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Letter from Birmingham Jail

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Letter from Birmingham Jail
Increasing Importance From Birmingham

“A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an amazing piece of writing that Dr. King wrote in response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen. The letter conceded that social injustices were taking place but expressed the belief that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts and not taken onto the streets. Dr. King was writing the letter to explain his reasoning on being in Birmingham and why it was not against the law that him and his people were protesting. Dr. King uses vivid imagery, aggressive diction, and repetition throughout his letter to powerfully build to the climax. Climax is a scheme that aids Kings argument in the letter by painting a picture for the reader, allowing the reader to feel the emotions of Dr. King though language, and also allowing the reader to pick up on the important issues throughout the entirety of the letter.

Throughout the whole body of the letter lots of vivid imagery is used by King to build climax. This whole letter is an escalation until the final paragraphs when it is summed up and beings to take a calmer tone. The reason being for the use of imagery is to paint a picture for the reader. An example of imagery in the letter would be when King says, “They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment”. In this statement, they, is referring to the people who are standing up to the whites and fighting for the equal rights for blacks. These people continue to find hope where it seems impossible to find. They keep trying to obtain equal rights even with constant oppression and criticism from the mountain of disappointment. Again, this draws attention to this sentence by using strong imagery of two unalike things. By King painting a vivid picture for the reader and allowing them to see through his eyes and from his point of view, it makes his argument that much strong. King picks and

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