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 Paul left his village and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ…, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” He feels that he is at the same position to lead the movement and gain freedom for all that has suffered long enough. He also alludes to the Greek philosopher, Socrates, when he states, “Just as Socrates felt it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths…, so must we…create the kind of tension in society…” With this allusion, he uses Socrates’ authority and philosophy to concur with the operations that they must go forth with. The pathos appeal was used frequently throughout Dr. King's letter. It helped him gain an emotional attachment to the clergymen whether they agreed with him or not. Dr. King used the pathos appeal when he expressed “For years now I have heard the word ‘wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has always meant ‘Never’” The audience, in this case, the clergymen is made to feel guilty for not making promises become reality. The clergymen stated that they are “working peacefully” to unite the Whites and Negro citizens in the community. Dr. King used the pathos appeal throughout the letter to provoke more emotion from the clergymen. He wanted to get them to understand how critical it was for them to do the demonstrations the way they were done. Another pathos appeal that Dr. King uses involves the use of repetition and allusions. Dr. King used repetition emerge the importance of the demonstrations that his affiliation was doing. In the thirteenth paragraph of his letter, he repeated the words “when you” followed by an experience that Negroes have had to endure. Dr. King was trying to get the clergymen to emphasize the horrific everyday experiences that Negroes go through. Dr. King relied on solid reasoning, or logos when he writes “A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of Harmony with the moral law.” He justifies and explains that a law that stands with rightful morals ought to be followed and should not put down certain humans. Dr. King wants the clergymen to understand that the laws that are man do not correlate with human rights and are instead, synthetic rights made to degrade a human based on a characteristic not of their liking. Overall, Martin Luther King effectively used the rhetorical appeals to justify the demonstrations that he were leading. Throughout his writing, he used the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals to get the clergymen to understand why he was doing what he was doing at the time.