Letter From Birmingham Jail addresses criticism made by eight clergymen to Martin Luther King Jr. in one of the most renowned persuasive piece of writing in history. King wants to convince his attackers that there is injustice in America and condemning his actions leaves the root of the problem of civil injustice ignored.
King opens with his credentials. He first personally addresses the Clergymen saying, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” hitting the fact he shares the religious values as the Clergymen because he is a Man-of-God. Not only that but he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a large organization who values non-violent demonstration. King’s ethos is strengthened by the fact he represents Christians, African
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Americans, and the revolutionaries.
All his words strung with the most polite and respectful language possible.
After the opening call to attention, King explains why he is in Birmingham in the first place: “because injustice is here.” He compares himself to Apostle Paul in a biblical allusion that is especially powerful to his specific audience. He claims he is compelled by a duty to help the highly segregated community of Birmingham, saying “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” While explaining his reasons for action the white moderate are criticised for allowing the unfair restriction of freedom to go on in America. As he expresses disapproval of the clergymen his very polite tone begins to fade. The ties to Birmingham turn into ties to the civil rights movement as the logic behind those who consider themselves “activists” are described. He states that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed,” and King is right. After hundreds of years of oppression and waiting black citizens know they must reach for change. The logos-ethos mix lead into a tidal wave of the emotional hardships of the African
Americans during the reign of segregation. Quotes from paragraph fourteen include: “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” “When you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers” “When you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.” Dr. King’s respectful and polite words are diminished by the powerful, passionate imagery presented in this paragraph alone. The emotional pressure is emphasized, detailed, and spoken from a man who has seen the injustice in America first hand. The closing of the deep, compassionate paragraph reverts back to respectful but impactful words, saying, “I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”
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 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 convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.
In 1963, Martin Luther King wrote a response to clergymen who criticized his actions while he was stuck in the Birmingham city jail. This letter, titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, was written on the side of a newspaper and secretly taken out of jail by King’s lawyer. The goal of this letter was to address and confront concerns that were brought up in the clergymen’s letter titled, “A Call for Unity”. In “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King asserts a strong emotional appeal on the clergymen who oppose his actions by placing guilt on them when he inserts Biblical references periodically throughout his letter.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proves that he is well knowledgeable in the happenings in Birmingham. By providing a surplus of examples of events and details which he finds alarming, King was able to persuade the clergymen to like at the way the Negro community is being treated in the south using the appeal to logos, pathos and ethos. He displays his willingness to continue with respect and dignity, but because of the emotional ties that he has towards this cause, he will not remain inactive.
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail) written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the three artistic appeals of Aristotle are plainly apparent, especially logos. Dr. King repeatedly appeals to logos (Ruszkiewicz) throughout the entire piece; particularly when he says he was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist then gradually gained a matter of satisfaction from the label. He is very impassioned in his language and tone in this part of the letter, yet still makes a strong argument for logic. Despite the overwhelming emotional and personal investment involved Dr. King still allows logic to prevail thus lending him a huge amount of credibility. As a member of the community being persecuted in this case, he might have had trouble remaining objective but clearly he doesn’t let his own pathos take center stage. All in all the use of logic and concise reasoning make a strong argument for the effectiveness of the letter in general.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
Rhetorical Analysis “Letter from Birmingham Jail” 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 of the cruel acts that have been done to the blacks.
When reading historical letters and or other types of reading materials, one cannot bear to become intrigued when reading these didactic and informative pieces of art. For example, one of the most known and most important pieces of historical masterpieces’ would have to be Martin Luther King’s “ Letter From Birmingham Jail.” This letter was written in response to the published statement that was written by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama. Those eight fellow Alabama clergymen were Bishop C.C.J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B. Harmon, the Reverend George M. Murray, the Reverend Edward V. Ramage, and the Reverend Earl Stallings.
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'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.
King proceeds to the latter part of his speech by declaring the need for peaceful resistance. His analogies of man “carving highways of death in the stratosphere” (3) and how non peaceful defiance will contribute to “a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation” (3) soundly depicts his ideals of how African Americans should reach true freedom and equality only through pacifism. He mandates this passiveness in order to bring about change insightfully because his goal is not to wage war against their oppressors but to defeat the evil sentiment held by the nation. King’s remarkable aptitude and brilliant intuition in his dialogue enables the reader to appreciate and concede to his ideals.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King is able to effectively argue against criticisms through the use of passionate and calm tones, vivid metaphors, and biblical and historical allusions. 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.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of a peaceful movement to end segregation in the United States this mission led him in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama where officials and leaders in the community actively fought against desegregation. While performing sit-ins, marches and other nonviolent protests, King was imprisoned by authorities for violating the strict segregation laws. While imprisoned King wrote a letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he expresses his disappointment in the clergy, officials, and people of Birmingham. This letter employed pathos to argue that the leaders and ‘heroes’ in Birmingham during the struggle were at fault or went against their beliefs.
In Conclusion, A Letter from a Birmingham Jail met its intended purpose to those of the audience being the clergymen and the reader today. Martin Luther King, Jr. has proven himself to the clergymen of Alabama, in regards to his reasoning for a more equal nation. The bottom line is that every man was created equally, so we should all have the same rights as the next person. In my own opinion, I think the letter was very necessary. These men of faith were more focused on what man thought rather than their creator's. This piece by King is very affective to the reader as well as the audience. It is evident that Martin Luther King, Jr. works went unnoticed, because we are living in a mixed racial society. The reader is very affected by the letter's history and how it came to be.
King values analogies to show the clergymen that the way Birmingham is living holds back society and further proving “Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere.” He states on page five paragraph twenty “... law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” Laws are meant to keep peace but the laws of their day made conflict nothing less than inevitable. Today the U.S. truly lives by constitutional views- everyman is created equal. On page five paragraph nineteen he argues “Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” King believes that it is worse for people to avoid the problem then ignorantly wrong. If people avoid problems there is no growth that can be made. Segregation really held back society, today the U.S. is a discrimination free country and one of the
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. was written when Dr. King was in solitary confinement after being arrested for protesting segregation laws in Birmingham. In this letter he discusses the injustice that is happening toward the African American community in Birmingham. Dr. King defines the differences between just and unjust laws where he makes a clear distinction between both of them. Dr. King believes unjust laws are laws that should be not followed and should be broken in order to gain civil rights.