Dr. King's Speech Quiz I've Been to the Mountaintop

What is the central theme of Dr. King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech?

• Achieving economic justice

• Ending racial segregation

• Perseverance in the face of adversity

• Unity among all people

1. Which of the following sentences best summarizes the speaker’s reason for choosing “a few years in the second half of the Twentieth Century” as the time he would want to live if given the choice?

   Answer choices for the above question

   A. In the second half of the Twentieth Century the world was a terribly messed up place full of trouble and confusion.

   B. During this period, King says he could see God at work in people’s lives in the way they were rising up and proclaiming a desire for freedom and justice.

   C. Airplane travel was becoming more common and the speaker wanted to visit Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; and New York City, among other destinations.

   D. The speaker had an interest in astronomy and the evenings were so dark during this time that the stars appeared brighter.

• a

• b

• c

• d

RE: Author's purpose, perspective, and text structure: What is most likely the reason the speaker included the following passage (paragraph 12) in his speech?

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. That's always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window breaking?

Answer choices for the above question

A. To show that violence causes a detrimental distraction from the issue at hand.

B. To commend the local press for covering the strike as thoroughly as possible under the circumstances.

C. To suggest that the window breaking is not that big of a deal.

D. To inform the audience that the press is untrustworthy.

BEST: FL-ELA.K12.EE.2.1FL-ELA.K12.EE.3.1

• a

• b

• c

• d

What is the primary event or context Dr. King refers to in the speech?

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964

• The Montgomery Bus Boycott

• The Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike

• The March on Washington

1. What is most closely the central idea of the passage below (paragraph 36)?

   Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

   Answer choices for the above question

   A. The speaker suggests that he may not to live to see the day that African Americans experience true equality but he feels confident that justice will prevail.

   B. The speaker visited Mt. Nebo during his travels to the Middle East and from the summit he viewed the Promised Land.

   C. The speaker doesn’t know how the sanitation workers’ strike will come out.

   D. The speaker want to live a long life, so he is retiring from the Civil Rights movement.

BEST: FL-ELA.K12.EE.2.1

• a

• b

• c

• d

What tone does Dr. King primarily convey in the speech?

• Hopeful and determined

• Angry and frustrated

• Defeated and despondent

• Sarcastic and ironic

1. Which of the following inferences is best supported by the passage below (paragraph 34)?

   And they were telling me, now, it doesn't matter, now. It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."

   Answer choices for the above question

   A. The weather in Atlanta had been very stormy, so the speaker’s flight was delayed.

   B. The plane was having mechanical problems that delayed the flight.

   C. Threats had been made against the speaker necessitating extra precautions before the flight.

   D. The speaker and his five travelling companions were late so they held the flight for them causing a delay.

BEST: FL-ELA.K12.EE.2.1FL-ELA.K12.EE.3.1

• a

• b

• c

• d

The speech mainly concerned the ______, the workers who felt they were unequal to the white people who were getting promoted and they were not. This was MLK's last speech and then the next day he was murdered.

• Memphis City Council

• Memphis Sanitation Strike

• Memphis Education School System

• Memphis Association of Restaurant Workers

1. What is most closely the definition of process as it is used in the passage below (paragraph 22)?

   We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.

   Answer choices for the above question

   A. noun | a summons, writ, or mandate requiring a person to appear in court

   B. noun | a series of steps followed in order to achieve a specific goal

   C. noun | a series of interdependent operations executed by a computer

   D. noun | a natural, involuntary phenomenon in which gradual ongoing changes lead to a particular result

BEST: FL-ELA.K12.EE.2.1

• a

• b

• c

• d

1. The following passage (paragraph 20) mainly shows that .

   Now the other thing we'll have to do is this. Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget, that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively, we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.

   Answer choices for the above question

   A. the speaker thinks that African Americans are too poor to effect change

   B. individually, African Americans would make more money if they lived in Canada

   C. the speaker makes thirty billion dollars a year

   D. as a group, African Americans have significant monetary power which can be exercised by using economic boycotts as a means of protest

BEST: FL-ELA.K12.EE.2.1

• a

• b

• c

• d