Writing Workshop on Great Americans:Martin Luther King Jr.
On February 27, 2025, four undergraduate students from the Department of English, Loreto College, Kolkata attended a writing workshop on Great Americans: Martin Luther King Jr. organised by the American Center, Kolkata. The session was also attended by students from three other colleges: Basanti Devi College, Scottish Church College, and Shri Shikshayatan College. Dr. Mukulika Dattagupta, Fulbright-Nehru alumna and Associate Professor of English at Adamas University, led the session.
After a succinct introduction of Martin Luther King Jr. and his ideologies, Dr. Dattagupta delved into the notion of writing and speech being a way of expression and change. She extended the idea to the primary objective of the workshop: how one uses writing to express oneself in a world where writing is used as a medium to propagate change and no longer holds an isolated, purely aesthetic value.
Thereafter, two colleges were handed King's speech "I Have a Dream," while the others received his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. Initially, the students were asked to glean and decipher the various aspects and topics brought up in the speeches, as well as the rhetorical elements used. This culminated in an intensive discussion, with all the students articulating their observations.
Following the discussion, students were asked to write one non-fictional piece and one fictional piece that would implement any one thematic aspect and any two rhetorical elements employed in King’s speeches. By directly interacting with the texts and attempting to write in the same fashion, students understood King and his art of rhetoric better.
The interaction was richly laden with intertextual references, and the pieces were infused with the students’ originality and deep understanding of King's works. Overall, the session was interactive and enjoyable, enabling the students to explore their literary style through the lens of King's craft.
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