Why We Can’t Wait

Why We Can’t Wait In the 1960’s, the unfair social conditions and attitude towards Black Americans portray in the passage Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King. He evokes sympathy for African Americans within images of harsh reality of supposed “freedom” for Blacks. MLK creates persuasive tone through use of anecdotes, repetition, and rhetorical questions to introduce the “story of the Why We Can’t Wait. ” MLK creates an emotional sense by contributing several anecdotes about the African American.

Anecdotes such as “if the ambulance hadn’t come so late.. ” suggest empathy to the reader since MLK stress the point hat blacks did not get equal treatment compare to white which lead young girl’s mom to died. By telling the short stories of young girl, it conveys the audience with humanism. Also the anecdotes within author’s choice of vocabulary like “jobless”, “Stench of garbage” and “sleep in domestic” portray an image of tough living condition that leads readers to personalize the circumstances that African American faced.

The anecdotes benefit MLK to persuade his audience by emphasizing all the different circumstances that Black American had to strive through. The author stresses the point of unfair circumstances that African American has been through use of repetition. He highlights “They knew.. ” to emphasizes the fact that young Black American boys and girls are mature enough to know that their ancestors were “first American to… freed his country form Britain” and “were with George Washington” to help the nation. However all of the African American’s achievement did not get credit from the whites.

Also along with the repetition he portrays simple sentences to let readers to pay a close a tension to the “They knew” in order to build up the persuasion. King incorporates a myriad of stylist device that shape and develop the purpose of the passage. Through the periodic use of rhetorical questions such as “why does misery constantly haunt the Negro? ” King reiterates the perception of there being no freedom and no success for the African American. The series of rhetorical questions emphasizes the lack of reasons to get blame; and how African American had done nothing to desire the attitude from the white.

Not only they had done nothing but also they helped the nation to improve therefore King tries to persuade the audience with use of rhetorical questions. In this passage, King shows a vivid image of harsh condition of Black life. The reader feels emotional for complete pain they could never even picture to go through. King creates all this persuasive passage to show readers how African Americans life was by anecdotes, and knows there is no reason to get mistreated from whites by repetition and rhetorical question. His purpose lead his African American to have equally with Whites.