“Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 16, 1963. It 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. They criticized King about him and his organization’s non-violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written as a response to the clergymen that opposed the way in which King was protesting. Martin Luther King’s letter actually addresses two audiences simultaneously: the limited and defined group of clergymen and a broader and less defined group of intelligent and religious white moderates. In the letter, King seeks to prove that he is a patient, peaceful, and just a leader of a rational movement, thus refuting his clergymen attackers claims he is an untimely, radical lawbreaker. He addresses these claims through his effective use of pathos, logos, and egos. What King said in his letter had to make a person think that not all laws are good for the group in society and morality is a justifiable excuse in breaking the law. In this paper, I will talk about Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” I…
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” was written in 1963; during the time African Americans were fighting for equality among races. We can tell this by the vocabulary used in his writing such as “Negro,” which was used at one time, and is no longer considered, “politically correct. “ The purpose for the letter is that Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to convince the white clergymen that him and his “People’s” actions were completely unnecessary for the situation. When doing this, he uses critical and persuasive tones to try to influence the reader to agree with him. Martin Luther King Jr. provides a valid argument using logos, pathos, and ethos throughout his letter.…
In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march although several local religious groups counted on King for support. Since King’s arrest he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is addressed to clergymen who had written an open letter criticizing the actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. during several protest in…
Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is a formal response and rebuttal to an open letter written by eight, white clergymen. Dr. King tells the clergymen that he was upset about their criticisms, and that he wishes to address their concerns. His arguments are intuitively constructed with persuasive writing techniques. His eloquent use of the English language bolsters his credibility. King’s citation of biblical examples, that he feels identify with his situation and that of black Americans, is the most important writing technique he uses in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.…
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written in April 1963, during the African Americans fight for equality. Martin Luther King Jr.’s claim was not just to reply to the eight clergyman who had called his demonstrations “untimely and unwise”, but also aim his justifications at a bigger audience of religious and secular beliefs. An audience that is black and white; therefore King is able to justify his reasons and tactics of beginning immediate action using nonviolent protest to everyone. Throughout his letter Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrates the use of ethos, pathos, and logos to help support his claim while also consistently referring…
In Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham, he targeted specific people who he wrote the letter for including everybody. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. Dr. King was the foremost civil rights leader in America in the 1950s and 1960s who was ordained minister and held a doctorate in theology. Dr. King fought against segregation between Black Americans and White Americans. Black Americans were forced to sit behind buses and kids were to use old books and uniforms of White Americans. Dr. King was arrested, and put in jail in Birmingham where he wrote a letter to the clergymen telling them how long Blacks were supposed to wait for their God giving rights and not to be force and treated differently after…
King addresses the clergymen’s criticism about the timing of the protests and demonstrations presented by the SCLC, noting that the movements are “untimely” when done. thus, he dwells deeper saying that privileged groups will always oppose the action that goes against their status and delay further action against the oppressed. Dr. King explains how the black community has waited long enough for justice, giving a direct example of his six-year old daughter and an amusement park as an act of abuse from racial injustice. The clergymen title Dr. King as an extremist, which Dr. King finds at first a negative title but soon gives reference that Jesus Christ was considered a creative extremist of love.…
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight Alabama clergymen under the confines of a jail cell in a Birmingham, Alabama prison. The letter stated his thoughts and opinions on the racial tension between the white and the black communities of Alabama. Martin Luther King’s letter was written as a rebuttal to the letter he received from the Alabama clergymen that stated the demonstrations, protests, and acts of civil disobedience of the Negro community were unlawful and should be put to a stop immediately. Martin Luther King replied by indicating that the blacks had a right to peaceful protests; they were simply trying to educate the community about the prejudices present in Alabama and to motivate a change. King incorporated the tree rhetorical strategies of ethos, logos, and pathos throughout his letter. In Martin Luther…
On April 16th, 1963, during the peak of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to a collection of clergymen in regards to his beliefs and protests. In his “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” King aptly wrote to the clergymen about their concerns in a respectful manner, while maintaining his dignity and explaining his purpose. In order to validate his points, he first built his credibility, and from there flowed into a plethora of other strategies. His emotional anecdotes and insight are strong points in his letter, appealing to the clergymen’s sense of compassion and justice. The imagery that accompanies his writing creates vivid and horrifying scenes meant to encourage the reader to join King in his civil rights endeavors. Logically, King presents his values in a manner that becomes inarguable against, which furthers the persuasive value of his writing. His…
In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr, responded to a letter by clergymen that were claiming Dr. King’s movement was untimely, extreme, and violent. In King’s response, he addresses their commentaries by quoting known religious figures to appeal to the clergymen's religious ties. He mentions that many talk about how this nonviolent movement is “untimely’, and that that has been the case for centuries. Dr. King alluded that for many years African Americans have been told to wait for their rights. White moderates being the greatest “stumbling block” for African Americans stride to freedom; not because they reject the idea of equality, but on the account that they believe they “can set the timetable for…
Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a response to Dr. King's follow clergymen criticism. The topic of Dr. Kings letters from a Birmingham prison is the nonviolent protest being done in Birmingham, Alabama in the fight for African Americans civil rights. Some clergymen, mostly white American men, believe the nonviolent protest Dr. King and African Americans were during was "unwise" and "untimely". The main argument Dr. King is making in the letter is the protest being done in Birmingham is "wise" and most important "timely". The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. Take for instance when the part of the letter when Dr. King talks about different men, both biblical…
Martin Luther King’s response to the charges made in the letter from the clergymen can be said as a livid tranquil retort; well from my perspective it is. In his letter, written in when he was in Birmingham jail, he counters these charges by putting his statement of them. he was put in the jail because he was a partaker in a nonviolent protest for the opposing of segregation. This letter contradicts the charges that the clergymen mentioned in their letters claiming, for example, that the demonstrations that they go through are “unwise and untimely”. King refutes the statement of them being untimely by mentioning the that the new administration should be bothered about this case as much as the current administration was being bothered. This…
He quotes directly from the bible "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you" (273). This quote emphasizes the feelings King has for not just the clergymen, but for all that appose civil rights. Another quote- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" puts Kings pursuit of justice in a just fashion. Subsequently, he goes into less religious territory by naming other extremists like Martin Luther and Abraham Lincoln, but notice how he puts all the more reverent examples first. This is no mistake on King's behalf. He wants the clergymen to see those examples first because he know they will strike a chord in their religious beliefs. Those first listed seem more important, and they are to prove King's appeal of religion. Sticking with the rhetorical question he asks, King is comparing the peril his fellow blacks are experiencing to scripture in the Bible. Another clear appeal to religion is found when King is expressing his disappointment in the church. He reveals that "I had hoped that each of…
Dr. Martin Luther King makes a response to an article published in the Birmingham newspaper about his activities in the city. He believed that the criticisms of the clergymen deserved an answer. This applies to the statement made in the beginning of his letter “My dear fellow clergyman.” Throughout the letter his serious and matter-of-fact tone made a deep impression on the reader so that empathy is created towards the African American community.…
On April 16, 1963 while Martin Luther King Jr. was in the Birmingham jail, he decided to write to a letter to a group of clergymen. This letter was first composed on the margins of a newspaper, then continued on scraps of writing paper. He was very disappointed because Negros aren’t being treated fairly despite laws that have granted freedom. Throughout the southern United States negroes have experienced prejudice, so Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers have been nonviolently protesting against segregation.…