..."Letter from a Birmingham Jail" was written by Martin Luther King in response to the criticisms from his fellow clergymen, who found the demonstrations he was leading in Birmingham “unwise and untimely.” In his letter, King argues that the time of action for the American civil rights movement has come, and that any further delay would lead to an interracial conflict on a scale never witnessed before in the United States. On top of constructing his argument to show the urgency of the situation, King appeals to the religious principles of the Church by asserting that at the critical juncture America stood, the most extreme application of Christian principles such as love, self-sacrifice and vindication of justice was commendable and necessary both for complete desegregation and successful demonstration...
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...Martin Luther King is known for his methods of peaceful protesting. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King talks about his struggles and explains his current situation. He gives a more basic reason for being in Birmingham which is “because injustice is here.” He justifies his presence by bringing in allusions which include saying how prophets of the 18th century left their hometowns and villages just to spread their beliefs. He then goes on to state that it is his job to carry the “gospel of freedom” beyond his own hometown. He compares communities and states, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” So what King is saying is that no matter where we are we need to be aware what is happening elsewhere also. When King addresses the issue of the response of white clergymen who do not agree with nonviolent protesting, he responds with the fact that violent protest will only burn down the bridge to equality between all colored people. As soon as the protesting becomes violent, it loses its meaning and is seen as work done by anarchists. Because of the negative responses to violent protesting, the only way of seeking out equality would be negotiation. King explains that “Nonviolent direct action seeks to...
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...From 1963 to modern day, 2015, Martin Luther King serves as a monumental figure of justice, as he fought for the equality of men that defines our society today. His courageous actions sent him willingly to jail yet did not stop his ambition for equality. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King uses rhetorical devices of ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the Clergymen and the American public that the severity of unjust treatment of blacks has reached its breaking point, and justice must come now. As King write his piece from prison, he must establish himself credibility, proving himself worthy of the clergymen’s time and ears. Throughout the piece, King uses ethos to give himself credit on the topic of racial injustice. He begins...
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...From 1963 to modern day, 2015, Martin Luther King serves as a monumental figure of justice, as he fought for the equality of men that defines our society today. His courageous actions sent him willingly to jail yet did not stop his ambition for equality. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King uses rhetorical devices of ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the Clergymen and the American public that the severity of unjust treatment of blacks has reached its breaking point, and justice must come now. As King writes his piece from prison, he must establish himself credibility, proving himself worthy of the clergymen’s time and ears. Throughout the piece, King uses ethos to give himself credit on the topic of racial injustice. He begins...
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...outlawed many years earlier, many whites still used racist laws in states to separate whites from those who are ‘colored.’In Birmingham, Alabama, especially, segregation continued to exist in numerous cities. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, an anti-segregationist and leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, protested and held non-violent demonstrations and marches in many cities, such as Birmingham. After his famous march in Birmingham, white police officers arrested him and put him in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail, he read a public statement delivered by eight Alabama clergymen from local churches, claiming that King's demonstrations were unnecessary. King, responding by writing "Letter from Birmingham Jail," refutes all of the clergymen's claims. In paragraphs 12-14 of his letter, King attempts to persuade the clergymen as to why he must act now, rather than later, for social change, dismissing the claim that the march was "untimely." King raises the clergymen’s awareness of the situations affecting the...
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...In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. King uses a variety rhetorical devices in order to counter claims made by the clergymen who wrote him a letter while he was in jail. The purpose of King’s letter was to defend not only his actions but the actions of other fellow African Americans. According to Dr. King, Birmingham was the most segregated city in the south. Blacks were forced to adhere to laws that would be considered inhumane and unlawful in modern times. The continuation of these laws caused King to eventually turn his focus towards Birmingham. His method of non-violent direct action landed him in jail numerous times. After receiving the letter from the clergymen he decided to write his own letter in response to theirs. Throughout the letter there are many examples of pathos, logos, and allusion that are used to advance his argument. Dr. King was able to effectively use pathos in order to pull out sympathy from its reader. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the African American race faced many political and social injustices that hindered their progression in society. Groups such as the KKK caused African Americans to operate in fear. In order to make his audience feel the pain that African Americans went through, in...
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...In Martin Luther King Jr's popular Letter from Birmingham Jail, he uses tactics to persuade and inform all readers of what is wrong with the world from the view point of a denomination that is unfortunately, under appreciated. His letter is formally toward eight while religious leaders of the South, and his action of going to jail was where he had a peaceful protest but without a permit. He first opens up explaining his career of being a successful business man and sharing common work actions with the religious leaders. With this, King used ethos, showing his credibility that he can relate to the readers of his letter, in a respectable way. King (1963) stated "when you take a cross-country drive and find I necessary to sleep night after night...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a knowledgeable speaker, letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963) defends himself against the eight clergymen in which he explains his motive towards civil rights and tries to justify the needs for nonviolent actions. Dr. King’s primary focus was to answer the criticism of the church leaders. His secondary audience was the white moderate and the religious population. Dr King’s letter addresses that the white attitudes towards African Americans were hostile as they were unable to accept the civil rights movement, especially in the South. Throughout the letter, he uses various literary and rhetorical devices to justify his actions and show why they should not be illegal. King creates an irritated tone in this letter, to proclaim his annoyance to the clergymen who were criticizing him. He feels he...
