Martin Luther King (MLK) was an activist and minister who argued that the war against Vietnam was a mistake. Before more than 3,000 people at New York's Riverside Church, King preached to a room full of clergy and laity concerned about Vietnam. Its main goal was to try to persuade the public to end the war so that we could provide resources to those in need, such as the poor. In order to persuade his listeners, King used a variety of devices to convince them to look at the war in his perspective using loaded language to make powerful statements, images to allow us to create a mental picture of how the war cause of pain, and anaphora to emphasize his arguments. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get the original essay In early 1967, Martin Luther King wrote the "Beyond Vietnam" speech to try to change the way people people see war and see how it affects everyone. Before more than 3,000 people at New York's Riverside Church, MLK declared his grievances about the war in Vietnam, knowing the consequences this speech could have on his life. In his speech, he explains how the war in Vietnam affects both the United States and the Vietnamese people. King believes that war is wasting resources that we should be devoting to poor black people in the United States and that if we were to remain silent, we would accept war. He then goes on to explain what we should do to stop war nonviolently so we can do better than wasting resources on something so futile. King uses different ways to try to persuade his audience to see the war on their home turf. From this point of view, one of the strategies used by the king is imagery. King uses imagery throughout the essay to make readers see the horrors of war. For example, “we are on the side of the rich and the most secure, while we create hell for the poor.” The use of imagery in this quote is very well worded by King, he is trying to make his audience feel the pain. and grief by creating this image in their head to interact with their emotions. Another example of imagery that King uses to try to convince his readers is when he says, "Black and white boys on television screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has failed them sit together in the same schools” using segregation. and the Vietnam War stirs up even more emotion in people who hear the speech because it's basically saying that we've already caused black people pain by separating ourselves from society but now we have to send them to die? The use of imagery helps King tap into his audience's emotions to try to convince them to change their minds about the war. Throughout the speech, King uses anaphora which helps the audience understand what he is trying to convey. For example, "We must... We must... We must", when he continues to say the words "We must", it makes the audience feel like it is more of an invitation to do it together than 'an order. It's so effective because it doesn't say everyone has to do it, but it gives them the choice to do the right thing and end the war. Another example would be “For good… For good… For good”. The use of this anaphora is effective because he is trying to tell us, for the sake of the boys, the government and the hundreds of people who tremble under our violence, that he must.