rhetorical question and the refrain help to build Kennedy's argument?

• They explain why we will never go to the moon if we do not go now.

• They emphasize that going to the moon is important even though it will be hard.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America—the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

What is Obama's central idea?

• With determination, we can achieve positive change.

• The American people have struggled a lot.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America—the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

Obama uses a rhetorical question in this speech. True or False?

• True

• False

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America—the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

What refrain does Obama repeat in this speech?

• At a time

• Yes, we can

• Stand up and speak out

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America—the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

What effect does the refrain have on the speech?

• It highlights the idea that positive change can be achieved.

• It points out all the struggles that making change requires.