STAGE
This ungraded summary is for the teacher’s use only
and should not be given to students.
Chapter summary
Chapter 1 (The man from Alabama) looks at 1963 when
Martin Luther King led a march of more than quarter of a
million people to Washington to demand equal rights for
black Americans. Yet five years later, he was murdered.
Why was this man so loved and so hated?
Chapter 2 (Growing up in the south) shows that
although he came from a middle-class family (his father
was a minister of the church), Martin experienced racism
from an early age.
Chapter 3 (Slavery and the South) describes how in
1929, most black Americans lived in the South and were
the descendants of slaves brought over from Africa.
Although the slave trade was abolished in 1808, whites in
the South demanded the right to keep slaves.
Chapter 4 (War in America – and after) describes a
bloody war between the North and the South which ended
slavery in the South. Now they were free, many blacks
moved to work in the North. Blacks began to play a more
prominent part in American life.
Chapter 5 (Learning) looks at Martin Luther King as
a student who was much influenced by the non-violent
teachings of Gandhi. In 1954 he became a minister in
Montgomery, Alabama.
Chapter 6 (The Montgomery bus boycott) is about
Rosa Parks who was arrested for refusing to give up her
seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. Martin Luther
King organised a boycott of the city’s buses due to this.
The boycott lasted a year but it ended segregation in
Montgomery.
Chapter 7 (Big trouble in Little Rock) shows how
segregation in schools had ended but many Southern
states refused to obey the law. When nine black students
tried to enter the Little Rock High School, white protesters
rioted and the army had to be called in to stop the riots.
Chapter 8 (A new start?) describes how sit-ins in
whites-only restaurants in the South succeeded in ending
segregation there. Martin Luther King was imprisoned for
his part in the protests.
Chapter 9 (From Birmingham to Washington) looks at
police violence against peaceful protesters in Alabama and
how it shocked shocked the nation. In August 1963 Martin
Luther King made a famous speech to a huge crowd in
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Washington.
Chapter 10 (‘This country is sick!’) moves to a year
later when Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace
Prize, but continued his valuable work. He campaigned to
register more black Americans to vote.
Chapter 11 (‘I’m black and I’m proud!’) shows how
many young blacks were impatient with Martin Luther
King’s policy of non-violence. The Black Panthers and
Malcolm X thought that only the use of violence would
bring about real change.
Chapter 12 (‘Black and white, unite and fight!’) is
about when Martin Luther King widened the scope of his
activities. He spoke out against poverty in America and
protested against the Vietnam War. Some black leaders
were uneasy about this change of direction.
Chapter 13 (Death in Memphis) looks at 1968 when
Martin Luther King went to Memphis to support striking
workers. He made a speech in which he urged people to
carry on his work even after his death. The next day he
was shot dead.
Chapter 14 (Still dreaming) describes how Martin
Luther King’s death shocked the whole country. People
knew they had lost an inspirational leader. Thousands
came to his funeral. In 1983 his birthday became a national
holiday. Today his work is continued by the Martin Luther
King Center.
Background
The South has always been the poorest part of the USA.
In the past its main industry was farming. The North has
always been the home of the manufacturing industry and
big business. Now that manufacturing is less important
to the US economy, more businesses are re-locating to
the South. Many Southern cities are led by black mayors.
Although black Americans are more prominent in politics,
no black American has ever been elected president.
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Martin Luther King
3 Pre-reading activity

What do you know?

1 What do you know about Martin Luther King? Tick the correct statements:
a He was a black American leader.
b He was a black American sportsman.
c He was a member of the US government.
d He fought for equal rights for black Americans.
e In a famous speech he said ‘I have a dream’.
f He was killed.
g He believed that violence was necessary to change bad laws.

2 Can you match the people with the descriptions?

1 Jesse Jackson a black musician and composer

2 Malcolm X b world champion boxer

3 Duke Ellington c first black woman to be US Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

d black leader who believed that using violence was the only way to
4 Muhammad Ali
get equal rights

5 Condoleezza Rice e friend and supporter of Martin Luther King

3 What do you think? Give your answers to these questions.

a Slavery
Why do people want to own slaves?
b Equality
Why did it take so long for black Americans to have the same rights as white Americans?
c Fighting
When he was fighting to get equal rights for black people, Martin Luther King went to prison
many times. What does this tell you about him?
d Rights
Which of these rights are the most important?
The right to vote
The right to education
The right to say what you want
The right to do what you want

To the teacher

Aim: To prepare students to read about Martin Luther
King’s life and times
Time: 15–20 minutes
Organization: Use a picture of Martin Luther King. Ask
students if they know who it is. Then ask them to do
Exercise 1 either individually or in pairs.
Key 1: Students should tick Statements a, d, e, and f.
Explain that although the book is mainly about Martin
Luther King’s struggle to gain civil rights for blacks in
America, the book tells the story of many other people
who were important in the civil rights movement. Ask them
to do Exercise 2. Don’t spend too much time on this and
tell students not to worry if they don’t know many of these
people. They will learn about them in the book.
Key 2: 1e; 2d; 3a; 4b; 5c.
Exercise 3 is meant to provoke discussion and get students
thinking about some of the ideas that the life of Martin
Luther King brings up. Encourage students to express their
opinions on these ideas.

