I'Ve Been to the Mountaintop Analysis
Through the speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”, Martin Luther King Jr. wants to give hope to the audience. It is very important to notice the style, imagery and structure he uses throughout the speech in particular the way he ends his speech, by leaving the audience at the climax.
The first paragraph of this passage, consists of two long and complex sentences. These two sentences are very biblical. “[...] view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me [...]”. This line is notable because he uses the word “Almighty”, instead of the word God. By using this, the religious audience sees this point differently. Almighty sounds to them as God would be in an even higher position, which makes it more significant. In line 3 and 4 there is direct speech from God to Martin Luther King where God asks him “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?”. This dramatizes the situation, because the audience imagines how God is actually talking to Martin Luther King. The image of God in this text passage is particularly significant because no one has a picture about God, however everyone knows that God is Almighty and each individual has a different picture of God. Because the audience consists of mainly religious people the use of religious terms is important. In the second paragraph of this passages the audience sees another view of God, where God is as a person working. Having explored how the author has presented his biblical language it is now important to consider the use of his tone, in particular how some words are being sung more. For example in line 5, “dark dungeons”. This is an alliteration but also the sound of it creates a singing impression. The repetition in line 17 “[…] favorite, favorite formula […]”, is important, because that makes this line more enthusiastic and lets the audience get a deeper understanding. However in the third paragraph an everyday language style is being used.
Next, I will go into the imagery
The first paragraph of this passage, consists of two long and complex sentences. These two sentences are very biblical. “[...] view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me [...]”. This line is notable because he uses the word “Almighty”, instead of the word God. By using this, the religious audience sees this point differently. Almighty sounds to them as God would be in an even higher position, which makes it more significant. In line 3 and 4 there is direct speech from God to Martin Luther King where God asks him “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?”. This dramatizes the situation, because the audience imagines how God is actually talking to Martin Luther King. The image of God in this text passage is particularly significant because no one has a picture about God, however everyone knows that God is Almighty and each individual has a different picture of God. Because the audience consists of mainly religious people the use of religious terms is important. In the second paragraph of this passages the audience sees another view of God, where God is as a person working. Having explored how the author has presented his biblical language it is now important to consider the use of his tone, in particular how some words are being sung more. For example in line 5, “dark dungeons”. This is an alliteration but also the sound of it creates a singing impression. The repetition in line 17 “[…] favorite, favorite formula […]”, is important, because that makes this line more enthusiastic and lets the audience get a deeper understanding. However in the third paragraph an everyday language style is being used.
Next, I will go into the imagery