...“The Letter from the Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a response made to Clergymen who found Kings incarceration to be a result of his lack of wisdom as well as untimely action taken in response to events in Birmingham (King 1). Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, he followed his fathers’ footsteps as a pastor while continuing his education at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Ultimately earning his doctorate at Boston University. While in Boston he met his would-be wife Coretta Scott, having two sons and daughters with her(Nobel). King is most well-known for his involvement in the Civil Rights movement, being the face of it for majority of his life. He advocated for people of color until his untimely death at the age of 35 in Memphis, Tennessee(Nobel). The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a response to Clergyman as well as the media for their remarks towards Kings actions in Birmingham which led to his arrest. King states in the second paragraph on page one that he was in the city due to the fact the ‘Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights’, a branch of the ‘Southern Christian Leadership Conference’ which Dr. King was president of,...
Words: 704 - Pages: 3
...In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a Letter from Birmingham Jail after arrested for peacefully protesting against segregation and racial discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. The Jim Crow system created segregation laws for blacks and whites having separate bathrooms, schools, and restaurants that existed after the era of slavery. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had expected the support of numerous local religious figures in hopes of uniting to end racial terror. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail King recognizes and replies to every nine detailed criticisms created by the white church and its leaders. What is evident in this letter is that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses emotional, rational, and ethical to persuade those who read his letter. To get his readers feeling emotion King...
Words: 584 - Pages: 3
...You do not have to be black to understand the urgency and spirit in which Martin Luther King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He is an inspiration not only to his people but also to everyone fighting for equality and against social injustice. In his letter MLK gives an effective argument that uses ethos to build credibility, includes societal factors happening outside and around him at the time, and appeals to his audience using many special technics. The letter was written at a shameful time in history when people were fighting to end segregation in the United Sates. While non-violently protesting, MLK and other demonstrators were jailed. MLK “was jailed for 8 days but only because he asked his supporters not to bail him out so it would have more of an effect and make a bigger statement” (HISTORY.COM MARANZANI 2013) While in jail, “someone snuck a newspaper that had an open letter to King written by Christian and Jewish religious leaders criticizing demonstrators and king” (history.com Maranzani 2013). King’s rebuttal to that statement is now this famous letter....
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...I strongly agree with Martin Luther King Jr., in his essay titled Letter from Birmingham Jail, when he asserts that it is the obligation of people to resist unjust laws. King initially wrote the essay in response to the open letter by a group of clergymen from Birmingham, Alabama, who were criticizing the methods in which King and his supporters were protesting. Not only does King defend his position, but he also expands on the idea of just and unjust laws. Essentially, King says that it is crucial that people be aware of laws that are just and unjust, how they are applied, and what should be done if a law is unjust. I agree with what King says about just and unjust laws, because I believe that there will always be unjust laws. It is very dangerous if a society, or really any organization, begins to blindly follow the laws put out by authority figures. This would allow the authority to take advantage of the members of society and focus on personal/private interests. It is a question of when, not if, that authority will create an unjust law/rule. This is due primarily to the fact that humans are flawed on a fundamental level. We know this because religion has long recognized this fundamental weakness. The Catholic Church itself has...
Words: 474 - Pages: 2
...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...
Words: 1884 - Pages: 8
...Summary of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” In the featured article, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, an imprisoned Dr. Martin Luther King, on the date of April 16, 1963, composes a response to his fellow clergymen addressing their criticism of his activities and beliefs. He begins the note with an explanation for his presence in Birmingham. An associate had invited him with the request of initiating an immediate action, nonviolent plan, to fight the segregation, racial issues, and injustice found in Birmingham. The author suggests there are 4 steps to building a nonviolent campaign: verifying the existence of injustice by compiling evidence, negotiating with the power, self-purification to prepare for the event, and immediate measures to deal...
Words: 715 - Pages: 3
...its purest form is a particularly strong concept because it requires a self-purification process. This process enlightens civil resisters to the reality of longsuffering for a cause without any type of retaliation. Also, there are arguments against civil disobedience. One such argument is “wait” because change will come. Another is that civil disobedience precipitates violence. These arguments are extremely weak. Because of these weak arguments along with the strong concept of self-purification, I am a proponent of civil disobedience. Dr. MLK was a firm believer in the self-purification process. In Letter from Birmingham Jail, he speaks of undertaking a process of self-purification. “We began a series of workshops on nonviolence and we repeatedly asked ourselves: ‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliation?’ ‘Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail (King 158)?’” Dr. MLK knew that in order to appeal to the public, they must endure the punishment without retaliation. This is explained when he says, “Laying out our case before the conscience of the local and national community (King 158).” Dr. MLK had a grasp on the notion that if his people were to become violent, they would not appeal to anyone’s conscience. And, their credibility would be lost. Gandhi is another civil resister who knew and believed in the importance of a self-purification process. Although he did not call it self-purification, his concept is clearly the same. In an excerpt of his...
