The letter written by Dr. King from the Birmingham Jail was addressed to his fellow clergyman, however when taken as a whole this writer beings to understand his audience is not limited to such a small ecclesiastic circle. In the letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King addressed multiple groups he felt contributed to the racial divide in Birmingham, namely the white majority, the Religious groups and the Moderate whites. Each group contributed to the racist climate through direct action, inaction or quiet consent.…
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” is written to the audience of clergymen. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote this letter to respond to clergymen who had questions for him. Paragraphs 12-14 are the most persuasive and thorough. King uses many rhetoric mechanism and appeals. Throughout those paragraphs, there is an excessive use of: pathos, logos, ethos, metaphors, symbolism, direct addressment and parallel structure.…
In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, he uses an authoritative voice in his analogies, allusions, and ethical appeals that make his argument more relatable and compelling. In comparison, his authorial counterpart lacks the same confidence in his stylistic devices and ethical appeals making his argument weak and less…
King views emphasizes the points of all these great people. First, let’s take Plato for instance, Plato teaches people to doubt and ask questions in order to justify the claim. If there are no concrete evidence then there is a reason to doubt. Also if there is one reason to doubt a claim, then it can be doubted as a whole too. Therefore with that said, king at some point in the “Letter from Birmingham jail” says that he was disappointed when the leaders of the church said that freedom will definitely come at some point eventually. Meaning they really did not take their bible studies as they should, in the bible there is no type of racial segregation. Therefore no believing man or woman should be part of an injustice. However, the church members should be the ones that doubt the laws of the nation, if they are true believers. That is the disappointment King spoke about. The he said he hope that one day there will be true…
Written by Martin Luther King Jr., the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a paragon of persuasive writing that takes advantage of ethos, pathos, and logos in order to convince its readers to take MLK’s side during the American civil rights movement. The use of ethos defines MLK as a credible writer; the use of pathos appeals to his audience on a personal level; and the use of logos layers his arguments and claims with irrefutable reasoning and logic. By using all three techniques, MLK is able to hold the attention of his readers and persuade them to take his side in the battle against segregation.…
Civil Rights advocate, Martin Luther King Jr., in his ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’, discusses the cruelty and unjust consequences black people endure while acknowledging the inequity of their undying patience in chapter fourteen. King’s purpose is to address the atrocious situations that African Americans undergo in order to establish a strong argument while defending the importance of civil rights. King creates a different perspective for the clergymen. In addition, King adopts a skeptical and serious tone as he emphasizes the how distressing the unkind acts towards the blacks are in reality, allowing the clergymen to understand the ongoing problem.…
Within the first few paragraphs of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail establishes his credibility using logos. At the start of the second paragraph King inscribes that the reason he is in Birmingham is due to the influence of “outsiders coming in.” He goes on to state that he isn’t an outsider by saying that he has had the honor to serve as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization that operates in every southern state, with the headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. King goes further by declaring that he is in Birmingham because he has organizational ties there. King refers to himself as a “profit” (1)…
Martin Luther King Jr. concludes his letter with opposition to the commendation towards the police, his disappointment with the white church leaders, and the optimistic view of African American history throughout the United States. Dr. Kings letters primary purpose was to refute and discuss the accusations made against the SCLC and himself to justify his actions to the clergymen. The use of words such as “you” and “hope” are stated over and over throughout the letter, giving the reader a sense that he’s one of the people that’s going through the struggle of injustice and segregation among…
Throughout the letter, King made many arguments that were refutations to accusations made by the clergymen in their letter to him. King recognized the arguments made by the clergymen and for each argument he provided a strong counterargument. One of King’s counterarguments…
He made many correlations to the Bible and major public documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to make his arguments accurate and mainly understandable by restating vital rules and quotes that even the illiterate could comprehend. In these paragraphs he quoted the Bible by using phrases like “moral light, “abyss of despair” and “ unjust posture.” King used the word “wait” in this section of the letter multiple times as a allusion to the current denial of rights to African Americans that had been going on for the last 340 years. He also stated that “justice too long delayed is justice denied” in correlation to the current racial dilemma in America at the…
Before his concerns can be taken seriously with genuine consideration, King must begin his letter by building credibility and appealing to ethos. Without proving that he is respectable and educated, people may dismiss any of the claims he makes; therefore, he demonstrates integrity and gives his audience a background on his accomplishments. Within the very first line of the epistle, he shows his credibility by addressing his readers with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” (King. 1). This simple statement immediately establishes King as a clergyman himself, thus unifying his…
Most people agree that bullying is unethical, hurtful, damaging and that schools should not condone it. Furthermore, some concede that schools should educate students about bullying, and the psychological harm bullying has on victims. For instance, according to stopbulling.gov kids who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Bullies should not be allowed to define what bullying is, nor should they determine how a victim should feel about being bullied. In the same way an oppressor is someone who gains from other people’s suffering or misfortune. Which poses the question, should the oppressor have a say on how the oppressed should feel about inequality?…
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…
In a “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. said “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This means that if we let injustice happen, then this injustice will grow and start to affect good people. We cannot afford to ignore something bad happening in one place. If injustice occurs and no action is taken against this injustice, then people who hear about what happened might think this injustice is acceptable, and continue being unfair.…
In Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, he enhances his argument through the use of logos and allusion. MLK uses logos on page 6 when he states "Birmingham is the most thoroughly segregated city in the U.S." He is comparing Birminghams segregation to every other city in the U.S. He supports his argument with factual evidence. These facts make his argument more believable and reliable. MLK also uses allusion on page 8 when he states " We can never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal." He mentions Hitler to help support him in his argument by hoping that you will compare it to the segregation that was happening at the time and realize that the people participating in the acts believe it is moral or okay.…