As you read the passage below, consider how Martin Luther King Jr. uses • evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims. • reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence. • stylistic or persuasive elements

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Beyond Vietnam- A time to break silence, he explains how the American involvement in the Vietnam War is unjust. He uses vivid language,personal anecdote, and pathos to help himself convince us.

He uses vivid language when he states, “My [next] reason moves to an even deeper level of awareness, for it grows out of my experience in the ghettos of the North over the last three years—especially the last three summers.”(Luther 3) He uses vivid language to put an image in our head of himself in ghettos. He knows about the ghettos, and had personally experienced it.

Secondly, Luther uses personal anecdote to help convince us. He shows that even he had experienced what he was talking about. That helps us understand his meaning. He uses personal anecdote when he states, “I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.” (Luther 1) This shows that Luther had a lot of personal relations regarding the American government. This is an example of personal anecdote, because it is what he has personally met with.

Finally, Luther uses the skill of pathos, in his passage. He uses pathos in paragraph two when he states, “Perhaps a more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home” (Luther 2) Pathos is when a person uses emotions to convince someone. It is often used in propaganda. Luther uses this skill to convince us. He shows the tragic things that happened during the war, and the things that the Americans did not help with.

Martin Luther King Jr explains why the American participation in the Vietnam war may not have been a good idea. He tries explaining this with many ideas. In these ideas, he uses Vivid language, pathos, and personal anecdote to convince us.