...MLK Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis- w/ focus on Ethos “...we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders…” In this quote, from the third paragraph of the letter written by eight Alabama clergymen, the term outsiders is used. Early on, this creates a label for Martin Luther King, outsider. Throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail, King is able appeal to ethos in order to refute his title of “outsider” and generate a connection with his audiences, the clergymen and the people of America. King is able to do such a thing by alluding to multiple passages from the Bible as well as the figures it contains, which is done so that he may identify with the clergymen. When not speaking in reference to the Bible, King makes allusions and references to specific points and people in American history, which allows him to connect to his larger audience, the people of America. By demonstrating his practical wisdom, through the use of allusion, King attempts to strengthen his character with a visible appeal to ethos. King alludes to the Bible multiple times throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail. These allusions are notable in paragraph three, where king refers to the biblical figures “Jesus Christ” and “the Apostle Paul.” The context in which these two are used is to reiterate the story of Paul leaving Tarsus, which King also mentions, to spread the word of Christ. In paragraph...
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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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...Engl. 1213-009 29 November 2010 Letter from Birmingham Jail In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King expresses his grief for his fellow black people, after seeing and hearing about the injustice that was taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King is very explicit in the letter; he makes a very obvious argument on the immeasurable amount of injustice taking place. A reader experiences firsthand that it was about time for necessary action to take place, considering how long the black people had waited for equality through nonviolent protest. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a response to eight clergymen’s letter called “A Call for Unity”. In the letter, Dr. King addresses his critics that believed his actions were “unwise and untimely” (King 204). To achieve his personal proposal, King uses ethos, pathos and logos to convey a sense of understanding a reason for equality and sympathy. The main point in Dr. King’s letter is that black people have patiently waited long enough for their God-given rights; “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights” (King 207). And despite what anyone might have said, it time for change to take place. He starts his counterargument towards the clergymen, ministers and civil leaders of Birmingham adequately; he wrote “You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, but your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought...
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...black people, marched into downtown Birmingham and protested against the unjust racial segregation. However, all the members involved in the march were arrested. In Jail, as a response to the letter written by the clergymen to stop the black’s demonstration, Martin Luther King wrote “The Letter From Birmingham Jail” back to the clergymen. King’s letter longs for the immediate need for non-violent and direct protest against the unjust and immoral segregation laws. The letter itself exemplifies all the aspects of arguments. However, to be little more specific, King’s effective and brilliant employment of ethos and pathos to persuade the audience plays the major role for his effective and remarkable argumentation in this letter. Effectively and successively utilizing ethos, King succeeds not only in disproving the clergymen referring King and his crew as “outsiders” but also in making his arguments more credible. In “Statement by Alabama Clergymen, April 12, 1963”, the clergymen refer Martin Luther King and other 53 black people to the term, “outsiders.” As a response to this, King starts off with the use of ethos in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” to acknowledge the audience that he is not an outsider, but one of the clergymen in Birmingham Society. He greets the clergymen with the head of the letter, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen:” By using the word, “Fellow”, King implies that King himself is also a clergyman of a church in Birmingham society, not an outsider. It is definitely...
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...imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for leading the non-violent demonstration against racial segregation and injustice. As Kind read the letter written by the eight local Clergymen, he then wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in order to defend his action nonviolent actions. King uses many varieties of rhetoric strategies to exemplify his argument. He uses three Aristolean means of persuasion Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to establish his argument on the nonviolent protest movement. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, written from the Birmingham Jail, he uses ethos to establish the credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice. King states in the letter “I have the honor of serving as president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. speaks from the Birmingham Jail to the “new administration” about his nonviolent protests as a result of the violence towards blacks and to secure civil rights. King used the rhetorical devices ethos, logos and allusion to reach the clergymen. Martin Luther King Jr. uses ethos to influence his audience to trust him and believe that he knows what he’s talking about. King states “I am in Birmingham because there is injustice here ”pg.1 paragraph 3. In this quote King is telling the audience that he is in Birmingham for them, so he can stop the injustice. If he is there to stop injustice, then he is there for the people and their safety. That is how he uses ethos in this quote, it makes the people believe he...
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...Martin Luther King starts off his letter, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”, stating this, he is putting himself on the same “height” as the clergymen, sending a clear message that he is no less then them and no better than him. In the first paragraph King introduces his thoughts about discrimination writing a letter in the Jail of Birmingham, he states “I came across your recent statement calling my present activities unwise and untimely.”, he’s mentioning the argument of his opponents showing what will be later argued in the letter. He provides a reasoning stating “I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms”, which introduces logos because King doesn’t want further problems with his opponents (the eight other men who the letter was stated to) argument saying that King wants the most reasonable way for them to hear and he wants no terms in being “unwise and untimely”....
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...Jr. was a sensational speaker. He has a way with words. A way that can sway you and your view of things. In “ Letter From Birmingham Jail”, it is clear this effect is not sacrificed in his writing. King may not have known the specific literary actions he has taken, however, he did an excellent job of y]using rhetorical devices to get his point across. In “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by MLK, King uses rhetorical devices such as, rhetorical appeals, metaphors, and allusions to strengthen his argument in the letter. This letter was written to address the biggest issues of the south. King, through his use of rhetorical devices, to further support his argument. King’s most effective way of getting his point across was his appeal to emotion, credibility, and logic. This is also known as Ethos, Pathos and...
