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The author’s use of language in paragraph 8 contributes to the tone of the selection through C. The warning and seasonal imagery create a tone of urgency. The references to the "sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent" and the "invigorating autumn of freedom and equality" convey a pressing need for action and change, emphasizing that the moment cannot be overlooked or ignored.
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The definition that best matches the use of the word "redemptive" in paragraph 15 is B. Definition 2: Bringing a sense of justice and moral renewal. In this context, "redemptive" refers to the idea that enduring suffering can lead to a greater sense of justice and renewal for the community in their struggle for civil rights.
[1] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest
demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
[2] Five score1 years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of
withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
[3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. [3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of
discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in
the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is
still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own
land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
[4] 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 note2 to which every American was to
fall heir
[5] This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be
guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 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.”
[6] But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe
that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so,
we‘ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of
freedom and the security of justice.[7] We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of
Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing
drug of gradualism. 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 thesolid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s
children.
8] It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This
sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an
invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a
beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now
be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And
there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his
citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our
nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
[9] But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm
threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful
place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for
freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our
struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative
protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
[10] The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not
lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by
their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our
destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our
freedom.
[11] We cannot walk alone
12] And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
[13] We cannot turn back.
[14] There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be
satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the
unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies,
heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and
the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro‘s basic mobility is
from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children
are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites
Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a
Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not
satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream.”
[15] I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have
come from areas where your quest— quest for freedom left you battered by the storms
of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the
veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is
redemptive. 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.How does the author’s use of language in paragraph 8 contribute to the tone of the
selection?
A. The descriptions of justice create a lighthearted tone.
B. The references to history make the tone indifferent.
C. The warning and seasonal imagery create a tone of urgency.
D. The financial metaphors establish a tone of resignation
Read the dictionary entry.
Redemptive
/rəˈdem(p)tiv/ adjective
1. Leading to punishment
2. Bringing a sense of justice and moral renewal
3. Encouraging violence and revenge
4. Removing all obstacles from the movement
Which definition best matches the use of the word redemptive in paragraph 15?
A. Definition 1
B. Definition 2
C. Definition 3
D. Definition 4
1 answer