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Martin luther king birmingham letter analysis
Martin luther king birmingham letter analysis
Martin luther king birmingham letter analysis
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In his letter, MLK Jr. uses pathos and literary divices to renforce his argument for civil disobedeance. He uses pathos, quoting "we can never forget that everyting Hitler did in Germany was "Legal"...". He says this to justify that just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right. That just because it's legal to mistreat African Americans, doesn't mean it's right. The example of Hitler and the holocaust being legal further solidifies his point. In his letter, he also uses a metaphor, "...who have concluded that the white man is an incurable "devil"...". This tells how the white people is an evil that can't be treated. The Negro people are constantly haunted by the white people and their
oppression.
In his "Letter," Martin Luther King Jr.'s ability to effectively use pathos, or to appeal to the emotions of his audiences, is evident in a variety of places. More particularly in paragraph fourteen, King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, invoke empathy in the hearts of white moderates, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during the 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only to convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s. Right away in paragraph 13, King uses irony to give his earlier statements about freedom the sense of urgency that it needs: “For years now, I have heard the word ‘Wait!’. It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his famous “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned in the Birmingham Jail for being involved in nonviolent protests against segregation. The letter is directed at eight white clergymen from Alabama who were very cynical and critical towards African Americans in one of their statements. Throughout the letter, King maintains an understanding yet persistent tone by arguing the points of the clergymen and providing answers to any counterarguments they may have. In the letter, King outlines the goals of his movement and says that he will fight racial inequality wherever it may be. Dr. King uses the appeal three main rhetorical devices – ethos, logos, and pathos – in order to firmly, yet politely, argue the clergymen on the injustices spoken of in their statement.
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.
In 1963 on April 16th, Martin Luther King Jr, who was in the Birmingham jail for non-violent protesting wrote a letter in response to a statement from eight white Clergymen, in which they stated that his recent activities were “unwise and untimely.” In this letter King proceeds to state his purpose and reasons for his timing and his protests and powerfully he does so. He most obviously directs the letter to the Clergymen but there seems to be a many different audiences he wishes to enlighten on his thoughts. From what I gather he wants public figures and everyday men to read his letter, and by doing so he hopes to raise awareness for the cruel acts that have been done to the blacks. 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.
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, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
MLK depicted gruesome imagery throughout his letter in order to force the white clergymen to feel the Negros pain. For instance, he mentions how Negros have tried many times to negotiate, and were left with ‘Broken promises, blasted hopes.’(King) Whites had always told the Negros to wait, that their segregation will end eventually. MLK describes the word ‘wait’ as it “rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity,” (King), “It’s easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say ‘wait’.”(King) MLK’s choice of poignant wording to describe the Negros pain and suffering is effectively what helps deliver those feelings onto the white clergymen. While gruesome imagery is placed throughout his letter, MLK also dedicates an entire section of his letter solely to gain their understanding. “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro
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.
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-
Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his use of religion to justify actions, with this letter as a prime example. He believes that the morality of laws should be put into question to see if they are just, where the measurement of morality comes from an inner scale that is balanced by religion. Martin Luther King Jr. was a revolutionary, inciting nonviolent change in America through government protests, not conforming to the rules and norms has set for him to accept his poor condition in life. He says, “...segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.” Therefore, he believes that the government’s rule is not legitimate unless it follows his perception of what is just, which is fueled by religious beliefs. This causes independent action because he senses a problem in life, and feels like he must serve a greater purpose to be able to solve
Martin Luther King Junior's letter from a Birmingham Jail was an expression of his encouragement for protest against tradition and established laws and a justification for his actions. King, a leader of a civil-rights group that supported protest against traditional views, encouraged protesting against tradition and established laws that are unjust. In his letter from Birmingham Jail King states: "It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's anti-religious laws." This excerpt shows that King encourages protest because in some situations he deems it necessary, be it in Hitler's Germany, a Communist country, or any situation in which injustices are occurring. In the last sentence of the excerpt King openly admits that he would protest against established laws or traditions. King was against the traditional views and unjust laws, which discriminated against him and his fellow people.
I believe the letter also sought to solidify his position on the injustice created by segregation and illustrate the lack of action not only of the white moderate, but also the complacent black citizens. In addition, it was important to make light of the single-minded comments of the white religious leaders when referring to their worry about the demonstrations; without focusing on why the demonstrations came about. They were looking at the effects and not the causes. Also, Martin Luther King says that “…freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Important distinctions to make for those that are not compelled by the injustice of segregation; mainly the complacent black citizens and the white moderate. Ultimately, the letter is a call to action; a call to the people of the American South to change their beliefs and change their society. Also, an example of how difficult it is to achieve change when resistance is demonstrated by individuals and society at large.
When MLK was taken in to custody, he was charged with “parading without a permit”(King), which really means he was doing wrong because it was a parade against segregation. He was holding a peaceful protest on behalf of the people who did not have a voice for themselves, and he was going to stop at nothing to be heard. MLK, while in jail, was receiving criticizing letters from all over about his protest, he never responded to them until he came across one. Eight Alabama clergymen entitled, “A Call For Unity”, which explained that he should be fighting in courts only and not on the street, wrote the letter. When King writes back that taking direct action is the only way to achieve the true civil rights even if it goes against what is morally right.
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, King combats racism by championing the cause of nonviolent resistance, calling people to action who have remained silent out of a desire for social order, and equating different groups of people with one another rather than separating them, and. To understand King’s letter, one first has to know exactly what nonviolent resistance was to King.