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Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King

Decent Essays

It's the 1960's; American society is being torn asunder by civil unrest involving the struggle for equality at home and an inhumane war in Vietnam. In the midst of such turbulence, Martin Luther King Junior argues that American involvement in the war in Vietnam is unjust. He poignantly examines the thesis using appeals to ethos logos and pathos.

Immediately King establishes his credibility so that the reader pays attention to the central claim that the United States' belligerence in Vietnam Deserves censure. King begins to tell us his view is shaped by his work: "Since I am a preacher by calling." This is a classic appeal to ethos. From the Aristotelian school of thought, his authority, moral or otherwise, emanates from a highly respected profession. The audience is meant to read into King's role as a man of the cloth that he is beholden to God, not political expediency. Derived from the trustworthiness of the preacher role, King can further his claims of Injustice for the oppressed peoples of both America and Vietnam. Not relying solely on the introduction King continues throughout the passage to use voice and tone that elicit credulous of the reader. The quotations speak of his moral authority: " gone mad on war quote quote demonic destructive suction Chu quote guaranteed liberties... Which they had not found (at home)." The reader is certainly impacted by the high-minded writer who has the right to quote eviscerate quote the same system that wouldn't follow through

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