Read the body paragraph from Paola's rhetorical analysis essay of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a
Dream" speech
Which revision would most improve the body
paragraph?
By comparing the Constitution to an uncashed check,
King successfully communicates his point that the US
has not fulfilled its promises to citizens of color. "In a
sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a
check. ... It is obvious today that America has
defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her
citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring
this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro
people a bad check, a check which has come back
marked insufficient funds." In using the analogy of a
bad check, King provides a familiar framework that his
listeners understand. This framework illustrates the
US government's failure to fulfill its promises to all of
its people. King uses the image of a check to show
O rewriting the topic sentence to establish a clearer
connection to the thesis statement
O providing examples of analogies and how they
support King's argument
O using a smoother transition to the quotation to
create a focused line of reasoning
O adding more explanations of the analogy of a bad
check to ensure that it is specific