(719), we have a dual appeal. Dr. King, to support his reasoning that a legal…
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”.…
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (King Jr., Martin Luther. Letter From Birmingham Jail: Why We Can't Wait.), Martin Luther King Jr. writes back to the clergy on his actions and his demand for change and negotiation from a cell in Birmingham jail. In his letter, King explains the direct action in the Negro community is a demand for civil change, how he is disappointed in the blind eye in the white community, and how change is gained through love.…
Martin Luther King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written to respond to a public statement “Call for Unity” by a group of white religious leaders of the South. The logic appeals of King’s article which is supported by fact and examples are less than the ethos and pathos appeals. King did a good job to use his personality as ethos appeal to evoke the readers’ emotion which is pathos appeal.…
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. creates a powerful response to a statement by some Alabama clergymen opposing his actions in Birmingham, Alabama. The initial explanation of why King is in Birmingham later becomes the background to the letter, justifying King’s civil disobedience and explaining the immorality of racial segregation. The letter not only addresses the issues of being arrested in an unjust manner for being an “extremist” of his approach to the protest, and the incompetence of the church, but it is also an appeal to the clergymen’s opinion from his point of view. The white clergymen stereotype King as another typical African American man that is not intelligent or important…
Martin Luther King’s uses of both pathos and ethos effectively. He uses pathos to obtain sympathy and sorrow from its audience. The language evokes pity for MLK, who has been imprisoned, and for the people who are suffering injustice. He states his reason for being in Birmingham, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This is to gain the support of the reader right from the beginning. He then goes on to describe the injustice that is present in Birmingham,”vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers a will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim;” His use of ethos, established him as an ethical figurehead and gave credibility to his claims. " I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,…
In Martin Luther King Jr's. letter, composed to the Clergymen from Birmingham Prison, he utilizes the expository interest of ethos to build up his credibility regarding the matter of racial segregation and shamefulness. He begins off the letter with "My Dear Fellow Clergymen". By him saying this, he is putting himself on the same "level" as the ministers, sending the message that he is no short of what them and they are no superior to him. He at that point goes ahead to state, "I am here on the grounds that I have hierarchical ties here. Be that as it may, all the more essentially, I am in Birmingham since bad form is here". He is disclosing to them that he has believability on the matter of shamefulness, not on the grounds that he is the…
"Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn 't negotiation a better path"(King 2)? With this statement King allows some indirect input from the Clergymen. He then goes on to answer the questions with legitimacy and reason. King 's questions force the Clergymen to think about how they would answer them. But when King himself tells them the answers, it forces them to think differently. It forces them to think like King. Throughout the whole letter King does such an incredible job of allowing his audience to think for themselves but then provides an alternative way of thought. In doing this King is hoping that the spark of an alternative thought would in turn get the readers to question whether or not their actions are right or wrong. Martin Luther King Jr. establishes ethos by utilizing his knowledge of the Bible and referencing it to his main audience, the Clergymen. "…and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I"(King 1). King could not have a better audience to write to than the Clergymen because he can back up all of his statements with references to the Bible that they also can relate to. He can use his knowledge to influence the thinking of these Clergymen and justify his actions. King essentially uses Biblical references as a tactful "shame on you" towards the Clergymen. He relates…
Martin Luther King wrote the letter on the 16th of April in 1963. He was responding to his fellow clergymen after they called him unwise and untimely. King was arrested for his civil disobedience in the protests and marches that he led. Martin Luther King's audience in the letter were the clergymen who are men of religion. Therefore King alludes to religious figures in order to appeal to the clergymen. He speaks in a respectful tone so they believe that he is a civil man and does not mean to offend them. In response to the clergymen's first claim that King is a an extremist, he uses allusions that appeal to the clergymen as well as anaphora and a rhetorical question. He refutes the claim that he is a lawbreaker by allding to religious figures and human rights. The clergymen also claim that King's actions are untimely. Martin Luther King responds to this with charged words and anaphora that are meant to refute their claim.…
All throughout American history, various cultures such as Native Americans and African Americans have arguably been inferior to the dominant white culture. Both Native Americans and African Americans share their own rich values and ways of living that have at some point in history been ignored or disregarded upon by a society of superiority. In "Letter From Birmingham Jail" written by Martin Luther King Jr., and "Team Names and Mascots" written by Robert Schmidt, both King and Schmidt argue the concept that society has dehumanized these cultures, leaving them to fight for their rights within a just society. Both King and Schmidt present their ideas and thoughts on the topic through persuasion and analogies. Although in "Letter From Birmingham…
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The style, technique, and reason that…
On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for leading a protest and parading without a parading permit. As an amazing and inspiring leader he was, Martin Luther King Jr., in his letter “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” defends his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and oppression. King’s purpose of writing the letter was to explain to the clergyman what he was doing in the town of Birmingham and why he was not “untimely and unwisely.” King uses multiple rhetorical strategies in his letter to make it stronger. Three of these strategies are ethos, anaphora, and allusions.…
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail for an “unwise and untimely” protest against how blacks were treated in Birmingham, Alabama. When in Jail he received a newspaper that had a “ Statement by Alabama Clergymen”, in the article, it stated how they need to handle the racial problems in a different manner. They never directly mentioned King’s name, but they strongly wrote how they felt about the protest. When King saw the statement, he decided to reply. His whole goal in the letter is to explain to the ministers the reasonings behind the actions that took place in Birmingham. King addresses the Clergymen in a polite and professional manner. In the beginning he sweattalkes them, he calls them “men of genuine good” and he says normally he wouldn't have time to answer their questions, but because they are good guys, King will put the time in to get back to them. He says all this to get their attention, and to get…
Martin Luther King Jr’s letter uses tone, diction, and analogy to develop his argument. In his letter he addresses his clergymen’s criticism to his actions in Birmingham. He justifies his actions by arguing that he was invited here (Birmingham), and that he belonged in Birmingham. Dr. King uses different variations of the rhetorical devices tone, diction, and analogy.…
Martin Luther King conveys a high sense of ethos in his letter. He establishes this from t4he very start of the argument. In the first paragraph he sets the tone for the letter. He states that he wants to answer the clergymen’s statements in patient and reasonable terms. Also, he establishes his credibility in the second paragraph by responding to the clergymen’s view that he was an outsider coming in. He reveals that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in…