John Lewis’ Speech at March on Washington: Rhetorical Analysis Questions 2020

The last two lines contained anaphora - the purposeful repetition of the first part of sentences, clauses, phrases in order to achieve a specific artistic effect or specific emphasis.

Identify what anaphora/repetition appears in each sentence:

"While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in the Delta of Mississippi who are out in the fields working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day.  While we stand here there are students in jail on trumped-up charges." 

In the introduction to his speech, John Lewis is concerned that while they are marching for jobs and freedom many African Americans are not at the March because...

• they are not able to march because they are unhealthy and in prison

• they are working at low wage jobs and in jail

• they can't march because they live too far away in Mississippi and are in jail

• they won't march because they don't agree with his message

"Misgiving" means a feeling of DOUBT or SUSPICION, especially concerning a future event.

What does Lewis mean when he says, "We come here today with a great sense of misgiving"?

Infer: What would cause him to have "misgivings" about their cause?

 

Lewis includes strong imagery here.  What is the strong visual images? Why does he include them?

"It is true that we support the administration’s civil rights bill.  We support it with great reservations, however.  Unless Title III is put in this bill, there is nothing to protect the young children and old women who must face police dogs and fire hoses in the South while they engage in peaceful demonstrations."

He wants the Civil Rights Bill to be improved to protect African Americans who

• engage in peaceful protest

• making reservations at hotels

• want a equal education

• work on farms and in cities

He goes on to explain another reason why the current civil rights bill does not provide enough protection for African Americans because

• there are not enough high paying jobs

• Many African Americans are members of the SNCC

• Many African Americans are living in the South

• many African Americans are being arrested for peacefully protesting

A rhetorical question is asked for effect or to emphasize some point discussed when no real answer from the audience is expected. At the end of the second paragraph, what does Lewis emphasize with his rhetorical question? Why?

 

 

[2] "It is true that we support the administration’s civil rights bill.  We support it with great reservations, however.  Unless Title III is put in this bill, there is nothing to protect the young children and old women who must face police dogs and fire hoses in the South while they engage in peaceful demonstrations.  In its present form, this bill will not protect the citizens of Danville, Virginia, who must live in constant fear of a police state.  It will not protect the hundreds and thousands of people that have been arrested on trumped charges.  What about the three young men, SNCC field secretaries in Americus, Georgia, who face the death penalty for engaging in peaceful protest?"

What is another protection he wants the Civil Rights Bill to provide to African Americans?

• protection to live in the South

• protection for voting rights

• protection to protest

• protection against low wages

What anaphora does Lewis create in the fourth paragraph?

 

[4] We must have legislation that will protect the Mississippi sharecropper who is put off of his farm because he dares to register to vote.  We need a bill that will provide for the homeless and starving people of this nation.  We need a bill that will ensure the equality of a maid who earns five dollars a week in a home of a family whose total income is $100,000 a year.  We must have a good FEPC bill.

We need a bill that will ensure the equality of a maid who earns five dollars a week in a home of a family whose total income is $100,000 a year. 

What rhetorical appeal is Lewis using in this reason for having a good FEPC bill.

• ethos

• pathos

• logos