Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Beyond Vietnam-A Time To Break Silence

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, King asserts that the war in Vietnam is a “symptom” (7) of a much larger disease that affects the “American spirit” (7). The disease King mentions is causing destruction where ever it is found, and in the case of the Vietnam war, it has led to their oppression and the death of people. In the section, Strange Liberators, King states, “They move sadly and apathetically as we heard them off the land of their fathers into concentration camps where minimal social needs are rarely met. They know they must move or be destroyed by our bombs” (8). King believed that the disease was leading the United States to take drastic actions against the Vietnamese people. The U.S.

After being jailed in the Birmingham city jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister who preached nonviolence, wrote this response to a published statement by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama. This letter was not only composed under somewhat constricting circumstances but was written in a way that can be analyzed to be considered as a classic argument. Not only does it contain the five elements needed in a rhetorical situation, but the letter includes the six parts of an argument, the five types of claims, and even the three types of proofs. Dr. King’s letter fully satisfies all requirements needed in order to be considered a classic argument.

When Martin Luther King talked about the problems of war and militarism, he speaks about the significant loss of American lives during the Vietnam War (which we now know was a war we couldn’t win) and how it

“Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence” is an article written by Martin Luther King Jr himself. King is effectively able to convey his point about his topic by using rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos, pathos.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most successful and most legendary speeches in United States history. Martin Luther King Jr. was a masterful speaker, who established a strong command of rhetorical strategies. By his eloquent use of ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as his command of presentation skills and rhetorical devices, King was able to persuade his generation that "the Negro is not free" (King 1). His speech became the rallying cry for civil rights and lives on as an everlasting masterpiece.

He does this by justifying his actions through the use of quotation, allusions, and pathos. As he justifies his action, King ultimately conveys a bigger idea of inequality and oppression in America. America is supposedly the land of freedom and equality, however with segregation, the creations of unjust laws, and oppression towards certain groups, people are tied down and restricted from their rights. Action is required to protect these rights, and waiting for a designated time is futile. This not only applies to issues of the past, but also issues of today. Many LGBT, blacks, females, etc. are still experiencing injustices in today’s time and age. Just like King’s claim, action needs to be taken now in order to protect the rights of the people and to establish

Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most influential people of this century. People remember King for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of their skin color. Through reading King’s writings and speeches, that changed the world, one can learn that his values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, and peace were what motivated him to greatness. One of his less known speeches is “A Time to Break the Silence”, this speech was different than most of King’s speeches; the theme of this speech is not civil rights movement, but Vietnam. King addresses the war in Vietnam and he gives reasons why it should not continue.

In Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam—A Time to Break Silence” (1967), Dr. King asserts that the war in Vietnam is totally immoral and has far reaching negative implications not only for Vietnam, but for The United States and the rest of the World as well. Dr. King’s 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. He offers many practical reasons for the opposition, as well as spiritual and moral reasons. He then outlines the history of the war in Vietnam, showing that he is not simply preaching about religious ideals. He also makes an

In the speech “ Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence”, Dr. King speaks out on the issues brought upon by the Vietnam War and how it has a negative impact on African Americans. He displays a frustrated and irritated tone to shed light on this problem in order to entice anger within the African American community of Harlem and call them to fight against social injustice and fight for their civil rights.

MLK, “Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence.” For centuries, Martin Luther King Jr. has been an activist we read about in textbooks, a true leader. Many people remember him for his views on African American equatily; however, King did also feel strongly about other topics including the Vietnam war. Through the speech “Beyond Vietnam-A Time to Break Silence.”

Martin Luther King Jr. has had many sensational speeches. The successes presented in the two excerpts can be used as examples for success towards other speeches. In speeches ethos is used to reach out to the audience like Martin Luther King Jr. does. Professor Brown defines ethos as voice of credibility. Martin Luther King Jr. during his two excerpts uses pathos. Professor Brown defines pathos as passion, and narrative. In most speeches Martin Luther King Jr. uses logic, logos to addresses the audience into understanding the meanings. Professor Brown defines logos as logic. Logic is supported by science, induction and deduction.

In these two texts, Dr. King persuades and inspires his audience to join in his fight for civil rights by using emotion appeal or pathos and logic appeal or logos. Throughout Dr. King's writings there are many examples of his use of logic. In his “I Have a Dream” speech he uses evidence from the Declaration of Independance to show how African Americans were promised “unalienable rights” but were cheated from that promise. He says, “ when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir...

King used diction and figures of speech to make a strong argument. For example, “ Let us not seek to satisfy our freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” (King,2) During that quote he explains how he doesn’t want to gain his freedom by hate and violence. He doesn’t agree with violence but, “ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

King uses a “peace and love” style of protest. The letter which king wrote (King) defends his strategy to a nonviolent resistance to racism. He answers the forces of hatred with nonviolent resistance in the pursuit of what he called the "beloved community." (Kasson). He also insisted that nonviolent direct resistance was not a surrender but a “spiritually strenuous confrontation of injustice and oppression”. In this process, however, protesters aimed not "to defeat or humiliate their opponents, but to win their friendship and understanding." As King tirelessly insisted, "The end is redemption and reconciliation. The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness”. “I want you to love our enemies. Be good to them. Love them and let them know you love them. For what we are doing is right. What we are doing is just. And God is with us" (Kasson). By using an approach of

In this way, King lays a groundwork that implies that, if you disagree with civil rights, you disagree with the way our nation was founded. Placing that onus on the listener is a strong motivator to get them to change their opinion.