Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail

Michael Burgo 2/10/17
MLK Jr. Essay ELA

Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that everyone in America now a days should recognize who he was and some of the things he did. The mid 1900’s were not the brightness for both blacks or whites in the country as segregation was still around but, 1950’s to 1960’s those who were segregated were starting to open their eyes and release their thoughts. Martin Luther King Jr. was considered the leader of these efforts and this did not go down unpunished. He was arrested numerous times however he was showing no fear during these arrests. He would write letters meant for whoever would read it such as the one from Birmingham Alabama Jail and it had purpose to it. The purpose which was the
fact he wanted whomever read it would be able to see the inhumane treatment to him and his followers along with the fact even the in darkest times they would not show fear. The structure of the letter really helped when getting the purpose of the letter across such as affective repetition like “If I have said in this letter that is overstatement of the truth.
If I have said anything understatement of the truth…” (King 159). He would repeat important points that he wanted the reader to acknowledge and see clearly why it is important. This also shows the fact he wrote a long letter with lengthy paragraphs. Within these paragraphs he did not go on and on about the same thing everything in the paragraph was fluent and made sense so the reader would not be dozing off into space, instead they would understand what he said to catch his purpose and why the purpose would make sense of writing this after seeing it through. He also applied frequent figurative language towards the end of the letter which all were putting key points in less specific and making it compare to nature forms. “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will pass away…” (159). This is a key example as he would use many types of figurative language and towards the end many types of metaphors comparing segregation being removed and a process in nature. So far with a successful structure to the letter however, there is more than just a thuroughly made structure to get the writer's purpose across to the
reader. The tone of the letter also played a key part into getting the point across. The tone of the writer MLK junior seemed to be a mix of fearless and a bit ticked off. To start off with fearlessness it is clear he is not afraid of being in jail as he was arrested many other times prior and after this event. Throughout the letter it is clear he still is keeping his mind strong about equality among all americans with both whites and blacks. “ I hope the circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman and a christian brother” (159). As you can see, he is not afraid to write like this in prison as getting his word out will overcome any fear put in front of him and the only fear he has is about the reader not taking time to read this lengthy letter. So he makes it seem as writing the letter he is not afraid. The next point is also the fact is he seems to be a bit mad about this situation. This can be figured out when he goes into detail about how the jail he is in right now. “I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else is there to do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail.” (159). Well he may not be furious you can tell he does not appreciate his conditions and it his bothering him only at the slightest however. He uses his slight anger to only make is fearlessness even stronger among himself and others. So as you can see thanks to Martin Luther King Jr.’s choice of how to make his letter structured as well the purpose of the letter was very easy to catch and understand why the purpose was what is was. Comparing to today racial segregation is still around on a lower level however not many people are doing anything about it. It is heard many times a day about blacks being treated unfairly and then the person who does it gets little to no punishment. Today more people who are like what MLK was back then need to stand up and let their thoughts be heard. If enough of them get the message out another civil rights movement could happen and that leaves me with one question. Will you be apart of that movement?