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Martin Luther King
3 While reading activity

Spot the mistakes

Read this summary of Chapter 3, Slavery and the South, and correct the mistakes.

B etween 1700 and 1850 millions of African men and women were taken
from their homes. In America they were sold to white farmers in the South
and worked in factories. The white farmers gave the slaves food, clothes, and
houses and paid them well. But many slaves ran away from their owners and
went back to Africa.
Slaves sometimes fought against their owners. In Liberia, Toussaint
L’Ouverture, a black slave, fought a battle against the French.
By 1860 there were more than a million slaves in the South. But more and
more people thought that slavery was wrong. The Declaration of Independence
said that all people were free to own slaves. Many Northern states ended
slavery. In the South slave-owners wanted to keep their slaves but they were
not ready to go to war for the right to keep slaves.

Now write a summary of the first part of Chapter 4. Include five mistakes. When you have
written it, give it to someone to correct.

To the teacher

Where: At the end of chapter 4
Aim: To consolidate comprehension of two important
elements in the background to the life of Martin Luther
King – slavery and the American Civil War
Time: 30 minutes
Organization: Make a copy of this worksheet for each
student. Ask students to look at the summary and say what
it’s about. Correct the first mistake with the class. Then
ask them to rewrite the summary correcting the remaining
mistakes. Allow 10 minutes for this. When students have
corrected the mistakes elicit the correct summary from the
class. Now ask students to write a summary of the first
part of Chapter 4, that is, up to :
By the beginning of the twentieth century a quarter of
blacks lived outside the South, mostly in big Northern
cities. Remind them that they should include five mistakes,
so that it looks like the summary of Chapter 3. When
students have written their summaries, ask them to
swap them with their neighbours. Students correct the
‘mistakes’, as in the first part of the activity.
Key: The corrected summary should look like this:
Between 1500 and 1850 millions of African men and
women were taken from their homes. In America they
were sold to white farmers in the South and worked on
cotton and sugar farms. The white farmers gave the slaves
food, clothes, and houses. But many slaves ran away from
their owners and were caught.
Slaves sometimes fought against their owners. In Haiti,
Toussaint L’Ouverture, a black slave, fought a battle against
the French.
By 1860 there were four million slaves in the South. But
more and more people thought that slavery was wrong.
The Declaration of Independence said that all people were
free and equal. Many Northern states ended slavery. In the
South slave-owners wanted to keep their slaves and they
were ready to go to war for the right to keep slaves.

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Martin Luther King
3 After reading activity

Complete the descriptions

1 Match the phrases to the people.

President Truman ordered troops to stop black children from going to school

W.E.B. Dubois used dogs against black protesters

Orval Faubus ended segregation in the US army

Bull Connor became President of the USA after Kennedy

Lyndon B. Johnson wanted black Americans to return to Africa

2 Complete these sentences with either the name of a person or a description of what he/
she did.

Bobby Seale

was President of the USA during the Civil War

James Baldwin

wrote a song for Martin Luther King’s birthday

James Earl Ray

To the teacher

Aim: To remind students of the role of various figures in
the story of Black emancipation
Time: 20 minutes
Organization: Ask students to work in pairs to match the
people and the descriptions. Then ask students to say
which of these people were in favour of what Martin Luther
King was working for and which were against. Encourage
discussion here.
Key 1:
Orval Faubus, ordered troops to stop black children from
going to school
Bull Connor, used dogs against black protesters
President Truman, ended segregation in the US army
Lyndon B. Johnson, became President of the USA after
Kennedy was killed
W.E.B. Dubois, wanted black Americans to return to Africa
There is more scope here for variation, but the table might
look something like this:
Key 2:
Bobby Seale, was a leader of the Black Panthers
Abraham Lincoln, was President of the USA during the Civil
War
James Baldwin, wrote The fire next time./Was a Black
writer
Stevie Wonder, wrote a song for Martin Luther King’s
birthday
James Earl Ray, was sent to prison for killing Martin Luther
King

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