Comparing Political Speeches
Old Major’s Speech
"... No animal in England is
free. The life of an animal is misery and
slavery: that is the plain truth.
"But is this simply part of the order of
nature? Is it because this land
of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a
decent life to those who dwell
upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no!
The soil of England is fertile, its climate is
good, it is capable of affording food in
abundance to an enormously greater number
of animals than now inhabit it...
… Why then do we continue in this miserable
condition? Because nearly the whole of the
produce of our labour is stolen
from us by human beings. There, comrades, is
the answer to all our problems. It is summed
up in a single word--Man. Man is the only real
enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene,
and the root cause of hunger and overwork is
abolished forever.
"Man is the only creature that consumes
without producing…. get rid of Man, and
the produce of our labour would be our own…
..What then must we do? Why, work night and
day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the
human race! That is my message to you,
comrades: Rebellion! … No argument must
lead you astray…All men are enemies. All
animals are comrades….Whatever goes upon
two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon
four legs, or has wings, is a friend... And
remember also that in fighting against Man,
we must not come to resemble him...All the
habits of Man are evil…And now, comrades, I
will tell you about my dream of last night... ..I
will sing you that song now, comrades….It is
called 'Beasts of England.’”
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I have a Dream Speech
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is
still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation
and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years
later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in
the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity…
We refuse to believe that there are insufficient
funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this
nation.
So we have come to cash this check — a check that
will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and
the security of justice.
…There will be neither rest nor tranquility in
America until the Negro is granted his citizenship
rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to
shake the foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges…
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we
face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still
have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the
American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
created equal."…
This will be the day when all of God's children will
be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis
of thee, sweet land of liberty, ….And if America is
to be a great nation this must become true…when we
allow freedom to ring…all of God's children, black
men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants
and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in
the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last!
free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at
last!"
Analyzing Political Speeches
Name___________ Per____
Directions: Use this form to compare the structure and content of Martin
Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech with Old Major’s speech in Animal
Farm. Find phrases from each speech that serve as appropriate examples for
each box below.
Basic Structure
Describe the present
situation
Who is benefiting under
the current conditions?
Prove unfairness
Who is suffering under
the current conditions?
Provide a vision of a
better way
What would conditions be
like if they were fairer
than they are now?
Call for action
What must be done to
achieve fairer conditions?
Old Major’s Speech
I have a Dream Speech