Name: Date:
“I Have a Dream”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
FIRST READ: Comprehension
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
1. In front of which building in Washington, D.C., did Dr. King deliver his “I Have a
Dream” speech?
a. Union Station
b. the White House
c. the National Cathedral
d. the Lincoln Memorial
2. In “I Have a Dream,” what does Dr. King urge African Americans to do?
a. struggle for equal rights with discipline and dignity
b. appreciate the freedoms they currently have
c. register to vote, even if it is not convenient
d. regard all white people with suspicion
3. Which of the following answer choices states Dr. King’s main purpose in “I Have a
Dream”?
a. He wants everyone in his audience to register to vote.
b. He wants Americans to appreciate their heritage more.
c. He wants his audience to secure civil rights for all Americans.
d. He wants white Americans to apologize for the evils of slavery.
4. Which of the following answer choices best identifies the “dream” Dr. King
describes in “I Have a Dream”?
a. power for the poor and disadvantaged
b. more wealth and prosperity for all Americans
c. election of more public officials from minority ranks
d. liberty and justice for all Americans regardless of race
FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
5. Which of the following situations can best be used to illustrate the meaning of
prosperity?
a. Manuel has lots of friends, a loyal dog, a job he loves, and a nice
apartment.
b. Toshiko likes mashed potatoes, crisp apples, dark chocolate, and peaches.
c. Caleb skis down the mountain every day to get to his job in the village.
d. Janna designs costumes for all the musicals and plays at school.
6. What is the meaning of tribulations in the following sentence?
We experienced a host of tribulations on our trip to India: the airline put our luggage on the
wrong plane, someone stole our rental car, and we both got sick the day after we arrived.
a. expenses, debts
b. delays, holdups
c. fears, anxieties
d. woes, miseries
7. If Jon’s emotions were exalted after seeing the opera, which of the following must
be true? Base your answer on the meaning of exalted.
a. Jon was deeply upset by the tragic story of the opera.
b. Jon felt uplifted in spirit by the glorious music he heard.
c. Jon felt soothed because the music was calm and serene.
d. Jon had a painful headache because the opera was so loud.
CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
8. What is the most likely reason that Dr. King refers to both the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence in his “I Have a Dream” speech?
a. He wants to remind his audience that Americans once fought for freedom.
b. He believes that every listener should carefully reread both documents.
c. He wants to stress that all Americans are guaranteed certain rights.
d. He believes that the two foundational documents are in conflict.
9. In “I Have a Dream,” Dr. King tells his listeners that they should not “wallow in the
valley of despair.” What feeling is he urging them to avoid?
a. hopelessness from believing that the present situation will never change
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
b. confidence that the present situation can be overcome without effort
c. satisfaction that others will do the work of change for them
d. resentment toward the society that has oppressed them
10. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In “I Have a Dream,” what does Dr. King mean when he says that
someday “the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be
made straight”?
a. People who oppress others will be severely punished.
b. National, state, and local elections will be run fairly.
c. Judges will be chosen on the basis of their merits.
d. Racial discrimination and injustice will finally end.
Part B Which sentence from “I Have a Dream” best supports the answer to
Part A?
a. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we
stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
b. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation.
c. [W]e will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a
beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
d. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with
the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
11. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In “I Have a Dream,” King speaks of African Americans “meeting
physical force with soul force.” In the context of this speech, which answer
choice best explains what King means?
a. He means that African Americans should offer hospitality to one another
at all times to combat the injustice of segregation in hotels and
restaurants.
b. He means that African Americans should rise above the behavior of their
oppressors, instead of responding to abuse with abuse.
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
c. He means that African Americans should never forget the evils done to
them by the oppressors, even once full integration is attained.
d. He means that African Americans should cling to their religion as a
solace and support during the difficult fight for civil rights.
Part B Which quotation from “I Have a Dream” best supports the answer to
Part A?
a. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is
granted his citizenship rights.
b. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical
violence.
c. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march
ahead.
d. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
12. In “I Have a Dream,” King refers to the promise of unalienable rights in the
Declaration of Independence as “this sacred obligation.” Later in the speech, he
refers to the Declaration’s famous phrase “all men are created equal” as a creed.
Which answer choice best explains the effect King achieves by using the words
sacred and creed?
a. The words convey the importance of liberty and equality to the American
nation and all its citizens.
b. The words remind everyone in King’s audience that he is a minister and
therefore should be treated with respect.
c. The words emphasize the importance of the Declaration’s text by
equating it with the founding document of a religion.
d. The words suggest that King believes his audience needs to be reminded
of the wording of the Declaration of Independence.
CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
13. Which rhetorical device is represented by Dr. King’s references to “a check”
and a “promissory note” in this passage from his “I Have a Dream” speech?
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our
republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall
heir.
a. analogy
b. repetition
c. parallelism
d. restatement
14. Read the following excerpt from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech:
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia,
go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that
somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Which words or phrases in this passage illustrate parallelism?
a. go back to
b. slums and ghettos
c. will be changed
d. knowing that somehow
15. Which of the following answer choices best identifies the italicized words in this
sentence from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech?
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of
police brutality.
a. repetition
b. symbolism
c. direct quotation
d. charged language
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
16. What is the effect of adding the suffix -tion to a base word?
a. Adding the suffix adds emphasis.
b. Adding the suffix changes a noun to a verb.
c. Adding the suffix changes a verb to a noun.
d. Adding the suffix makes the argument more persuasive.
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
17. To change the verb redeem to its noun form, add the suffix -tion. Which of the
following options shows the correct noun form of redeem? You may need to drop,
add, or change letters in redeem.
a. redeemtion
b. redemption
c. redeemation
d. redemptation
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Conventions
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
18. Read the following excerpt from “I Have a Dream”:
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the
dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to
lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now
is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
Which answer choices best describe how King’s use of parallel structure
affects the impact of this passage on his listeners? Choose two options.
a. Parallel structure strengthens connections between ideas.
b. Parallel structure creates a rhythm and balance in the excerpt.
c. Parallel structure implies the main point rather than stating it directly.
d. Parallel structure employs exaggeration to get the audience’s attention.
e. Parallel structure uses charged language to rouse the audience’s emotions.
19. Which of the following sentences contains the best example of parallel structure?
a. The inability of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to act on
the issue of slavery led to nearly 200 years of unrest that came to a head
during the civil rights movement.
b. Although John F. Kennedy was killed before much of his civil rights
program was enacted, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, fulfilled his
promises of justice for African Americans.
c. Baseball player Jackie Robinson, singer Marian Anderson, poet Langston
Hughes, and minister Martin Luther King, Jr. all played crucial roles in
the fight for civil rights.
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GRADE 9 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST “I HAVE A DREAM” BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Name: Date:
d. Charlayne Hunter-Gault, one of nine brave students who integrated the
Little Rock school system, grew up to become an internationally known
journalist.
20. Which of the following sentences contains the best example of parallel structure?
a. The 1960s saw mass social and economic protests in France, Italy,
Poland, and many other places besides the United States.
b. Martin Luther, the German religious leader for whom King was named,
wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, founded a new church, and translated the
Bible into German.
c. President Lyndon Johnson’s ambitious program of social reform, so
important to King’s fight for civil rights, was partially derailed by
American involvement in the Vietnam War.
d. When Branch Rickey hired Jackie Robinson to play for the Brooklyn
Dodgers, he explained that Robinson would need courage to keep from
fighting back when taunted or threatened.
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