Words: 732 - Pages: 3
...Letter from Birmingham Jail - by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. With some discussion, please answer the following questions independently. Write in complete sentences, 1-2 paragraphs per answer. Answer completely and thoroughly. Put serious thought into your answers. 5 points per question. *Write a one paragraph summary of the letter. Include the following: -Reason why MKL was in jail. o -Reason for writing the letter. o -Intended audience of the letter. o -Main points o -Significance of letter for Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King was imprisoned because he participated in a nonviolent demonstration against segregation. He purposely chose to be a part of this demonstration to bring attention and publicity to the city of Birmingham, the heart of discrimination. He wrote the letter to respond to the criticisms of eight white religious leaders in the south. He seldom responds to criticism, but he felt a strong motive to explain to these leaders his cause for doing what he is doing. He gives descriptions of his ideal just and unjust laws and gives several examples of why they are unjust. He also calls out the white moderate, saying that their lack of doing nothing is just as worse as the white radicals. Also he talks about how freedom is never willingly given up by the oppressor, and that something must be done to bring justice to these problems. This letter gave many whites a chance to see the demonstrations from his...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
...Anna Swenson Comp 1013 Week 4 assignments Review the Paraphrase and Summary PowerPoint and complete the exercise on slide 4. Original Passage: You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.” Source: King, M. L., Jr....
Words: 1005 - Pages: 5
...Letter by King Luther from Birmingham Jail The letter which was written by King Martin Luther from Birmingham Jail is famous for its convincing style and for depicting King’s valor and commitment to justice. The letter was written to fellow clergymen who were against direct peaceful action against racial behavior with colored people. The purpose of the letter was to convince clergymen to play their role as Christian and representatives of the church. His primary audience is the clergymen who were against his stance about freedom of black people in Birmingham. They were appreciating Birmingham police for maintaining law and order, but were not noticing hostility and brutality of polices. Martin Luther King has evoked emotions of Christian morality and love for humanity through using pathos by mentioning sufferings of people and quoting Christian figures and teachings. To convince about the cruel treatment of black people, Dr. King uses pathos by giving his...
Words: 894 - Pages: 4
... March 17th, 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Question 6 on page 177 Have you ever thought about integrity? We all have at some point in our lives. The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines integrity as “the quality of being honest or fair and the state of being complete or whole.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stephen L. Carter spoke about this and defined it in their own ways. Stephen L. Carter wrote in “The Rules about the Rules” that “integrity requires 3 steps: (1) discerning what is right and what is wrong; (2) acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and (3) saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong.” During a major protest of unfair business practices in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was arrested and put into jail for his actions. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he gave evidence of Stephen L. Carter’s definition of integrity. “Discerning what is right and what is wrong.” In 1954, the Supreme Court came to the decision to outlaw segregation in public schools. Even though this was Federal Law, the community still chose to obey the city ordinances of segregation. Dr. King stated that for the African-American people there was “grossly unjust treatment in the courts, and there were more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any other city in the nation.” Despite strong efforts made from the leaders in the African-American community, the city...
Words: 522 - Pages: 3
...In April 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama. During his time in jail, he wrote what became to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King wrote this letter to explain his actions to the other clergymen who disagreed with his protests and actions. This was very effective in getting more blacks, and even some whites, to join King’s group of peaceful protesters. It was effective because he appealed to the emotions of the reader, and he used vivid analogies to make the content of the letter easier to understand. The writing of this letter was a vital point in the Civil Rights Movement. After the letter was written, many people joined the Movement. Without this letter, the Civil Rights Movement may not have been the success it was. At the time this letter was written, the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to gain momentum. King had become the face of the fight against discrimination. People in the movement knew that they needed to start having bigger protests to gain statewide and national attention. So in April of 1963, King started doing lunch counter sit-ins, and later they marched on Birmingham City Hall. After the march on City Hall, King and many of the other protesters were arrested and put in jail. This is where King would write his letter. He wrote the letter in response to other articles in the paper saying that the protests were unwise and untimely. There was a statement in a newspaper which was written...
Words: 1244 - Pages: 5
...ENC 11102 August 15, 2009 Genre is a term which defines the different categories which things are categorized into. For example, when defining different forms of music; music is put into categories in which we use the term genre. Different music is put into these genres depending on the different rhythms used in it. It allows Rhythm and Blues to be differentiated from and Rock and Roll, and Rock and Roll to be differentiated from Gospel. In writing, a writer’s choice of style is the determining factor in how we choose his/her genre. When the genre of the writing is determined, then the particular audience can be determined to who its interest of reading might be. The audience in writing is defined by the person or group of people that is reading or listening to a certain choice of writing. Depending on what kind of writing genre is presented, determines the audience of the writer and how the writer choose to reach his or her audience. In order for a writer to reach a particular audience, the writer has to be able to compose his writing. The writer can do so in such a way that a rhetorical situation is formulated in a particular genre which reflects the type of audience that it interests. A rhetorical situation is situations in which a story and a scenario is presented and explains a situation that could possible occur in real life, therefore giving a situation in which the reader can assume the outcome; a certain form of communication...
Words: 1571 - Pages: 7
...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...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...Letters from Birmingham PeeJay Nowling Argosy University Online Letters from Birmingham 1. King was in Birmingham to address the issue of injustice by organizing a protest. Define the injustice and the protest and explain how Judeo-Christian ethics were applied to allow for civil disobedience. How was the injustice in Birmingham tied to all communities in the south? Dr. King had the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization in every southern state. Their headquarters were in Atlanta, Georgia. They had 85 affiliated organizations and one of them was the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. They shared staff, educational and financial resources with their affiliates. Several months back Dr. King and members of his staff were invited because they had organizational ties there and they were asked to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if it were necessary. Dr. King was in Atlanta and could not stand idly by while there was injustice in Birmingham. He said, “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” (King, 2006). “He wanted to carry the gospel of freedom” (King, 2006). King claimed without direct action there would be no change. 2. King lists four steps to nonviolent campaigns. Name them. “There are four basic steps to any non-violent campaign...
Words: 777 - Pages: 4
