Analysis Of The Letter From Birmingham Jail

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The selection I choose to read was The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. In this paper I will interpret why Martin Luther King Jr, chose to examine certain accusations the way he did, why he chose to persuade the ones reading it, like myself and why he choose to use the type of theme he exerted. I noticed that he used a lot of powerful and emotional appeal in this reading in which, I believe he did so to effectively make the reader feel the plight of African American people because, he is implicitly concerned with justice throughout this selection. The Letter from Birmingham Jail discusses Martin Luther King Jr’s accusation against his actions of nonviolent protest in Birmingham. He was arrested for breaking an unjust
Martin Luther King states many ideas to encourage the clergymen one being that “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny” (King 4). He effectively draws his audience in by concluding powerful notations while still being able to collect peoples emotional appeal toward such a serious subject. Another quote I took from this reading is “we must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that "justice too long delayed is justice denied” (King 12). By using the word “we” it justifies that MLK is trying to endorse the fact that segregation should not be in context and the “we” includes African Americans as a whole. In this letter, Martin Luther King uses a lot of ethos, pathos, and logos as he draws certain points and argues that contradicting justice for one person or just African Americans threatens justice for
Dr. King used love as an alternative to overthrow the hatred violent of the white racists. After being thrown in jail he realized that fighting back wouldn’t be a smart decision. His strategy of nonviolence had become successful and he became the first to be able to implement this act on a greater scale leaving Dr. King’s reputation as an excellent righteous and political leader of the Civil Rights

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