The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. He does not want the church leaders to simply listen to his message. A few lines after, King writes about the injustice the African-American community has faced, by stating, We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem. To further show to the audience how his community has been suffering from the war, he uses a comparison statement between the facts to illustrate how freedom has been hard to attain. For example, he writes vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will, drown your sisters and brothers and hated filled policemen even kill your brothers and sisters (3). His masterful delivery of these metaphors and the frequent repetition makes the speech much like a poem or a part of a song. He does it to engage peoples imagination and to awaken their consciences. On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., an enormously influential civil rights activist, conveys his indignant and hopeful thoughts regarding the Vietnam War, in his speech "Beyond Vietnam," by utilizing biblical allusion, anaphora, and use of diction. Apart from drawing a parallel between the situation in Vietnam and America, he shows neither stood to gain from it. 1. King uses personal anecdotes, elaborate word choice, and reliable facts to persuade his audience of the injustice of the war. King argues that all people are created equal and directly challenged the outdated and abhorrent views that upheld the false flag of racial superiority among White Americans. By repeating the phrase, for the sake, he creates a rhythmic flow that causes his audience to be more receptive to his idea. Additionally, Kings statement that Southeast Asia is eight thousand miles away strengthens the irony by making Southeast Asia seem like a place which is completely disconnected from America. Would you like to get a custom case study? To make his claims stand out and have a deeper impact, he uses instances from Vietnamese history to show the level of injustice faced by its people how war has destabilized them. Get original paper in 3 hours and nail the task. He quotes Langston Hughes, in his speech to establish a connection between the struggle for civil liberty in United States and the oppression in Vietnam. Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Moreover, Martin Luther King Jr meticulously chooses specific words that carry with them a negative connotation that helps associate the Vietnamese war with injustice. A lot of parts from Martin Luther Kings dream have come true, but it is still not all that is how King wanted it to be. Martin Luther King Jr is an African American preacher and civil rights activist that along with every other African American male and female in 1976 was waging a war in America for their not-so-natural born rights. His use of diction and imagery arouses anger while increasing his credibility since he criticizes the unjust war he describes. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. Using the approach, the context of the speech will be analyzed according to the classical cannon of rhetorical. Comparing the Justice System during the 1960s to a corrupt bank allows the audience to connect to what Dr. King is saying. His use of diction and imagery arouses anger while increasing his credibility since he criticizes the unjust war he describes. Choose skilled expert on your subject and get original paper with free plagiarism The irony is explicit in Kings words that the war is just an attempt to cover and hide the more pressing issues before America. - M.J. ' (Document, The war in Vietnam to do this day has gone down as one of the influential and controversial wars in United States history. To start, Dr. Kings use of metaphors allows his audience to understand his viewpoint better. In his argument, King mounts a multi-pronged attack on America's participation in the Vietnam war and also gains people's sympathy for the Vietnamese. By expressing how much he believes in the American dream and a new dawn, it reassures people that even though there is little progress at a time, King will always fight not only for himself, but his family, friends, and all those who are not held to the same respect. While his words clearly deliver his disappointment over the path American government had chosen, it also expresses a clear intention to not be with the wrong and instead listen to ones inner voice. May 4, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-speech-beyond-vietnam-a-time-to-break-silence-by-martin-luther-king-jr-rhetorical-analysis/. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. 2022. This is an obvious and extremely effective argument, especially among a group of Christian church leaders. Thomas 1 Javon Thomas Mrs. Yelton English 1301 - Period 4 14 September 2018 Beyond Vietnam Rhetorical Analysis Essay In Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence, King discusses his opinion on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. These emotionally charged images would seemingly convince anyone that the cause for this war could not possibly be just. On April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York, MLK delivered "Beyond Vietnam" , which created a different perspective on the Vietnam war, in which is a negative thing. Luther starts off by explaining that Vietnam heavily takes away valuable money of the US. His main purpose was to try to persuade the audience to . Issues have been resolved because now the draft is less common because more people volunteer for war so the poor are not forced. King Jr makes a strong statement against war and his speech successfully evokes compassion and sympathy for the poor and the weak in both Vietnam and America. Analyzes how john kerry's "beyond vietnam- a time to break silence" by martin luther king jr. uses rhetorical devices that emphasize the importance and meaning of his speech. (2022, May 4). He attempts to call upon sympathy within the audience by using highly expressive language. While his I Have a Dream speech is considered his best one, his other speeches too offer a glimpse of his powerful rhetoric and his art of persuasion. (2022) 'The Speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence by Martin Luther King, Jr: Rhetorical Analysis'. The author is using pathos as one of his central rhetorical strategies. As he notes towards the end of his speech, "If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood ". It is why while he attacks America's intervention in Vietnam on the one hand, on the other he brings people's attention towards the other side of life where America can become a beacon of hope and peace for the entire world including Vietnam. (2016, Nov 14). In his essay, Dr. King uses the metaphor America has given the Negro people a bad check, which came back marked insufficient funds (46). Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. On April 4, 1967, King addressed a crowd of 3,000 in Riverside Church by delivering a speech titled, "Beyond Vietnam," in the midst of the cruelty of the Vietnam War. Dr. Kings purpose is to make the church leaders he is speaking to aware that the time has come for them to speak out loudly in opposition of the war in Vietnam. Likewise, the image of men, both black and while, in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, helps establish the war in Vietnam as a complete disaster and atrocity. Rhetorical devices are included in Martin Luther Kings speeches to prove conflict. King draws sympathy for his cause from the reader who sees the unjustness of the situation he and his followers are dealing with. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us. However, he is about to arm them with many valid reasons why it is crucial for them to join the opposition. "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" Essay by Carl Sagan. Throughout the first paragraph of Kings speech, he used emotional diction with words such as struggle, poverty, and poor to prove that the war in Vietnam was bringing down the Americans and their families fighting overseas. Martin Luther King Jr proves to all throughout his speech Beyond Vietnam --- A Time to Break Silence that the Vietnam war was unjust by his use of emotional diction, the allusion of Jim crow, and repetition. This convinces the reader to fully consider how the war has brought detrimental consequences, and through Kings diction, he is capable of convincing his audience to, When speaking about how the war had initially seem to have brought opportunities, he says, Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor. Evidently, the program for the poor was meant to be used in helping the poor, but as soon as the funds were directed to the Vietnam War, resources were no longer cast in their direction. Additionally, when King claims that all this horror is in the name of America, he appeals to his audience's anger, leading them to believe that it is time for them to break silence on the fact that the United States became involved in an unjust war in Vietnam. Overall, Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently argues against the United States involvement in Vietnam through his use of parallelism, diction, and imagery. Moreover, Martin Luther King Jr meticulously chooses specific words that carry with them a negative connotation that helps associate the Vietnamese war with injustice. Through this speech, and his ideals of determination, many rhetorical devices are put to use to drive forth these points.