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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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...Written by Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 16, 1963 “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was written to eight clergymen responding to their previous letter. Born in 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up to become one of the most influential civil rights leaders in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He was a preacher who along side with teaching God’s word, was also a leader in civil rights. He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and later led numerous protests against segregation. In 1963, King had led a march in Birmingham, Alabama and got improper treatment and was thrown in jail. While residing in jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. received a letter written by eight clergymen criticizing King’s actions. King responded to the letter with honesty, knowledge, and also a sense of power he had. Martin Luther King, Jr. used ethos, logos, and pathos to show where claims of the clergymen were faulty and to give a sense of understanding to what it is like on the black side of segregation. Ethos is ethical appeal or appeals based on the writer’s authority and credibility. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses ethos to portray that just because he is a colored man, does not mean he is not important. He uses it to show the clergymen that he did belong in Birmingham. He is credible in the sense that he has honor “serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” where he leads groups of people for Movement of Human Rights. King cares about the people, he states “injustice anywhere...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr., in his famous Letter from the Birmingham Jail, responds forcefully yet politely to a public statement made by eight Alabama clergymen in 1963. He defends his position as an African American and strongly advocates racial equality, citing countless sources and employing several literary devices. Most significantly, King uses frequent allusions and vivid metaphors, to relate to his audience and convey his passion for equality. Martin Luther King Jr. uses allusions to biblical figures and events that appeal to both ethos and pathos throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The ethos and pathos of biblical figures and events have a strong impact and effectiveness to the readers. Since King is a Christian he uses biblical...
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...Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham jail” is a mix of emotional passion and logical precision that seeks to achieve meaningful cause. The letter was a response to white clergy who were critical of his intention in Birmingham naming him an “outsider”. King’s response to critics through a letter explains his arguments vividly and effectively. King wrote the letter in a way that he agreed with his critics, nonetheless still using their words against them in logic harmony. King’s letter illustrates the three artistic proofs used to convince an audience. This paper will discuss the ethos, pathos, and logos modes of persuasion as well as writing structure as seen in King’s “The letter from Birmingham jail”. King’s letter demonstrates his clear logic, empathetic prose, sense of self, as maintained by high moral ground. His letter evokes ethical appeal for two main reasons; the language used is ethical and suits the topic, and the words come from a credible source. King is to be forgiven for saying, “Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant” because this word may seem provocative (Jnr, 2012). However, these words are persuasive and used in the right context. According to Aristotle, ethos is developed when one chooses to use language that is suitable for the audience, and when the same words makes the person sound fair or unbiased (Aristotle, 2012). He uses historical facts to justify the reason why injustice prevails, and not his own opinion. He says, “Lamentably...
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...Rhetorical Analysis: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” On April 12, 1963 eight clergymen wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that showed their disapproval of the demonstrations that were going on in Birmingham, Alabama. The clergymen were complaining that the demonstrations led by Dr. King and his affiliates went against Birmingham Laws and “incited hatred and violence.” A few days later Dr. King wrote a response letter while temporarily confined in a Birmingham jail. The letter demonstrated the intellectual power that Dr. King had of rhetorically appealing to his audiences. He effectively used the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals to explain the reasons why the demonstrations were necessary in order to make a change in Birmingham. Dr. King establishes his credibility, or uses the ethos appeal, effectively when he writes that “I have the honor of serving President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We have eighty-five affiliated organizations…” He listed these organizations so he can gain trust from the clergymen and also to make his argument stronger. He named his supreme position because this means that somebody or a group of people most likely appointed him to the position. This shows that somebody had to trust him to be responsibility for such a large organization. Dr. King also used allusions to appeal to his audience with more authority, or ethos. He establishes more credibility when he alluded to the Apostle Paul by writing “…just as the Apostle...
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...Critical Analysis Essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In arguing, writers use different techniques to effectively convey their message to their intended audience. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen in which King’s presence in Birmingham and his methods of public demonstration were questioned. King’s letter was not only a response to his presence in Birmingham, but he also used the opportunity to address the unjust proposals by the clergymen that Negroes wait for the legal system to abolish segregation and unjust laws. King uses rhetorical modes of persuasion such as ethos, pathos and logos to meticulously address and discredit the claims made by the eight white clergymen. Throughout his letter, King also makes many comparisons to effectively illustrate how the Negro pursuit of freedom was timely. To answer the question of his presence in Birmingham, King uses both ethos and pathos to explain why he is qualified to be present leading the demonstrations. To argue the perception of him being “an outsider coming in”, King first states that because he has organizational ties in Birmingham, he has an obligation to be available whenever he is needed. This statement discredits the notion that he is an outsider. To lay the foundation of his argument, King states, “But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This statement is used to make King’s presence seem less personal...
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...logos throughout his letter. He clarifies all of the reasons for his opinions and supports them well. His points of view are also logical in their appeal. For example, in the beginning of his letter he gives a response to the clergymen’s claim that the demonstrations were risky and early. He states that the Negro community had no substitute except to prepare for direct action. He supports this claim by saying that the Negro leaders wanted to negotiate with the city fathers, but they consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. He also gives more support to his argument by writing about another confrontation in September when the Negro leaders finally got their chance to talk with the leaders of Birmingham. He states that in the course of negotiations certain promises were made by the merchants-for example to remove the stores’ humiliating racial sings. On the source of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the selected of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a halt on all demonstrations. As the weeks and the months went on, they realized that they were the victims of false promises, because the signs went back up. Due to the reality that their hopes were yet again blasted they were forced to resort to direct action. This is just one illustration of many others in which Martin Luther King makes excellent appeals to logos. Martin Luther King channels a high sense of ethos in his letter. He establishes this from the very start of...
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