Preview

Letter from a Birmingham Jail; Rhetorical Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
972 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Letter from a Birmingham Jail; Rhetorical Analysis
Freedom is deserved by all colour, age, ethnicity, orientation, gender should not be a restraint. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. felt this way during his life in the times of segregation. He peacefully protested his thoughts and was arrested for it. Then his acts were judged by a group of white clergymen. They questioned the Negroes' choice to break the law rather than wait for change in a letter they wrote to a local news editor. In response to this judgement Doctor King Jr. wrote his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail". He was able to utilize several different rhetorical strategies in order to explain why they can no longer wait, create a poignant diction, and to persuade others to see the reality of segregation.

Being a pastor and a well known civil rights activist during the time of segregation puts that much more force, that much more of a yreality behind Doctor King Jr's words. By far, the easiest and one of the most compelling forces within "A Letter From a Birmingham Jail" is the imagery created by Doctor King Jr.

Doctor King Jr. goes on to list seeing "...vicious mobs lynch... mothers and fathers... drown your sisters and brothers... hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill..." Then mentions having to explain to his six year old daughter that she cannot go to the new amusement park simply because it is "...closed to colored children..." And having to come up with an answer when his five year old boy asks "Daddy, why do the white people treat the colored people so mean?". Simply by mentioning events and the involvement of children not even over the age of ten Doctor King Jr. has put an image in ones head. He has attempted to create said image in a way that allows the reader to try to 'walk in his shoes'. Simply because people find it easy to say wait when they are just observers rather than the one involved. These situations are described in such a way that those with the "coldest of hearts" might feel a surge of sympathy.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

    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.…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of "The letter from Birmingham Jail"
    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis of "The letter from Birmingham Jail"

    On April 3rd, 1963, the Birmingham campaign began and people were protesting against racism and injustice. The non-violent campaign was coordinated by King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. However, King was roughly arrested with other main leaders of the campaign on April 12th for disobeying the rules of “no parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing”. While jailed, King read a letter (“A call for unity”) written by eight white Alabama clergymen against King and his methods from the newspaper. In the letter, the clergymen stated that the campaign were "directed and led in part by outsiders," urging activists to use the courts if rights were being denied rather than to protest. The letter provoked King and “the Letter from Birmingham jail” was a written response to the white clergy men and to defend the strategy of non-violent protesting. Throughout the letter, King used many stylistic writing elements and effective emotional appealing to make people want to join his case.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From A Birmingham Jail
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From A Birmingham Jail

    Martin Luther King JR was an activist who took part as a leader in the Civil Rights movement. This whole movement of his is emphasized on the idea that nonviolent actions be taken. Although he was a leader for the Civil Rights movement, he was a Baptist minister too which played a critical role in his movement. The whole idea of taking nonviolent actions was due to his Christian beliefs, and it’s demonstrated all throughout the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. In his letter, Martin writes to a clergyman where he finds out that his nonviolent protest movements have been accused of being “extreme.” Whenever he responds back to the clergyman’s accusation, he employs rhetorical strategies. However, not only are these rhetorical strategies being employed when he’s responding to the accusation, but they can be seen throughout the letter.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

    Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, Jr. were brilliant men. The Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Jefferson, and the Letter From Birmingham Jail, written by King, are perfect examples of their intellect. Looking at these documents and observing the tactics they use while attempting to move their audience toward their ultimate goal, one can see the finesse that both Jefferson and King possessed. The Declaration of Independence had aspirations of obtaining a new form of government, away from the King of England, while the Letter From Birmingham Jail was intended to help move America toward a desegregated future. Jefferson was charged with moving the Colonists to armed revolution, as well as not alienating the King of England…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of "Letter From Birmingham Jail"
    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis of "Letter From Birmingham Jail"

    Every Individual comes to a point in their life when he or she must take a stand for what he or she believes in. For some, this may mean coming to the defense of other people, for others taking a stand could mean holding firm to beliefs or morals. In any case taking a stand is part of the human experience. Realizations, reformations, revelations, and revolutions have been brought forth in history because a dauntless individual stood firm for what he or she held to be true.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Allusions In Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Allusions In Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

    Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is one of the most well known documents in American history. King’s profound ability to articulate important ideas, values, concepts and Biblical perspectives made for some of the most powerful and inspirational pieces of American literature ever produced. One technique that King used in his public speeches and letters was his allusions to historical figures, the Bible and opposing congressmen. During the 60’s when cultural prejudice still held strong roots in Congress, it was King’s talent to inspire the public that revolutionized America’s racial injustices. King’s frequent use of allusions in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail proved his intelligence and greatly attributed to his success and popularity during the 1960’s. His allusions demonstrated his referential capabilities while also making his messages readily relatable to the public.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis Essay
    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    Martin Luther King Jr., born on January 15, 1929, fought for the injustices of his brothers and sisters throughout his life. While being an active activist, Martin Luther King was imprisoned to Birmingham jail due to his participation in a nonviolent demonstration against segregation and discrimination in Alabama. During his sentence, he wrote a letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” to counter the criticisms of his actions from the clergymen by claiming that “An unjust law is no law at all”(par. 12), “Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Letter To A Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
    • 2233 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Letter To A Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

    In two shining examples of rhetorical power “A letter to a Birmingham Jail” and “Malcom X’s debate at the Oxford Union” The two great leaders of the civil rights movement outline their platforms and justify their philosophies in regards to how the movement should go about achieving societal change. Although the civil rights movement was brought to national attention by the combined work of MLK and Malcom X, the rhetorical strategies employed by the two are quite different and hold varying degrees of effectiveness. These social justice warriors did not receive an equal amount of respect nor did their ideas have an equal amount of impact because…

    • 2233 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Letters From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Letters From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

    Martin Luther King Jr. uses imagery as a rhetorical strategy. With the use of imagery Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes his response to the eight white religious leaders with much detail. He states “…When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you speak to your six-year old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that fun town is closed to colored children…”. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expresses how young children are also being affected due to segregation, in which I can see in my mind because if that were me as a child I know that I would be devastated. In this perspective of the imagery that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses I can agree on his…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Annotated Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Speech
    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Annotated Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Speech

    Martin Luther King Jr. commences his speech by alluding to the speech, The Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln in the year 1863. When stating “Five score years ago...,” he refers to the renowned introduction Abraham Lincoln preached. King proceeds to state, “…a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today.” He and his audience stood in Lincoln’s shadow metaphorically and figuratively. He orated his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where the statue of Lincoln is situated. King utilizes imagery and diction from the metaphor, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice.” The “momentous decree” he refers to is the…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

    To fully understand Dr. King 's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” you must understand what times were like when King wrote his letter, who Dr. King was, and the criticism that Dr. King faced. The 1950 's and 1960 's were turbulent times for African Americans as they fought for equal rights as Americans. Jim Crow laws in the South dictated where blacks could sit in a restaurant or on a bus, they excluded blacks from certain jobs and neighborhoods, they segregated schools and prohibited blacks from voting in elections. There were 4,730 known lynchings of black men and women. There were hangings, burnings, beatings, and even house bombings or arson (Pilgrim 2012). There were also many landmark events during this time period. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in schools was unlawful.…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Quote Analysis
    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Letter From Birmingham Jail Quote Analysis

    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…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King's Use Of Metaphors In Jail
    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Martin Luther King's Use Of Metaphors In Jail

    Martin Luther King Junior got put in jail for peaceful protesting to get everyone equal rights. While King was in jail, he wrote a letter to the church explaining why everyone should be treated equally, no matter their skin color. King uses metaphors and rhetorical questions to influence and inspire his readers, to stop segregation; it is unfair to treat people differently just because of their skin color.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Parallelism In Letter To Birmingham Jail
    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Parallelism In Letter To Birmingham Jail

    Prior to the mid 20th century, social injustice, by means of the Jim Crow laws, gave way to a disparity in the treatment of minorities, especially African Americans, when compared to Caucasians. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with many other civil activist, began a campaign to change the laws and the social attitudes that caused such a disparity. Although Dr. King’s exploits are revered today, he had opponents that disagreed with the tactics he employed. Letter to Birmingham Jail is a response to a group of Birmingham ministers who voiced negative comments and questioned the civil rights demonstrations Dr. King was leading in Birmingham. In order to properly convey his response to the questions proposed by the religious leaders of Birmingham,…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Martin Luther King Jr Letter From Birmingham Jail
    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On Martin Luther King Jr Letter From Birmingham Jail

    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.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics