Martin Luther King Jr. and, Socrates hold altogether different assessments with regards to matters of obeying just laws and how unjust laws ought to be taken care of. I concur with Martin Luther King Jr's. way to deal with common defiance and I additionally agree that steps should be taken towards changing unjust laws. A nation's headway starts from the changing of laws – that is the delayed consequence of people going to stand up for what is right…
In Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he responds to the “eight white religious leaders of the South” (King, par.1). That wrote a statement in a newspaper calling the peaceful and nonviolent civil rights demonstrations extremities. He voiced his disappointment in the statements made by the “white religious man” (King, par.1) that praised brutal and violent police men and called for an end to the peaceful demonstrations from the African American community. Throughout the extended letter King expressed the need for direct actions and willingness to fight peacefully against laws. King also talked about why the civil rights movement could wait longer and encouraged the “white religious man” (King, par.1) and the general public to take a moment and view through African American eyes why they fight for equality. Also throughout the letter King makes it a point to talk about the right timing, just and unjust laws, and the need to make a stand.…
Martin Luther King Jr. Vs. Transcendentalist Movement MLK Jr. was a inspirational man, who fought hard and strategically for what he believed in and cared for. MLK stood out and took a stand against his government, the social standard, and what others considered normal. Transcendentalist believe in individualism and that a person's thought process is what best for them.…
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written in April 1963, during the African Americans fight for equality. Martin Luther King Jr.’s claim was not just to reply to the eight clergyman who had called his demonstrations “untimely and unwise”, but also aim his justifications at a bigger audience of religious and secular beliefs. An audience that is black and white; therefore King is able to justify his reasons and tactics of beginning immediate action using nonviolent protest to everyone. Throughout his letter Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrates the use of ethos, pathos, and logos to help support his claim while also consistently referring…
The tone in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was much different compared to Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government”. The two men were similar because they were both extremely passionate about their cause, but King seemed to become increasingly more irritated and frustrated as his letter progressed. In the beginning of King’s letter, he was very calm however towards the end he began to go about it differently. King emphasized a lot more than Thoreau did, simply because King’s letter was much more in depth and was longer in length. King used many detailed descriptions and examples from history to support almost everything point he made in his letter. For example, King stated that Apostle Paul left his village to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Greco-Roman world. King compared himself to Paul because King has left him hometown to carry the gospel of freedom.…
As sure as the pendulum swings one way, it must swing the other. As sure as people yearn for freedom, they will rise against any obstacle to obtain freedom. In a world which subjectively denies the liberties granted in the constitution to a negro and oppresses a him for having a darker hue of skin, a unique individual who yearns for freedom like no other, Martin Luther King Jr., arrives by birth on January 15th, 1929 in the towering city of Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of twenty-five, King finds himself as a minister at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Not only does King establish a crucial rank as a minister, but he is also well known to be a humanitarian, activist, and above all, a robust leader in the American Civil Rights Movement.…
Miller illustrates the rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his literature through his commentary. Miller states that, “King’s social gospel directly reflects the theology of his father, his grandfather and Borders.” (76 Miller). Miller goes on to support his reasoning when he explains, “Their non violent protests- not his reading of Thoreau, Gandhi, Nelson, or Wofford-provided his initial and most significant lessons in nonviolence.” (76 Miller). Miller continues on to analyze King’s rhetorical strategies when addressing the issue of repetition. Martin Luther King Jr. uses reputation throughout his “I Have a Dream” speech. Miller discusses that repetition is an effective tool when preaching a message; he does this when he states, “it helps ensure congregational participation.”(76 Miller), and also when he explains, “A homilist develops authority by embracing well-loved disclosure, creating a voice by melding it with those of previous speakers.”(76 Miller). MLK uses repetition as a way to embed the message in the audiences’ head so it wont be forgotten easily, repetition was also used to show significance in the message being delivered. Another main point of repetition was the audience had a sense of unity because they were aware of the hymn that was drawing them into the preaching. Miller also speaks on the rhetorical strategy that is known as “voice merging”. King Jr. uses voice merging to allow the audience to draw personal connections when he is preaching. Miller illustrates when Martin Luther King Jr. uses voice merging when exclaiming, “In ‘I Have a Dream’ he merges his voice with that of ‘Amos’ (‘We shall never be satisfied till justice rolls down like waters…’) and with those of Isaiah and Jesus (‘I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…’).” (78 Miller). Keith D. Miller’s commentary provided me with information on different rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr.; he effectively illustrated ways…
