On April 16, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote a letter to the clergymen from a jail cell. In his letter, he refines why he protested against the Jim Crow laws and racial violence that was occurring in Alabama. To justify his actions, King says that racial violence in Birmingham needs to be changed. While writing his letter, King uses rhetorical devices and appeals to develop his argument. In the beginning of his script, King establishes his credibility using organizational ties, Biblical duties and interrelatedness of America. Initially, he made a claim that he was not an "outsider." King alludes to the Bible stating "Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith …show more content…
and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ." In other words, King explains the reason he came to Birmingham was to bring freedom and equality, just as the prophets and Apostles did when they brought Christianity to other places. King expresses he is not an outsider and shows he belongs here for the soul reason to bring a change to a city that needs reconstruction. Furthermore, King also uses organizations that he supports to further express his credibility. As shown in paragraph two, King gives many examples of organizations like the "Southern Christian Leadership Conference," which he is the president of, and the "Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights," which has "eighty five affiliated organizations across the South." This explains why he is not an outsider, in fact, he is the president of an organization related to human rights that is located in Alabama. This shows he isn't an outsider and he has relations with the state of Alabama. Moreover, King depicts the differences of people in all communities and states, when he says, "Injustice …show more content…
express his credibility, he then proceeds to demonstrate the "impatient," as he says, and longing for justice in the black community through expressing just and unjust laws. In paragraph 14 of his letter, King explains the inclination from the many setbacks the blacks have received though they have been protesting and striving for a change for nearly 340 years. King articulates they have been told to "Wait" and that word "rings in the ears" of every black individual; "This wait has almost always meant "Never." Furthermore, King explains the difference between just and unjust laws when he says he agrees with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." This indicated statement is very significant as he asserts there are many unjust laws that degrade the black race; segregation being the main one, in which he wants everyone that has the power to take a look at the decision of the Supreme Court that dated back in 1954, since it is just, and would like for them to make changes in "segregation ordinances," because they are morally
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.
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 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.
The largest rhetorical appeal used by King is logos, which basically deals with logic as well as the evidence offered to support it. In an attempt to persuade the audience, King utilizes facts and examples throughout the entire letter so that the audience can easily relate and comprehend. As the letter begins, King elaborates why he is jailed, as well as the reasoning for being in Birmingham to protest. He says: “Just as the eight century prophets left their little villages and carried their “thus saint the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of the freedom beyond my particular hometown” (King).
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
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. 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.
Letter From Birmingham Jail was a thoroughly written letter by Martin Luther King Jr. It was written in response to a group of clergymen who criticized and questioned King’s actions in Birmingham. The letter explicates that people have the right to break unjust laws in a nonviolent manner just as King intended to do. King also took the central components of the criticism and addressed them separately within the letter. King used numerous rhetorical devices to structure his letter and make it appeal more to the audience.
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-
King, through his appeal to logos, elucidates the purpose of this letter by presenting rational concepts reinforced by germane examples to challenge the clergymen’s erroneous accusations and acknowledge misunderstandings of his purpose of direct action. When unfairly accused of being an outsider, King explains that he is “here because [he has] organization ties here. [and] because injustice here” (2-3). Incorporating a description of his leadership over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he does not permit leeway for additional inquiries about his situation in this city.... ... middle of paper ...
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed towards him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from, “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern in particular that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” by clarifying that there are just and unjust laws. He also goes on to explain the difference between the two, the effect of unjust laws on the people that they are aimed towards, as
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham.
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
After Okonkwo has accidentally killed Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son, he brought shame to the figure that he worked on for years and built to represent him in the best way possible, and brought embarrassment to his inner self. When analyzing this proverb “If one finger brought oil, it soiled the others” (pg 111), it can be translated in different ways based on the perspective it is viewed. After Okonkwo has perpetrated the crime he is the finger that brought the oil. The oil is a metaphor that can be interpreted differently based on the way it is viewed, when viewing it in terms of Okonkwo, it represents the sin that he committed, when this metaphor is taken further and looked at in a scientific way, oil cannot mix with any other liquids, so