Essay On I'VE Been To The Mountain Top Speech By Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr. is certainly an obvious choice if you want to write about and analyze the speech of a good speaker. I have always found great diction in King’s speeches and the way he expresses warrant is commendable. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” is one such speech by King, in which he presented a dream and long-term mission for the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Back then, Martin’s was fighting for racial equality, especially for African-Americans. I believe his statement “I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight” is the pathos of his speech, which he uses to captivate the audience’s attention. The fact that the audience showed up despite of a “storm warming” must have made King more confident to deliver his message since his audience was obviously ready to listen to him.
The fact that King describes various past events in his speech reflects his use of logos. After using logos to recall past events, King next uses kairos as he speaks of the present moment, getting across a vital part of his message to his audience in Memphis. King then declares, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy” speaking to God, but what this truly reflects is the fact that he is aware that his mission will still be alive long after that time since he did not intend to stop until he succeeded, even though sadly this was the last speech of his life.
In order to support the solution that King the solution that he offers in his speech to racial prejudice, King uses both pathos and ethos by making an indisputable argument, which gives people a sense of hope. The message behind King’s speech is to prompt the people of Memphis to join forces in a nonviolent movement, like the one that occurred in Birmingham, Alabama. Again, King uses pathos because he wants the audience in Memphis to believe the same thing that the people of Birmingham believed, what turned them into a force that could not be counteracted.
As his speech comes to an end, King gives hope to the audience members in Memphis by using hyperbole and trope. He admits that difficult days are ahead of them, but he also tells them that he has been to the mountaintop, which is the iconic title of his speech. He is actually giving the audience hope by implying that that the worst of days are now over. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I've Been To The Mountain Top” speech is more of a promise from him to the African-Americans and all other people who were facing racial prejudice at the time that they will and they need to overcome these inequalities by joining forces with each other.