...Here is my paper from English 101 on MLK Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail Tammy Marston Dr. Sychterz ENG 101 27 October 2015 Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. composed an open letter “Letter from Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 in response to the statement “A Call for Unity.” This statement was written by eight white Alabama clergymen, which recognize that social in justices were taking place but expressed the belief that the battle against racial segregation should be fought in the courts not in the streets. King reply that “This ‘Wait” has almost always meant ‘Never.” He put out there that direct actions were necessary to achieve true civil rights and, and that not only is civil disobedience justified in the face of unjust laws, but also that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Martin Luther King Jr. thought if he could get the middle class on his side that he would have the majority he needed to forward the movement for civil rights and achieve its goals of removing the illegal segregation practices that were still in place in the nineteen sixties. King addressed the white clergymen that were putting him to task for the non-violent protests in what they considered to be “their” city. Even though King was invited as the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to speak to the local affiliate in Birmingham, where he believed that they have basic organizational ties. King then explains...
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...Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful civil rights leader and set the tone for many nonviolent equality movements. Events in Birmingham, Alabama, thoroughly the most segregated city in the United States, lead to nonviolent demonstrations, which then gave rise to hostile police conduct. The individuals of the protests were apprehended, including Martin Luther King Jr.. Alabama clergymen then composed a letter addressing the racial unrest in Birmingham, and Martin Luther King Jr. reciprocated with his own letter justifying the protestors actions. To justify the Birmingham demonstrations and appeal to his audience of both blacks and whites, Martin Luther King Jr. effectively builds pathos with the use of various rhetorical strategies. King evokes...
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...Kyle McCrite Ms. 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...
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...Amy McCaslin Obituary First let’s define the word racism, racism It’s a belief that separates the difference human inherent, a racial group of people deciding the way they live or one’s accomplishment, usually connects the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to tell others or that a particular race group. It started in 1472 Portuguese were the first slave trade, then in 1651 someone declares an enslaved after ten years of service. In 1862 Lincoln abolished slavery in territory controlled by the Confederate State of America. Congress rules that black soldiers must receive the same pay. 1870 they passed the 15 amendment allowing black men to vote. On 1963 MLKs letter from Birmingham Jail encourage growing national civil...
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...Martin Luther King Jr.ʻs (MLK) “Letter from Birmingham Jail” explore the insights of racial segregation in a new perspective. Furthermore, MLK includes supporting details relevant to the Civil Rights Timeline (CRT) in his letter to further support his perspective on racial segregation. Therefore, I will further explain the relevance of these rights and how MLK was able to input them into his beautifully compiled letter. First and foremost, one Civil Right that MLK used from the CRT in his letter was the Supreme Courtʻs decision to make school segregation unconstitutional. This civil right can be shown in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” on paragraph 7, where it states “the Supreme Courtʻs decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public...
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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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...Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) letter relates to the civil rights timeline because during MLK’s time in Birmingham jail he wrote a letter to the clergymen as to why he was in jail. He explained in the letter that he was protesting and in the timeline it shows when MLK’s letter made a difference. In the timeline 1955 is which black’s started to stand up for their rights, “1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a montgomery bus boy boycott begins and lasts for more than a year. Buses desegregated in 1956.” SB book page 212. Therefore this shows that people are standing up, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” SB book page 207. MLK states that...
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...righteous way for a person or a group to make their point to the world. Great leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Dr. MLK) and Mohandas K. Gandhi (Gandhi) harnessed the idea and brought it to its prominence. Civil disobedience in 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...
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...Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was written on 16 April 1963. It was written in response to the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen. In this letter Martin Luther King attempts to explain to the clergyman how and why he demonstrates instead of bring the matters to the courts. In this letter MLK also answers the questions and criticisms that were written to him in the statement from the clergymen. The reason Martin Luther King was in the position that he was was because he stood up against segregation and the issues that had been rising in Alabama. He also was the leader of many non-violent protests and demonstrations during this time. The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written for Alabama Clergymen and for the white...
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...The core of MLK's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is explaining his actions in Birmingham and the need for nonviolent protests. He takes the need for nonviolent protests one step further by stating it is their moral task to break unjust laws. MLK explains the process they have gone through leading up to the sit-ins and boycotts such as meeting with leaders of the economic community in which merchants promised to remove the racial signs from their stores (3). These promises never came through after months of waiting and the need for directs action arose. He addresses the "untimeliness" of their actions in Birmingham and the need to wait for changes to be made. MKL responds with "For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear...
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...Then there were organizations that were against segregation like the Black Panthers who tried to use the approach of violence to get their point across. During this time there were many protests, which usually were nonviolent, but some lasted 382 days. One famous peaceful protest in Birmingham, Alabama when thousands of people were jailed along with Martin Luther King Jr., is where MLK Jr. wrote his piece Letter from Birmingham City Jail that he wrote to call for the end of segregation. It was a tough time in history for the African Americans of...
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...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....
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...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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...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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...Martin F. Espinosa Prof. Maria McKenzie English 1302 24 September 2013 MLK It is interesting to notice how much people can influence others with the power of literacy. The capability to express one’s own point of view and direct it others in such a profound and impacting way, that it makes them into followers of their word. These charismatic leaders represent the true nature of what it is to be someone who can use their speech and knowledge to persuade others to follow them. The perfect example of this type of person is none other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was arguably the greatest civil rights leader ever known and his disobedience letter, “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” is one of the best arguments written by man. Here are the reasons I believe it is such an effective piece of writing. First of all, when we speak of Martin Luther King, we think of the civil rights leader we’ve all learned to love and care for. What many people may have not realized was that this man was a literary genius, and the letter from Birmingham jail honors the intellect and knowledge he had. His letter gives the main elements that compose a great argument. He gives examples of the three main pillars of public speaking and writing, which are ethos, pathos, and logos. He demonstrates his knowledge in different subjects such as history, religion, and politics. He quotes Socrates and St. Thomas Aquinas and other historic figures and is familiar with the fundamental vocabulary of...
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