Amanda Lomas
English 99
January 24, 2013
Effective Persuasion In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” written by Martin Luther King, Jr., was written while king was in jail for being a part of the Birmingham Campaign, which was a non-violent protest to end segregation in the U.S. In the letter, King explain that he is disappointed in the clergy for attacking the members of the African American non-violent civil rights movement and that direct action is the only thing left for them to do. He goes on to say that he hopes “the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away.” In this letter, King has a very effective argument by using several different persuasive appeals. One persuasive appeal that King uses is called ethos. Ethos refers to the credibility and trustworthiness of the writer or speaker and can often be supported through style of the message and tone. Throughout the whole letter, King has a very even tone. At the beginning of the letter, he calmly explains why he is in jail and is not angry or mad and goes on to explain the four steps to his direct action. Having a calm approach like King shows in this letter makes the reader more inclined to listen rather than having a threatening or aggressive tone. Although he calmly explains himself at the beginning of the letter, King also has the right amount of firmness towards the middle of letter to make the reader believe that what he is saying to true. Towards the end of the letter King apologizes for anything that, “overstates the truth,” and “understates the truth” (par 49). This shows that what King said throughout the letter is genuinely what he feels and believes making the reader more likely to agree with the message of the letter. Another persuasive appeal that King uses in his letter is pathos. Pathos is an appeal to our emotions whether it is happiness, sadness, or sympathy. For example, King is explaining how parents try to find the words to tell their children that they can’t go to the amusement park that has just opened because it is not opened to colored children. He says that he, “sees tears swelling up in her eyes,” and sees, “ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in their little mental sky” (par 14). The fact that King is talking about children is already appealing to our emotions. It makes the reader have a sense of innocence and vulnerability that the children have. When King explains that he sees “tears swelling up in their eyes,” it makes the reader feel sympathy for the children and obviously, sadness. He creates a mental picture in our heads of darkness and sadness and again, the innocence and vulnerability of the children by saying “ominous clouds,” and “their little mental sky.” Although this example of pathos makes the reader feel tribulation and heartache, pathos can also make the reader feel different types of emotions as well. Towards the end of the letter, King shows another appeal to the emotions, but this emotional appeal does not make the reader feel sadness or sorrow. For instance, he says that he hopes the “dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away,” and “the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities” (par 50). King’s use of figurative language gives the reader a mental image in their head of dark clouds literally passing away through the sky resulting in making them feel happy and hopeful that the circumstances will soon clear up. He also uses words like “drenched” to make the reader visualize someone being covered or full of fear but having the “deep fog of misunderstanding” being lifted for their shoulders. King then goes on to say that, “the stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation” with “scintillating beauty” (par 50). When King uses the words “shine” and “scintillating beauty” it makes the reader imagine something beautiful and shining and spirited giving them a feeling of peace of mind and optimism. One more persuasive appeal that King uses in his letter is called logos. Logos is a logical appeal used to support a claim, and it uses facts and statistics to back an argument. In this letter, King uses several logical appeals. For example, King begins to explain that everything Adolf Hitler did during the Holocaust was in fact legal. By including this in his letter, King is taking a similar situation that has happened in history and comparing it to the things that were happening in his time. By using facts and historical realization this persuades the audience that what King is saying is very true. He also uses many historical figures in the letter as well. He explains that Jesus Christ was and extremist for love, Amos was an extremist for justice, and Paul, an extremist for the Christian Gospel. He explains that although they were extremists, they were extremists for the right reasons. This also shows the readers that these extremists did change the way we live today, making this example persuade the audience to agree with what King is saying. By using several different persuasive appeals, King has a very effective argument. By using ethos he assures us of his credibility, by using pathos he appeals to our emotions, and by using logos he backed up all of his arguments with facts.