1. The poem I chose for my Historical Analysis text was "Martin Luther King Jr." by Gwendolyn Brooks. I chose to write about this topic because Martin Luther King Jr and the topics he represents have always interested me. The Civil War was one of my favorite wars to learn about, and although the Civil Rights Movement and The Civil War are two seperate topics from two seperate eras, I feel as if the two relate to each other simply because of the struggles of other races during the two times. There are many things that tie into Martin Luther King Jr and The Civil Rights movement that I am interested in learning more about than I already know.
2. In researching more about King, I have found much information on The Civil Rights Movement and other topics such as the Supreme Court Cases (Brown v. Board of Education) and historical sit ins and other historically famous people such as Rosa Parks.
3. The links I have provided have helped me to understand the work more through giving me thorough information and providing me with context about the Civil Rights Movement that I did not know before. I looked through timelines and read more about the background of King, which helped me to understand why King felt so strongly on the Civil Rights Movement and the equality of every race.
4. The underlying theme of the poem "Martin Luther King Jr." was equality. The Civil Rights Movement was all about the equality of everyone and the rights for the people. This theme carried over into the historical part of the poem and helped me to relate the poem to the Historical readings I was finding on King and The Civil Rights Movement.
5. There really aren't any parts of the work that I am struggling with. I feel I have a good understanding of this important era and the work that Martin Luther King completed.
6. Thesis Statement-
Martin Luther King Jr is a man of many things. When King is mentioned, bravery and remarkable confidence come to mind. King accomplished many things in his lifetime and will forever be remembered as a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement. In the poem "Martin Luther King Jr." by Gwendolyn Brooks, a theme of equality and true leadership are noted. King was a leader like none other. Since King was actually dead when this poem was written, Brooks chose strong words to make a lasting impression on the reader of the importance of King. Since King was such an important part of the Civil Rights Movement, the words chosen in this poem and the overall theme are what makes this poem one to remember.
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2 comments:
I am also writing my paper on this poem. I think it is good that you are including information on the Civil War as well. I hadn't really thought of doing that. We have different themes but have found similar aspects that made this poem important, like how it was written after he died.
Lindsay,
You have chosen a good poem for the analysis and you have rightfully related the poem to the historical information on the key figure the poem is devoted to… However your major claim (at least as formulated now) is too general and I wonder if what you labeled “thesis statement” is in fact a version of your introduction. In either case, you really “equality” is too broad of theme. Although it is well known that Dr. King’s legacy and the essence of the Civil Rights movement was to fight for equality, you need to be specific about what kind of manifistations of equality you mean. By the way, does the poem address that or more focuses on the type of person and leader Dr. King was. If the latter, you want to only focus on the details from your historical research that serve as evidence that the persona created by Brooks after King’s death matches the persona created by the documentary accounts.
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