I've Been to the Mountain Top by Martin Luther King - Essay Example

Rhetorical Critique An Assignment Submitted by Autumn Rhetorical Critique The remarkable speech, “Ive Been to the Mountain Top” was delivered by Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination. King’s speech represented his long-term mission and dream for the African-Americans, who were struggling with inequalities and other problems because of the racial prejudices in the country. His phenomenal speech conquered the attention of the audience during the Civil Right era, specifically focusing on eradication of racial discrimination in social, economic, and personal level. The speech is critically examined and criticized in respect to its historical context, exigence, goal or purpose. The analysis of the speech is done with regards to its rhetorical problem, rhetorical strategies along with a keen evaluation of the speaker, and his persuasive usage of vocabulary. Historical Context It was in late Twentieth century, when the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum among the public. So King, being the leader-figure among the African-Americans, had the responsibility to motivate and inspire them in the right way. The African-Americans at time were deprived of their civil rights and it was a rigorous struggle for them to gain victory against then prevalent social inequality. The speech was given at a time when the followers of the Civil Rights Movement were becoming disappointed with the slow progress of the movement and were resorting to violence against King’s words. This was the reason for him to give motivational speeches, which would persuade the people to use non-violence in fighting against then prevalent racial inequalities. Rhetorical situation As a civil rights activist, King was hoping to inspire and lead the people on the path of non-violence and thereby successfully accomplish the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. This particular speech was given to a group of sanitation workers in Tennessee, who were resorting to use violence as a means for pursuing social justice. The speech had a lot of significance during that time or situation because it was delivered for the purpose of persuading the followers not to go off the track from their nonviolent struggle. Exigence Martin Luther King gave this speech to address the problem of racism in the society and how justice has to be pursued through non-violence. The issue of the sanitation workers’ violent strike was the exigent reason for the speech to be delivered at this particular location. Moreover, it was essential on the part of King to keep his followers on the right track and accomplish the purpose of their movement. He used his speech as a tool to publicly speak about the problem – the violent strike by the workers through rallies and boycotts. He insisted not only on the importance of equality, freedom, and justice but importantly on non-violence. Speaker Martin Luther King was one of the phenomenal speakers during the Civil Right Movement, motivating the people to fight boldly against the racially prejudiced society. Having experienced racial discrimination throughout his life, he felt that it was a moral obligation for him to stop the social prejudices against the African-Americans. He was determined in his mission to bring change regarding the prejudicial mindset and ways of the American society. He strongly believed that with cooperation from the people, it was possible to obtain equality in the society for all races. King’s outstanding oratory ability and non-violent character influenced the sizable sections of the American society to celebrate humanity, despite the racial differences. Goal/purpose The purpose of this speech was to address the issues of economic discrimination, inequality, and the racial prejudices faced by the African-Americans. His ultimate goal was to create a completely fair and balanced society for all from white to the colored, by providing equal opportunities for all. He insisted his followers to fight for the good cause of equality with determination and will power, even without his existence as a leader (coincidently, it turned out to be his last public speech). King’s key motive in this particular situation was to condemn the immoral approach of using violence to get equality. He asserted the importance of non-violence and persuaded the audience to continue to fight for their civil rights, in a peaceful manner. Audience The speech given by King at the Mason temple in Memphis, Tennessee was mainly focused on the sanitation workers who were on violent strike protesting against discrimination. The audience were strongly determined to listen to the speech, and so gathered in good numbers despite the storm warning. The speech was delivered at a slow pace with deep passion, which motivated the entire audience to adopt his dream as theirs. His words were much more significant to the audience considering the fact it addressed the injustice caused to the specific audience. Rhetorical strategies and Evaluation In this persuasive speech, King uses different types of rhetoric strategies and techniques to motivate the audience to do what he intends them to do. These strategies deliberately helped him to gain an upper hand among the audience. His speech is filled with the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos and pathos. His careful choice of words created a good sense of pathos among the audience, motivating them to understand or establish the objective of the speech. He successfully created an intense call-to-action to fight for the cause of racial inequality through his speech. His speech not only identified the problem of the society but suggested a prospective solution, and the ways in which the solution can be accomplished. Initially he used pathos to grab the attention of the audience. The way he tells the workers, how he is delighted to see them coming to listen to his speech and how he is contented to see them so determined, directly or subtly made the workers feel how important they are, therefore successfully gaining their acceptance to his speech. His usage of ethos and logos created an undisputed argument for non-violence which urged the audience to act accordingly. His emotional appeals in the speech brought out emotions from the audience as well. Also, King delivered a pathetic appeal when he says, “...in the human rights revolution, if something isnt done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed.” (Martin King, Jr.). Some of the composition techniques used by King in the speech included repetition, alliteration, and comparisons. These rhetoric strategies helped the audience to stay focused and motivated by the speech. His frequent usage of ‘if I had sneezed’ and ‘I wouldn’t stop there’ created momentum among the audience, energizing, and empowering them to the cause (King). Moreover, his usage of alliterations gives a poetic flow to the speech, keeping the audience at right pace with excitement. His repetitive usage of certain words highlights certain historical events, which is also a perfect usage of logos to create a logical appeal. His usage of Ethos increases his credibility and authority as the ethical appeal evoked trust among the audience. Moreover, the biblical allusions or metaphors such as ‘Promised Land’, ‘Jericho Road’, and ‘sick nation’ gives a sense of hope to the audience in the specific context. Similarly, ‘we’ statements are used throughout the speech such as ‘we are poor people’, ‘we go up together, or we go down together’, ‘Let us rise up’, ‘we are God’s children’, which puts a strong emphasis on togetherness among audience (King) By choosing the right words for his audience, and addressing them in the right tone, King takes hold of the entire crowd in his speech. His rhetorical strategies in the speech created great momentum and a sense of pride among the audience, successfully persuading them to act for the good cause. Reference Luther, Martin King. Ive Been to the Mountaintop. In American Rhetoric. Retrieved from: http//www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.h tm Read More