Martin Luther King uses rhetorical strategies in his speech in order to do many things. These rhetorical strategies can be seen throughout the Letter from Birmingham City Jail by Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. The main purpose of this letter is to fight for freedom and end segregation between the Whites and the African Americans.King utilizes pronouns to include the audience to persuade his audience that as a nation we are all in this together. King says, “We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands” (1). The purpose of this sentence is to make everyone come together. King claims that they will win because God is on their side. If they work hard enough they will also achieve what they are striving for. “We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation” (1) Kings purpose of this quote is to give his readers hope that change will come eventually. He will not just reach the goal of freedom, but the nation will reach the goal of freedom. Using pronouns to include the audience brings king and the readers together. Together they take a stand and become one. King utilizes repetition, which ingrains the problem in your head while making…
On April 16, 1963, from the jail of Birmingham, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an extensive letter to eight clergymen who attacked his work for civil rights in a public statement released on April 12, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. aimed this letter at those eight leaders of the white Church of the South. However, the eight clergymen's letter and the response from Martin Luther King, Jr. were publicly published. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted to convince of the utility of his commitment in this particular area at this specific moment. To persuade his readers, Martin Luther King, Jr. appeals to his own reputation and wisdom. Second, he tries to arouse sympathy in the readers to influence them emotionally. Finally, he appeals to logic, supported with evidence and citations from influential thinkers.…
John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. both rose up to the challenge of presenting the ideas of equality for all people around the same time, using great rhetorical strategies. In each of their speeches, you can point out the various uses of pathos, ethos, and logos.…
In order to deliver a powerful speech that would move masses of people as it was his purpose, Martin Luther King performed an excellent research on the bible, the U.S constitution and The Gettysburg Address. Basing his speech on these documents allowed him to appeal to the basis by which the country of the United States was founded upon and by which society established social norms. In this way he was able to appeal to their moral, logical and emotional senses. The use of biblical…
Martin Luther King jr., was first and foremost a preacher. His letter could have been just as effective had it been given as a speech. Each sentence carries with it the power of voice, as though it was spoken from behind the pulpit. King’s use of flowing language allows the reader to keep moving through the information, allowing his ideas and arguments to smoothly transition from one idea to the next. King moves to issues by referring to, and often supporting the concerns of the clergymen. “You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern.” (King) Writing in this manner King is able to make his rebuttals less of a personal attack. Though he disagrees with the clergymen, he is not attacking them personally, but trying to guide them to the same conclusions and ideals that he has reached. He…
at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Martin Luther King, Jr. also…
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. His dream was that one day whites and blacks could live together in equality. King and his rhetoric of idealism are what come to mind for most people when they think about the civil rights movement, but there is another famous civil rights leader who had some very different ideas than King. Malcolm X was the leader of the more radical civil rights movement in the early 1960’s. Perhaps no speech better exemplifies X’s stance on civil rights than the “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech of 1964. This speech outlines X’s opinions on integration, African Americans’ role in government and the community,…
In 1963, strong opinions on black civil rights were being brought forth in Birmingham, Alabama and other southern states. Some of those strong opinions was from 8 clergymen, who spoke out against King and his ideas on desegregation and equality for all. King felt the need to defend his ideas of the men he thought were supportive of the civil rights cause. In King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, he uses rhetorical strategies such as appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos, as well as diction, syntax, allusions and imagery to strengthen his argument that equality for all should be fought for, and segregation should be hindered. These strategies also promote the purpose, which is to correct the misconceptions held by the clergy and to justify the…