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Rhetorical analysis of letter from birmingham jail essay
Letter from birmingham jail rhetorical analysis
Rhetorical analysis of letter to birmingham jail
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King utilizes the rhetorical strategy of ethos to justify his presence in Birmingham to the white clergymen. He was in Birmingham to help the civil rights movement, using peaceful protests. While he resided in jail for parading without a permit he received a letter from a group of clergymen. These clergymen told King that he should not be using such drastic means to achieve his goal of equality. King peacefully replies with his Letter From Birmingham Jail proving to these men that he had every right to be in their city. King identifies himself with the clergymen’s status of religious leader through allusion. He showed he was in the right coming to Birmingham by telling the clergymen that he was one of them. For example when King claims, …show more content…
For example, when king says, “In our nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.”(King 266) He is mentioning the story of the tea party to relate his “civil disobedience” that the clergymen believe he is causing in their city. He also uses a personal anecdote when he is speaking about how a law can be just but if it is applied wrong it becomes unjust. He gives this example to speak about it, “For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First- Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.”(King 266) King is showing that it is his right as an american citizen to go to any city in the United States and lead a peaceful protest. He uses a final anecdote when he says, “Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages: they made cotton king; they built the homes of …show more content…
He moves beyond the clergymen’s comprehension of the situation, using syntax to reinforce his unique position. An example of this is when he uses a periodic sentence ending with “...then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” (King 265) It shows that he can understand what it’s like to be in this awful position that the clergymen can not even begin to imagine. This gives him an entitlement to be in Birmingham, he knows what is happening to these people on a personal level. King uses another periodic sentence when he says, “I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together.”(King 273) In this sentence he does not hold off the meaning of the sentence until the very end like in the previous one, but he arranges the sentence in such a way that is very effective. He shows that experiencing these things that have happened to him, and the fellow members of his race, is the only way to understand the true cruelty. Another time King uses syntax is when he says, “It gives the segregator a false sense
In response to the clergyman's claim that his use of direct action was "untimely," King states, "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights." As you can see, this statement is in direct relation to the clergyman's "untimely" notion, but one would do good to realize his underlying audience. The "we" in this statement refers to his "black brothers and sisters" taking an active role in the civil rights movement. So what this statement does in terms of pathos is to light the fire of inspiration under his black brothers and sisters and have them realize that 340 yea...
The tone set by Dr. King in the part of the letter where he describes “pent-up resentments and latent frustrations,” and where he recognizes the “vital urge” being suppressed, is very passionate. His passion shines through loud and clear. The way Dr. King feels is, in fact, quite clear throughout the entire letter, yet the overriding sense of reason and logic that anyone can relate to is ever apparent. As he describes the unrest he finds in his community, the community as a whole really; he explains that he did not encourage them to “get rid of your [their] discontent” he instead encouraged them to, “make prayer pilgrimages to city hall;… go on freedom rides,… and try to understand why he [they] must do so”; these quotes from the letter point out the ways Dr....
King faced criticism for being in Birmingham as an outsider because he was an African American. Calmly and eloquently, King responds to this criticism by describing his purpose for being there, that being his important role in many of the human rights organization. He describes how he is not an outsider by stating “…I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.”(Lines 25-26). Although he lives
King employs numerous rhetorical devices weaved into “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Apart from rhetorical questioning and metaphors Mr. King’s use of antithesis and polysyndeton are also noticeable. Polysyndeton is used many times, but is most evident in the following quote. “But 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 and sisters; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the amusement park that has just been advertised on television…” Yes, this is a long quote, but it is the perfect use of the rhetorical device called polysyndeton. Dr. King’s abnormal and frequent use of the phrases/words brother, sisters, when, and and add a strong dramatic effect to this quote. Antithesis is also practiced many a time in Dr. King’s letter to you. Antithesis is used when King constructs two sentences with contrasting meaning in a close proximity to each other. Phrases like “moving with jet like speed” and “creep at a horse and buggy pace” completely contradict one another, but instead of using this device once King uses it twice in the same quote. “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at a horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at
...egro homes and churches in Birmingham….” He gives this to allow the clergymen to understand from where King’s argument flows.
The letter provoked King and “the Letter from Birmingham jail” was a written response to the white clergy men and to defend the strategy of non-violent protesting. Throughout the letter, King used many stylistic writing elements and effective emotional appeal to make people want to join his case. His emotional appeal begins when he stated: “The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” And his emotional appeal continues and gets more effective when he describes the suffering life of black people who are suffering from racism and injustice:” when you take a country-cross drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the corner of an automobile because no hotel would accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out, you are by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’”. This makes people want to join his case and makes his followers more determined about protesting against racial injustice.
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.
The tone of the letter changed as you got more in-depth. Beginning the letter, King was respectful to the clergymen because he acknowledged that he did not usually answer to criticism, but since they were good men, he would
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.'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.
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.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses the appeal of ethos from the beginning until the end of his speech. Because he was talking about African-American people, his own race that were dealing with racism and discrimination. However, Dr. King uses all the rhetorical devices in many ways to the best of his ability to gain the favor of his audience, and he made an unforgettable and effectively speech that made an impact on America. His main purpose was to fight for the equal rights of African-American people and in order for him to do that, he aided the civil rights to help his own race to improve their
This essay is very influential from the start to the very end. He uses terms that make oppression seem to terrible, to make them feel bad about what they let happen. King seems very successful in capturing the audience that he intended to capture through stating scripture to draw in the Christians, words that are used to describe things that would be so much worse; like using evil to describe oppression or unjust, to writing it down in an obvious form that everyone could understand. He left them with very powerful messages that will linger in their minds until they cannot take it anymore, until they see that it is actually wrong and do something to fix the justice system to which they are governed under. By leaving with that thought of mind, he was very successful in getting his point through to all he intended it for.
In his speech, King uses different types of rhetorical guidelines. He uses them to show his points in a better and easier way to understand .At the beginning he successfully uses a mythos. A mythos has a deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for the audience. In mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation he shows that our ancestors signed a contract, in which all human beings are created equal, and therefore should be treated in the same way as others. He also visualizes his ideas with visual examples, which everybody can understand. “America has given the black population a bad check, which has come back marked insufficient funds”( I Have a Dream)
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this