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...Vaughn English 102-01 14 September 2009 Someone Else’s Shoes Martin Luther King’s (MLK) “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” was written in 1963 as a response to the Eight Alabama Clergymen’s public statement against King’s actions in April of that year. Martin Luther King Jr. was an activist for desegregation of the south in the early 1960s and overcame much adversity to attain incredible gains on the segregation issue in the United States. King uses effective persuasive appeals of logical evidence, emotional appeal, and author credibility to win over his audience in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail.” MLK’s writing shows the effects of segregation in Birmingham with clear direct language and heart wrenching examples. Imagine being put in his position. If your family and friends were being treated cruelly and unjustly would you not help them in any way possible, especially if included in the mistreated group? After reading MLK’s letter, maybe you would see things in a different way with his convincing examples of logical and emotional appeal. Martin Luther King proves his credibility by several factors. The first way King proves he is a credible author is the fact that he is in the Birmingham jail. He is arrested while protesting in the city. The reader can believe that MLK is writing about something that he is well versed in because he shows that he has experienced it firsthand. Another way that Martin Luther King shows he’s plausible is by stating “I have the honor of serving...
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...Nick Genaris Professor Ngoh Protest Literature 21th October 2015 Letter from Birmingham Jail-Rhetorical Analysis Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in order to address the biggest issue in Birmingham and the United States at the time (racism) and to also address the critics he received from the clergymen. The letter discusses the great injustices happening toward the Black community in Birmingham and although it is primarily aimed at the clergymen King writes the letter for all to read. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. uses logos, alliteration/repetition, and ethos to back up his belief that nonviolent protesting and disobedience is the most effective means to protest anything that needs to be changed, in this case segregation. After reading King’s letter I, and almost anyone, would come to the conclusion that King is deeply motivated to help against any injustice in the US. Who else would go to such lengths if they didn’t? He knows how persuasive he can be by using his knowledge of the English language, and he uses this to speak out against people who doubt him (clergymen) and to incite a different way of thinking into the people in hopes of change. Dr. King’s letter is extremely effective because it provides an enormous amount of evidence to the reader that he and his company are being treated unjustly and also that King truly cares about making a change for the good of the city. It also re-directs attention...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of The Letter from Birmingham Jail Influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement and active agitator for justice, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. in his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, argues passionately that injustice anywhere automatically creates the timely situation for organized retaliation in seeking freedom for the oppressed. King was arrested and placed in Birmingham Jail after a peaceful protest in downtown Birmingham. King was “the foremost civil rights leader in America in the 1950s and 1960s” (Kirszner and Mandell 799). “An ordained minister who held a doctorate in theology, King was the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” (799). “King and his followers met opposition not only from white moderates but also from some African-American clergymen who thought King was a troublemaker.” King’s opposition labeled his demonstrations and acts against segregation as “untimely”, “unwise”, and...
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...Letter From Birmingham Jail Vs. “I Have a Dream Speech” The first way that a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “ I have a Dream” differ are in their intended audience, as one is intended for a group of white clergymen while the other is intended to rally a large group. This difference in audience and how Dr. King chooses to appeal to each of his audiences causes for the choices in language and the purpose of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I have a Dream” to differ. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is addressed to white clergymen, and the purpose of the letter is to defend the demonstrations that were taking place. As Dr. King is trying to defend the demonstrations to these white clergymen, his language choice is quite interesting. One brilliant way that he chooses to defend the demonstrations is by appealing to the white men through his choice of Anglo terms. For instance, in the letter, Dr. King writes, “Just as the prophets of the eighth century century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saint the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town” (King). This choice of wording makes Dr. King’s argument stronger since as these white men disagree with Dr. King and his form of peaceful protest, the white clergymen will not be able to argue back because he is using religious references that if the white men chose to argue against, it would make them look like hypocrites (Eubank). While...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. He was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. During the civil rights protests, he was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama because for protesting without a permit. Some realized arresting Dr. King is the best idea. However, Dr. King did not let jail block his...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements. The majority of the sentences in King’s letter can be connected to logos, pathos or ethos and his incorporation of appeals is masterful. On more than one occasion, King uses various strategies to appeal to his audience, in the letter he writes, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” In this excerpt, King presents his ethos very tactically. The Alabama clergy presents him as an outsider in the letter, but demonstrating his ethos, King presents himself as an insider. He is not just a man who chose to protest in an outside community, but is in fact the president of the Conference. He...
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...Writing 1010 Analysis 6 The Issue of Racial Prejudice In “Letter to Birmingham Jail”, written by Martin Luther King Jr., King Jr. shares the deep concern for the ever growing and desperate need for resolve in the area of racism. Racism was a “deep fog of misunderstanding” (A-59) in the 1960’s when the Civil Rights Movement was happening. People were scared to accept others due to their different skin color. Because of this fear, the lives of African American were made unbearable. M.L. King Jr. wrote this letter to explain the growing problem of segregation and racism on our country. Racial prejudice is “prejudice against, or hostility toward, people of another race or color or of an alien culture” (Webster-Dictionary) and during the 1960s, African Americans were ostracized and alienated from society. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (A-55). African Americans collectively strived towards change and King Jr. was no different. He hoped that “love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation” (A-59). In times of harsh judgment, the nation was too scared to accept someone whose skin color was different, therefore African Americans were denied basic rights that should be available to anyone and everyone. Racial issues are a growing problem everywhere. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter to Birmingham Jail” to share his opinion on the matter. Prejudice is an issue that needed to be resolved and prevented. King’s letter is a bold...
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