Analysis on Kings “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop

Not just to have an ordinary speech, but one that grasps people and pulls them in all you need to have is persuasion also known as Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Ethos refers to the speaker’s credibility. There are three important characteristics: character, competence and charisma. Logos is evidence that supports any claim the speaker makes in their speech. Pathos is known as a strong component of successful persuasion. Pathos is also when you appeal to the listeners’ emotions. Verbal communication is the exchange of meanings by the use of the written or spoken symbols of a language.

Non verbal communication is includes any symbolic behavior that is either intentionally or unintentionally sent. I believe the speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” given By Dr. Martin Luther King is a great example of Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, verbal and non verbal communication. This speech, was giving on April 3, 1968 at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, This was Martin Luther Kings last public appearance before his assassination the following day. “I’ve been to the mountaintop” was a strong and influential sermon.

Martin Luther king has a moral character has proven to the people that he is a serious man and very trustworthy. When people look at him they could see that kings beliefs were not a joke to him. The Baptist minister was an activist and was a leader in the African American civil rights movement. King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. In his speech he asks the people to take their money out of downtown banks and deposit their money in Tri-State Bank—for a “bank –in” movement. Kings says “I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC. “We’re just telling you to follow what we’re doing. ” From this you can see that he basically was saying that you can trust him. The logistics he uses to support his claim come from his knowledge of history.

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King talked about going back to 1863 to “watch Abraham Lincoln, come to the conclusion to sign the emancipation proclamation. ” Later in the speech he empathizes that the people are poor but he says “collectively we are richer than all the nation[s] in the world, We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year. These are just a few of these statistics he uses to back up everything he talks about. To fully grab the listeners’ attention in a speech you have to show emotion. Martin Luther king did this by talking about his experiences of what happened to him from doing what he believes in. King talks about how he remembers when they were in a “majestic struggle,” He revels to us the complication he and others face while they moved on, king said “we Would move out day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. ” It shows the people that he truly does care for their right and nothing would stop him.

In his speech Martin Luther King also talks about how the marching landed them in jail but yet they just kept on singing and how it moved everyone around them. This is the kind of things that sweep people right into your speech. The using of words in a speech is what shows the intelligence and understanding that a speaker upholds. When we communicate, we need to put ourselves in our listeners' shoes. The way that Martin Luther Kings words carry out was more than just a speech, it was more like a sermon. His words were true but never cruel.

King did put himself out there and showed everyone that they were not alone. His words had hope and that hope grabbed his listeners. Nonverbal communication, or body language, is a vital form of communication. When we interact with others, we continuously give and receive countless wordless signals. This is what makes us or breaks us. Martin Luther king stood tall and proud through out his speech when you looked at him you saw that he looked very serious but sincere. Kind would take short pauses in his speech and just look out to everyone. This is what king did to get his listeners attention.

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