In the speech “Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break the Silence” given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1967, Dr. King reflects on the injustices and the distinct problems with the Vietnam campaign. Dr. King in his speech used lots of pathos, imagery, and repetition to strengthen and get his point out to the audience. His speech flows fluidly to bring one point flowing into the next.
Dr. King most predominantly uses pathos, an emotional connection with the audience, to have his point received. He uses powerful word choice to connect on a deeper level with the audience. Within the speech, Dr. King states that “watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools” is morally wrong. He despises the fact that troops fight for the injustice to be resolved in other countries, but is failing to be recognized on domestic land. He is also eluding to how ironic the state of the country is in currently. He explains that America can “guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Georgia and East Harlem.” Dr. King’s point by …show more content…
King then goes on to use multiple instances of imagery in his argument. Some of these points were exaggerated a bit, but still got to point through very well. The first main point of imagery was when he started when “slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wore”. Even though nobody was wearing shackles as slaves, society still had African Americans “locked up” by racism and discrimination. The last, and most powerful piece of imagery that King uses is that “If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam.” Dr. King directly compared the division of America, to the death of a person. The conflict, discrimination, racism, hate, and violence in America is killing the country from the inside out. The virus is internal, the is ripping apart people and sorting them by their
Dr. King most predominantly uses pathos, an emotional connection with the audience, to have his point received. He uses powerful word choice to connect on a deeper level with the audience. Within the speech, Dr. King states that “watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools” is morally wrong. He despises the fact that troops fight for the injustice to be resolved in other countries, but is failing to be recognized on domestic land. He is also eluding to how ironic the state of the country is in currently. He explains that America can “guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Georgia and East Harlem.” Dr. King’s point by …show more content…
King then goes on to use multiple instances of imagery in his argument. Some of these points were exaggerated a bit, but still got to point through very well. The first main point of imagery was when he started when “slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wore”. Even though nobody was wearing shackles as slaves, society still had African Americans “locked up” by racism and discrimination. The last, and most powerful piece of imagery that King uses is that “If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam.” Dr. King directly compared the division of America, to the death of a person. The conflict, discrimination, racism, hate, and violence in America is killing the country from the inside out. The virus is internal, the is ripping apart people and sorting them by their