On April 4, 1967, a speech was delivered at a church in New York City by Martin Luther King Jr.. He successfully persuaded many people to believe in what he was standing for. How did Dr. King build this unbreakable speech and persuade so many? Martin Luther King Jr. uses diction, logic, and the appeal to emotions to build his argument and persuade his audience that the American involvement in the vietnam war is unjust.
Throughout Dr. King’s speech was the careful placement of word choice. It would help achieve the emotions that King wanted the listeners’ to feel for the specific subject. In the beginning of his speech he was describing the poverty program as “hopes, new beginnings,” then uses the transition word ‘then’ to describe a new enemy, the Vietnam War, as a “idle political plaything” and “demonic destructive suction tube.” His word choices made the description of the Vietnam War and poverty program appeal to the audience in a very effective and impressive way, that it would persuade. Also, the repetition of the word “together” in the second paragraph in his speech shows in a subtle way, but proves a point. We are all in this together, black or white. In the war, both races are working together just fine, and in King’s speech, it says that we are unable to seat them together in …show more content…
He had a claim, then gave thorough evidence to back it up. Not only, King have a great sense of logic, he explained things people had never gave such depth into thinking about. About half-way through his speech he even claims “My [next] reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness….” King states that someone asked that if he believes solving problems through non violence, then what of the Vietnam? Martin Luther Kings then explains that the government is undermining his own speech, that they are doing the exact opposite in what he preaches. This was a logical way of thinking, and in any argument, logic
Throughout Dr. King’s speech was the careful placement of word choice. It would help achieve the emotions that King wanted the listeners’ to feel for the specific subject. In the beginning of his speech he was describing the poverty program as “hopes, new beginnings,” then uses the transition word ‘then’ to describe a new enemy, the Vietnam War, as a “idle political plaything” and “demonic destructive suction tube.” His word choices made the description of the Vietnam War and poverty program appeal to the audience in a very effective and impressive way, that it would persuade. Also, the repetition of the word “together” in the second paragraph in his speech shows in a subtle way, but proves a point. We are all in this together, black or white. In the war, both races are working together just fine, and in King’s speech, it says that we are unable to seat them together in …show more content…
He had a claim, then gave thorough evidence to back it up. Not only, King have a great sense of logic, he explained things people had never gave such depth into thinking about. About half-way through his speech he even claims “My [next] reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness….” King states that someone asked that if he believes solving problems through non violence, then what of the Vietnam? Martin Luther Kings then explains that the government is undermining his own speech, that they are doing the exact opposite in what he preaches. This was a logical way of thinking, and in any argument, logic