Revisions
Theresa Williams
Analysis Revision
February 28, 2012
Analysis: I’ve Been to the Mountaintop
This classic speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I’ve Been to the Mountaintop is a prophetic speech inasmuch as he was encouraging the audience with what he envisioned the results of the Civil Rights struggle.
Dr. King uses a series of auxesis in this speech starting with an arrangement of imagined conversations with God in which he took a prophetic travel through time. He said, (paraphrasing) that if he were to stand at the beginning of time, and God were to ask him which time in history would he like to be alive in. He started with some of the most epic times in biblical history; through the Greek and Roman Empires; then from the Renaissance to the Reformation with Martin Luther (for which he acknowledges being named after); down passed the days of Emancipation Proclamation through to the Great Depression era landing at the place where he was, which was the latter half of the 20th century where he saw the proverbial promised land for black people in America. In this land the milk and honey would be the ground they would gain in the voting rights act, and the dismantling of the prohibitions and limitations imposed against black people because of color.
How does the speech work? In addition to the auxesis, the speech was given in what I would call traditional Baptist preacher style with an intellectual flair in which the language, tone, and expressions used go from high, middle to low; but not necessarily in that order. This helps to keep the listens actively listening and engaged in your speech or topic. Being engaged in the topic wasn’t hard, because all of the people in the audience, including Dr. King were living it. While he had notes, I doubt that he would need them for nothing more than to help him stay on track, but not because he didn’t know what to say or how to say it. It was a burden to him, like a prophet. He had it deep down inside.
Dr. King’s eloquent command of rhetoric had a way of making phrases like “Good morning” feel as refreshing as a cold Coca-Cola on a hot Mississippi day. His speech included all three of Aristotle’s pistis’ or persuasive appeals: logos, or logic and reason, pathos – emotion, ethos – the appeal of one’s character; but primarily pathos and ethos which we see in statements like:
Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. (King)
His delivery was typical for those types of events. He was in a the Church of God in Christ’s Headquarters in Tennessee. His dress and position in the pulpit was appropriate for that type of gathering. That was an era where formal dress was considered respectable, particularly for a man of his stature.
I asked myself, does this speech meet the criterion for a rhetorical situation; and the answer is yes. According to Lloyd F. Bitzer, author of “The Rhetorical Situation”, rhetoric is situational. In the case of Dr. King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech the situation was the ongoing Civil Rights Movement; and the speech itself is significant because of the Civil Rights Movement.
However, we are now living in the post-civil Rights era and the dynamics and the players are all different so Dr. King’s so the speech may not have the same effect or impact if Dr. King gave that speech today because there does not appear to be such an intense rhetorical situation.
Bitzer defines rhetorical situation as “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence…” (Bitzer 6) Bitzer said there are “three constituents of any rhetorical situation: the first is exigence…” (6) Simplified, exigence is what “prompts the author or speaker to write or speak in the first place; a sense of urgency, a problem that requires attention right now, a need that must be met, a concept that must be understood before the audience can move to a next step." (6) Racism and prejudice acts of injustice committed upon the Negro people during that time was the exigence. It was an urgent situation and one that the world had at once taken notice; so it had to be dealt with. However, Dr. King’s vision of victory was the energizing force for the movement the declared that the Afro-American of that era would indeed overcome in the not too distant future.
The day of the Mountaintop speech Dr. King was poised, and resolute; dressed in tradition church attire and positioned on a podium in the Church of God in Christ’s headquarters in Nashville, TN. The tone of his voice as well as the tone of his message captivated the audience who came to hear a message of hope and directions for the next step, and they sat in the crowd responding in the typical call and response way of interaction in the black church.
King’s larger audience included the nation at large. It ranged from those who were directly affected by the struggle, to those who co-labored, to those who could affect change.
This black Baptist preacher had the ear of the poor worker, the priest, our nation’s president at the time, and everyone else in between – whether or not they supported him.
Last, Bitzer mentions “the constraints which influence the rhetor and can be brought to bear upon the audience.” (6) In this case the constraints could be the reality of death threats, of which if carried out before time could stifle the movement. Other things that could have stifled the movement would have been a complete division within the ranks of the movement, as well as the potential for lack of support from the black community during this time.
I would venture to say that the entire Civil Rights Movement was a rhetorical situation; a time when rhetoric ruled and changed the course of our nation for the best.
Works Cited
Bitzer, Lloyd F.. "The Rhetorical Situation."1-14. Print.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King. 1968. Video. American Rhetoric Top 100 Speeches. Web. 5 Feb 2012.
