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Martin Luther King Jr. was a revolutionary individual. Born in 1929, to a Baptist minister and schoolteacher, who would have known back then, that a black man would forever change the world with his efforts to end the discrimination of black individuals. He was a big asset to the civil rights movement and is greatly recognized to this day. As an individual who grew up in the early-to-mid 1900’s, he faced a lot of discrimination simply for the color of his skin. He challenged segregation and took various steps towards ending it completely. King was a minister that stood for civil rights and in the 50’s, he was traveling all over the country and made speeches promoting his vision of a better world for all. In 1963, he made the iconic “I have …show more content…
He was a minister so he knew what to say and how to say it to attract an audience. This letter was written as a response to the clergymen, but it reached various type of audiences. In the beginning of the letter, King he addresses that the letter is a response to the clergymen. Throughout the letter, he keeps a steady tone, representing a calm expression of strong sentiments against the unjust treatment him and his people have been suffering for years and the need to for it to end. He uses ethos in this beginning paragraph to draw in the clergy men by treating them in an authoritative manner. Rather than attack them, like they attacked his character, he respectfully addressed them: “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable …show more content…
The reason for this letter being more of an argument is because it is a calm retaliation to an attack on King. He decides to address both the clergymen and the other individuals that are able to read his letter. In the passage, he says “I am compelled to mention one other point in your statement that troubled me profoundly.” King continues to talk about the police brutality. He explains how he is not able to share in the clergymen’s “praise for the police department.” He was witness to all forms of mistreatment of innocent “Negro” individuals, men, women, and children. By recalling specific mistreatment, like that of police dogs being used to violently attack nonviolent individuals. His goal was to use pathos. Specifically, he addressed the clergymen again, but anyone reading that letter, including myself, cannot ignore the power in his statements. His recollection of the incidents he witnessed were so vivid and raw, that it hits an emotion of just how unacceptable the police behavior was. These were not statements anymore, but facts that identified how this type of suffering needs to end. There is no justification, although the clergymen want people to stop looking up to King and let the courts handle any type of problem. These policemen belong to the same legal system that handles any case, who will they act in favor of? It is
In Martin Luther King Junior's Letter from Birmingham Jail, King responds to a public statement made by eight Alabama clergymen about African Americans being too extreme and their actions untimely. In this public statement, made on the twelfth of April, 1963, the clergymen also commended the police on their control of the situation. Four days later, King writes a letter showing his opinion on the statements while he sits in the Birmingham jail for parading without a permit. King carefully uses rhetorical devices to force the clergymen to realize that they are the ones responsible for teaching morals. King uses figurative language to create pathos in his audience of Alabama Clergymen
Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", was written to answer a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in Birmingham. The clergymen were critical of King for "interloping" in the activities of their city. Dr. King said that he had every right to fight unfairness in the country that he lived in. The letter he wrote, in response to the "Call for Unity", and a statement that he would battle racial inequality wherever it was. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was the main point in his life. In this letter, he perfectly described his reasons why he felt this way, appealing to logic, emotion, and ethics.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. uses a catalogue of personal experiences in order to appeal to the emotions of the reader, also called pathos, by utilizing concrete language, semicolons, and lengthy sentences. He not only entices the emotions of the fellow clergymen he is addressing, but also society in general, attempting to reveal the true situation of the oppressed Negroes during this time in the Civil Rights Movement.
The letter’s purpose is that King wants to persuade the clergymen what he together with his people were demonstrating since it was extremely necessary during that period. In achieving this, King utilizes persuasive and condemnatory tones so that the reader can consent with him. King Luther King, the author of Letter from Birmingham
In the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to an article by eight clergymen, in which he explains the racial injustice in Birmingham, and reasons why King's organization is protesting for Civil Rights. He introduces himself and his actions at the beginning of his letter. He states that the purpose of his direct action protest is to open the door for negotiation on the Civil Rights. He tries to convince his audience by providing evidence in order to gain his audience to be involved in his movement and support him. He also highlights police actions against nonviolent Negros and crimes against humanity in Birmingham city jail.
Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos-
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written by Martin Luther King Jr., King delivers a well structured response to eight clergymen who had accused him of misuse of the law. During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. King relies heavily on the two rhetorical devices, juxtaposition and parallelism, to bolster his argument and aid to make his reasoning more compelling.
King had written this letter to address and respond to the criticism made by the white clergymen. The letter was an approach to end racism and hatred in a non-violent manner. King and his pro-black organization group presented the essay to argue
Christianity is the absolute most influential idea in today’s society. What individuals perceive as right and wrong is actually based on Christianity. So by using religion in his letter, King was able to connect and force the clergymen to engage in his words. Overall, “Letter to Birmingham Jail” is very convincing in justifying the civil disobedience and morals of dealing with the civil rights. Moreover, King’s response was strong and, without a doubt, proved his commitment to civil rights.
King writes the letter to defend his organization's actions and the letter is also an appeal to the people, both the white and black American society, the social, political, and religious community, and the whole of American society to encourage desegregation and encourage solidarity and equality among all Americans, with no stratifications according to racial differences. King's letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the American society, particularly the political and religious community of the American society.
...church. With each claim the clergymen provided, King refuted their claim with evidence and more by describing what should be done with segregation laws. King’s tone in this piece was appropriate because he did not come off as someone who wanted to spread hate and prove the clergymen wrong. He genuinely wanted to change their views and show them the flaws of society regarding policemen and even the church. His tone was not threatening or spiteful, he made sure to address that he was trying to come off as respectful and concerned.
Overall, I believe King’s letter his extremely influential due to his impeccable use of argument within it, incorporating logos, pathos and ethos. In my opinion, King’s use of pathos is one of the factors behind the success of his letter. Although his letter was addressed to the eight clergymen, I believe that King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. The variety of literary devices in his letter makes King sound intelligent and convincing. On the other hand, I believe that King incorporates too much alliteration within his letter; many times, King makes a historical or biblical reference without delving into its relevance or meaning, leaving the reader questioning his intentions. In my opinion, if King would have described these alliterations more or, rather, left them out entirely, his argument would be deeper.
King's Argument in A Letter from Birmingham Jail In Dr. King's essay Letter from Birmingham Jail, he addresses the claims made about his arrest by the eight clergymen. His responses are very long and detailed, giving a very compelling and moving point of view. His letter is directed to his audience, which consists of white middle class citizens who Dr. King refers to as the 'white moderates'. Dr. King's letter is very persuasive because his use of pathos makes the audience think or imagine themselves in the situation.
King gets his point across, that segregation is unfair and morally not right, and that man has a responsibility to act against unjust laws, by using many different strategies throughout the letter. He uses logos, pathos, and ethos to do so. While using these devices he shows emotion, gives logic to his reasoning’s and gives credibility as well. First and foremost, King calmly responded to the statement from the clergymen that his non-violent direct action was “unwise and untimely”. King logically does so by describing the situation where the negro leaders tried many times to negotiate with the city fathers to remove racial barriers, but the promises never held true.
The tone set by Dr. King in the part of the letter where he describes “pent-up resentments and latent frustrations,” and where he recognizes the “vital urge” being suppressed, is very passionate. His passion shines through loud and clear. The way Dr. King feels is, in fact, quite clear throughout the entire letter, yet the overriding sense of reason and logic that anyone can relate to is ever apparent. As he describes the unrest he finds in his community, the community as a whole really; he explains that he did not encourage them to “get rid of your [their] discontent” he instead encouraged them to, “make prayer pilgrimages to city hall;… go on freedom rides,… and try to understand why he [they] must do so”; these quotes from the letter point out the ways Dr....