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Analysis letter from birmingham jail
Analysis letter from birmingham jail
The Civil Rights Movement in the US
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Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of many things, he was involved in many different groups and communities. He was an American citizen, apart of the African American community, a Christian leader and pastor, an activist, an extremist, and a civil rights leader. King, along with others like him, were faced with many obstacles throughout their lifetime because of their skin color. Before 1954 when segregation ended, African Americans were treated very harshly, things such as lynch mobs and the Ku Klux Klan became popular. African Americans had separate stations from the white people, different water fountains, different schools, different sections on the buses, they could hardly gain “a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (King 264). During this time, King received dozens of letters filled with criticism, and in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he decides to respond to one of the letters written by eight clergymen from Alabama. In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he uses different rhetorical strategies such as repetition and allusion to make his letter most effective. …show more content…
He opens up about a memory he recalled and stating, “when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters...” (King 264). King’s main reasoning for being in Birmingham was because “injustice is here” (King 262). By describing to the clergymen the past experiences he had with injustice, it justifies his reasoning for being in Alabama, since the men viewed him as “outsiders coming in” (King 262). Repeating things are effective because it draws attention what is being repeated, which makes the reader realize it’s important and understand it was placed there for a
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.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963, in Birmingham, for having a protest without a proper permit. On the exact day King was arrested, eight clergymen from Alabama wrote a letter called “A Call for Unity.” The letter called for termination of civil activities and demonstrations and designated King an “outsider” and saying that outsiders were the problems in Birmingham and not the blacks that are from there. On April 16 King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which was his responds to his fellow clergymen. He wrote the letter as a means to convince the clergymen and the white moderate that the nonviolent demonstrations that had got him arrested, were a necessity and to enlighten them on why the segregation laws in the southern states needed to be changed. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the clergymen and convince them in assisting him in putting an end to segregation laws of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama.
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 from Birmingham jail by Dr. Marin Luther King was written as a response of King to nine criticisms made against the Southern Christian leaders and King’s participation in demonstration in Birmingham. King handled many rhetorical devices to convince his opponents such as the white clergymen with his rights to protest, create tension for direct action and to achieve the racial justice. The devices fluctuate between Logos, Pathos and Ethos in a clever way to appeal to his audience and criticize them at the same time. King provided logical supports such as biblical figures, historical and philosophical references. In addition, he used verities of metaphors, allergy and poetic language. In my essay, I will point out some of the rhetorical devices and
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-
The mighty river flows through the mountains with liquidity and nurture providing life for all those who wish to take a sip from it. Yet the river is powerful in its own force destroying even the largest rocks, crumbling them into small pieces. People may be able to stop the river for a short time or even dry it up but the water always comes back in one form or another, every dam is bound to fail. Some people have been able to harness the power of the river, redirecting the mighty water making it flow in constructive ways. Similar to the river, language is influential. Its true power is not seen by the naked eye but by those who study it, those who use it as their ally in a war of linguistics. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, Birmingham City Jail he is able to use all three rhetorical appeals to prove that demonstrations lead to negotiations and benefit for both sides of an argument.
In 1963, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the South, so civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. brought his campaign of nonviolent resistance to Birmingham. After leading a demonstration on April 12, 1963, King was arrested for violating demonstration ordinances. Shortly after, eight white clergymen in Birmingham sent out a public statement claiming that although they support desegregation, they advise against anymore protests advocated by King, stating that the “demonstrations are unwise and untimely” (Carpenter et al). While in jail, King took an opportunity to continue his campaign by responding to these eight white clergymen. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King uses religious and philosophical allusions to effectively convey his intellect and credibility to his audience: the clergymen and his followers.
Racial discrimination has always been an issue worldwide. Through the struggles of the individual’s who dealt with the social inequality due to their skin color deserve a stance, and ultimately a voice to the nation. However, it is never easy to raise a voice in a community where it is mainly populated by whites who discriminate themselves from colored people. One man decided to take a stance and raise a voice to nation, not only is he able to make a positive change to the nation, but he is also able to revolutionize the equality among the races because he knew everyone deserved a chance at the pursuit of happiness. Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero. King took the fall and ultimately gave power and a voice to the African-Americans who deserve the chance of equality. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by the King, is a letter to help strive for the justice that people around the nation deserve, which is equality amongst the black and white community. Through King’s letter, he is not only striving for the justice, but he is also trying to create the change in a nonviolent direct action. The purpose of the letter is to serve as sort of a declaration stating that the King will fight the racial inequality wherever it is, to only help provide the nation the justice it deserves. Fundamentally, the letter is written through the King’s appeals to logic and emotion to help connect to the readers so that they can help to foment a movement that will make history.
King’s use of pathos makes his arguments morally indisputable. Paragraph twelve of King’s letter is dedicated to activate the emotions of the readers and it surely does an effective job. King wants the clergymen to understand segregation through a black person’s perspective. The clergyman wants King and blacks to wait for their change of freedom. They wanted King to delay his direct action so that desegregation could be handled in the courts. But King is tired of waiting and he states that the wait is over. He says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” The use of ‘we’ shows that King is establishing a unity between him and all black people, not just blacks from Birmingham. King points out the injustices that whites have brought forth upon blacks. One of the issues he states is “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim”. King brings this injustice up to stir up an emotional reaction about a violation of the eight amendment. King is very specific with his examples of injustice that blacks face, this is one of the main reasons that paragraph twelve is so effective through out the letter. What touched my heart was when King stated “when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six
[Introduction] Martin Luther King has impacted society in such an extraordinary way. One tactic that was used during his speeches was a tactic known as rhetoric. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, rhetoric is defined as “the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion” (cite) One of Dr. King’s strongest arguments in his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is on page 9 of the letter. So much is explained about how it is time to make things right now, not in the future, not in years, but now. The time is right for things to be equal now, so why wait?
This letter was primarily written towards the clergymen, but is viewed by the the entire nation. King was sent to jail for parading around town without a permit. The eight days spent in jail allowed him to develop this letter to refute the clergymen. In his letter, King’s heart and soul was poured into this letter which can be seen through the length and the way he articulated himself towards the issue of segregation and racial injustice.
In his letter, Martin Luther King is trying to persuade his readers to understand his action and point of view of an African-American living in this era. He did so all while replying to the public published statement and criticisms written to him by the eight Alabama clergymen. This illuminating work of art that King had created was filled with heightened terminology which was gratified by his precise framework. By King writing this response letter with such high dialect, it reflects off of his determined and highly educated mentality immensely. In this letter King directly tries to build a connection
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.
King uses numerous biblical allusions to resonate with his clergymen audience and to make them realize that they were condemning a righteous movement. The vivid language in metaphors captures emotion and expands understanding. Mr. King was able to do anything to end the injustice in Birmingham and his commitment was shown in his tone.