Barack Obama’s historic race speech
A Prompt for Term Paper (12.5%): You will writ rite a 4-5page essay (typed, 12pt font, double-spaced, 1” margin, proof-read, and spell-checked) on Barack Obama’s historic race speech, “A More Perfect Union” that he delivered on March 18, 2008, Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in juxtaposition with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech that he gave on August 28, 1963. The links to the speeches are: https://youtu.be/zrp-v2tHaDo (for Obama’s) and https://youtu.be/I47Y6VHc3Ms (for King’s). Develop a well thought out academic paper by comparing and contrasting these two important speeches, using insights from the course readings (focusing on Du Bois, Hurston, and Harrison and Harrison), films, class discussions and your own research. What are Obama’s major points? What are King’s main messages? How do the two speeches speak to each other? How do both narratives speak to African American experience and American nationhood? How do their narratives of race and African American experience correlate with Du Bois’ constructions of race and African American experience? [unique_solution]What is the significance of Obama’s speech and King’s speech to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement? You must use a minimum of 3 outside published sources (books and/or academic articles only, no WikiLeaks sources are allowed), in addition to the course readings. Use the APA style of citation (here’s the link to APA Citation Format: https://www.mendeley.com/guides/apa-citation-guide). Make sure to include a References Page as well as citing correctly throughout the paper. In your paper, you identify and analyze some of the major themes of the speeches and use appropriate academic concepts from course materials to make sense of the main ideas/messages from both speeches. Specifically, your paper will be graded according to: the thesis of your argument; a clear statement about what you aim to accomplish in your paper, a brief set-up of the account; understanding of the speeches in terms of African American experience; if using quote, stating it in the proper context and commenting upon it; evidence from the articles to back up your point; evidence from other relevant sources to back up your statements. Don’t make any assertions you cannot support.
You must submit your final term paper on the class iLearn website on by 11:50pm on Sunday evening, February 2. In addition, you are required to turn in hard copies of your term papers in class on February 3.