Analysis Revision
February 28, 2012
Analysis: I’ve Been to the Mountaintop
This classic speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I’ve Been to the Mountaintop is a prophetic speech inasmuch as he was encouraging the audience with what he envisioned the results of the Civil Rights struggle.
Dr. King uses a series of auxesis in this speech starting with an arrangement of imagined conversations with God in which he took a prophetic travel through time. He said, (paraphrasing) that if he were to stand at the beginning of time, and God were to ask him which time in history would he like to be alive in. He started with some of the most epic times in biblical history; through the Greek and Roman Empires; then from the Renaissance to the Reformation with Martin Luther (for which he acknowledges being named after); down passed the days of Emancipation Proclamation through to the Great Depression era landing at the place where he was, which was the latter half of the 20th century where he saw the proverbial promised land for black people in America. In this land the milk and honey would be the ground they would gain in the voting rights act, and the dismantling of the prohibitions and limitations imposed against black people because of color.
How does the speech work? In addition to the auxesis, the speech was given in what I would call traditional Baptist preacher style with an intellectual flair in which the language, tone, and expressions used go from high, middle to low; but not necessarily in that order. This helps to keep the listens actively listening and engaged in your speech or topic. Being engaged in the topic wasn’t hard, because all of the people in the audience, including Dr. King were living it. While he had notes, I doubt that he would need them for nothing more than to help him stay on track, but not because he didn’t know what to say or how to say it. It was a burden to him, like a prophet. He had it deep down inside.
Dr. King’s eloquent command of rhetoric had a way of making phrases like “Good morning” feel as refreshing as a cold Coca-Cola on a hot Mississippi day. His speech included all three of Aristotle’s pistis’ or persuasive appeals: logos, or logic and reason, pathos – emotion, ethos – the appeal of one’s character; but primarily pathos and ethos which we see in statements like:
Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we've got to keep attention on that. (King)
His delivery was typical for those types of events. He was in a the Church of God in Christ’s Headquarters in Tennessee. His dress and position in the pulpit was appropriate for that type of gathering. That was an era where formal dress was considered respectable, particularly for a man of his stature.
I asked myself, does this speech meet the criterion for a rhetorical situation; and the answer is yes. According to Lloyd F. Bitzer, author of “The Rhetorical Situation”, rhetoric is situational. In the case of Dr. King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech the situation was the ongoing Civil Rights Movement; and the speech itself is significant because of the Civil Rights Movement.
However, we are now living in the post-civil Rights era and the dynamics and the players are all different so Dr. King’s so the speech may not have the same effect or impact if Dr. King gave that speech today because there does not appear to be such an intense rhetorical situation.
Bitzer defines rhetorical situation as “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence…” (Bitzer 6) Bitzer said there are “three constituents of any rhetorical situation: the first is exigence…” (6) Simplified, exigence is what “prompts the author or speaker to write or speak in the first place; a sense of urgency, a problem that requires attention right now, a need that must be met, a concept that must be understood before the audience can move to a next step." (6) Racism and prejudice acts of injustice committed upon the Negro people during that time was the exigence. It was an urgent situation and one that the world had at once taken notice; so it had to be dealt with. However, Dr. King’s vision of victory was the energizing force for the movement the declared that the Afro-American of that era would indeed overcome in the not too distant future.
The day of the Mountaintop speech Dr. King was poised, and resolute; dressed in tradition church attire and positioned on a podium in the Church of God in Christ’s headquarters in Nashville, TN. The tone of his voice as well as the tone of his message captivated the audience who came to hear a message of hope and directions for the next step, and they sat in the crowd responding in the typical call and response way of interaction in the black church.
King’s larger audience included the nation at large. It ranged from those who were directly affected by the struggle, to those who co-labored, to those who could affect change.
This black Baptist preacher had the ear of the poor worker, the priest, our nation’s president at the time, and everyone else in between – whether or not they supported him.
Last, Bitzer mentions “the constraints which influence the rhetor and can be brought to bear upon the audience.” (6) In this case the constraints could be the reality of death threats, of which if carried out before time could stifle the movement. Other things that could have stifled the movement would have been a complete division within the ranks of the movement, as well as the potential for lack of support from the black community during this time.
I would venture to say that the entire Civil Rights Movement was a rhetorical situation; a time when rhetoric ruled and changed the course of our nation for the best.
Works Cited
Bitzer, Lloyd F.. "The Rhetorical Situation."1-14. Print.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King. 1968. Video. American Rhetoric Top 100 Speeches. Web. 5 Feb 2012.