Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

Martin Luther King's Rhetorical Modes in:
Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King wrote a letter while in Birmingham Jail, this was received on April 16, 1963. Months earlier King was involved in a nonviolent direct-action against segregation, King was called upon by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. This nonviolent action was mostly demonstrated through sit-ins and marches along the streets where Negroes showed their aggravation and irritation towards all of the segregation that was present in the United States at this time. During this action over a thousand Negroes were arrested including Martin Luther King, being one of the many motivational speakers that were arrested. The Commissioner of Public Safety of Birmingham, Alabama Eugene "Bull" Connor was the main reason for the arrest. Eugene Connor was a segregationist who was completely all right with putting the protestors in jail. He even was forced to send other protestors to other jails throughout Alabama. Three rhetorical modes were used through King's letter which all help express him during his time at Birmingham Jail.
One of the three rhetorical modes that King used in Letter from Birmingham Jail is "definition".
While using definition King discussing just and unjust laws in the judicial system then. A just law from King's words is, "a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God". King talks about an unjust law by saying, "a code that is out of harmony with the moral law". These definitions are used by King and how he discusses why segregation is so wrong and unnecessary. "…segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful." King says this discussing how he disagrees with segregation. Throughout King's letter he defines some of the words use to help the reader with his point of
view. During the third paragraph, Martin Luther King used the rhetorical mode of narration which gives examples of historical figures that went out of the way to end up with something positive. King uses examples talking about the apostles and how they did work well after Jesus' death. He talks about how the apostle Paul let his village and carried out the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Greco-Roman world. King talks about how he, like Paul, must regularly respond the calls for aid. As the prophets and apostles did King felt like he would be able to end all the segregation and on top of that the racism that was happening at that time. Martin Luther King and all the prophets were figures who made a positive impact on the world after going out of their way. Later on during King's letter, he used the rhetorical mode of process analysis. There are 4 basic steps of a non-violent campaign that King discusses, "In any non-violent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action." The first step involved in the Birmingham campaign is that Negroes had experienced unjust treatment in courts. While all this was happening many bombings destroyed Negroes houses and churches in Birmingham and other cities of the country. Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) later negotiated with the leaders of the economic community of Birmingham. The second step of the non-violent campaign dealt with merchants agreeing to remove any humiliating signs of racism for stores during the negotiations. The ACMHR got the short end of the stick when they discovered that not all of the signs were removed. Finding out that only some were moved temporarily but mostly none of the signs were removed at all. Next the leaders began the third step of their non-violent campaign which involved them making a schedule for direct action. The fourth and final step that the leaders were going to carry out happened during the Easter season. They knew merchants would have the most pressure to compromise with the ACMHR. After a few dilemmas the fourth step was finally put into effect. Martin Luther King and other leaders of the ACMHR decided to use marches and sit-ins as their direct actions. These actions ended up resulting in thousands of Negroes that supported the ACMHR were arrested and throw in jail. The rhetorical mode was used by King to explain the actions he went through to hopefully resolve segregation in Birmingham and other parts of the country. During the years Martin Luther King was in Birmingham, Alabama he went through a lot of hardships. He also spent time in Birmingham but it was in Birmingham Jail where he wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail. He used rhetorical modes that helped show his point of view of all that was happening in the United States during the time he was in jail. After King left Birmingham Jail he realized that it would be one of the few times that his involvement would not lead to a change in society. For many years later after the letter was written segregation was still present in Birmingham.