This week I will analyze the speeches: Beyond Vietnam—A Time to Break Silence by Martin

Luther King, Jr. and A Whisper of AIDS by Mary Fisher.

Beyond Vietnam---A Time to Break Silence by Martin Luther King, Jr.

The purpose of the speech is to present the massacres and violence committed by the US against
the Vietnamese to prevent communism in Southeast Asia. The author illuminates the
complexities of the war in Vietnam against the poor, which represents classism, democracy,
militarism, and racism. Martin Luther exposed the harshness in the US, which shows the priority
of Americans over affordable housing, equality, race, class, livable wages, and gender. He
further illuminates the imbalance of causalities because of the unjust war. After reading the
speech, I concluded that it is persuasive because Martin Luther used emotional language and
explained each scenario to persuade his audience that the Vietnam War was unjust.

Mary Fisher's A Whisper of AIDS

The purpose of the speech, "A Whisper of AIDS," is to spread awareness related to HIV/AIDS,
which was spreading at that time throughout the US. She clearly illustrates that no one is safe
from HIV/AIDS regardless of their age, sex, or any other discriminatory factor. She presented
factual information with statistical data. After reading her speech, it is concluded that this speech
is informative in nature because Mary Fisher presented the actual data with the facts and
statistics. Besides, she uses her excellent credibility to present the details by using metaphors and
emotional appeals to convince the audience.

It is possible to give an informative speech unbiasedly because it presents factual information

regarding the topic. The purpose of the informative speech is to enlighten the audience without
any judgement, opinion, or change in attitude. However, some informative speeches are
comprised of persuasive elements. For example, the second speech I analyzed is informative but
contains some elements of persuasiveness, such as the way she uses emotional words.

A Whisper of AIDS. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/maryfisher1992rnc.html

A Time to Beak Silence.

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm