I Have a Dream Questions for Kids

In front of which building in Washington, D.C., did Dr. King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech?

• Union Station

• the White House

• the National Cathedral

• the Lincoln Memorial

In “I Have a Dream,” what does Dr. King urge African Americans to do?

• struggle for equal rights with discipline and dignity

• appreciate the freedoms they currently have

• register to vote, even if it is not convenient

• regard all white people with suspicion

Which of the following answer choices states Dr. King’s main purpose in “I Have a Dream”?

• He wants everyone in his audience to register to vote.

• He wants Americans to appreciate their heritage more.

• He wants his audience to secure civil rights for all Americans.

• He wants white Americans to apologize for the evils of slavery.

Which of the following answer choices best identifies the “dream” Dr. King describes in “I Have a Dream”?

• power for the poor and disadvantaged

• more wealth and prosperity for all Americans

• election of more public officials from minority ranks

• liberty and justice for all Americans regardless of race

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.

• Jon was deeply upset by the tragic story of the opera.

• Jon felt uplifted in spirit by the glorious music he heard.

• Jon felt soothed because the music was calm and serene.

• Jon had a painful headache because the opera was so loud.

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 Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

• analogy

• repetition

• parallelism

• restatement

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?

• go back to

• slums and ghettos

• will be changed

• knowing that somehow

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.

• repetition

• symbolism

• direct quotation

• charged language

Which of the following sentences contains the best example of parallel structure?

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Charlayne Hunter-Gault, one of nine brave students who integrated the Little Rock school system, grew up to become an internationally known journalist.

Which of the following sentences contains the best example of parallel structure?

• The 1960s saw mass social and economic protests in France, Italy, Poland, and many other places besides the United States.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.