A letter of Birmingham Jail analyse
Martin Luther King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written to respond to a public statement “Call for Unity” by a group of white religious leaders of the South. The logic appeals of King’s article which is supported by fact and examples are less than the ethos and pathos appeals. King did a good job to use his personality as ethos appeal to evoke the readers’ emotion which is pathos appeal.
King made use of examples, facts, and personal experiences as logos appeal to logically support the author’s point. In the “Call for Unity”, King was viewed as an extremist by the clergymen. However, King responded to this by examples of many famous historical figures that are considered heroes today were regarded as extremists during their periods. He cited some comments of famous people such as the Apostle Paul, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Jesus Christ. Furthermore, King noticed the discrimination and inequality between different people were easy to find in Birmingham. He expected the white religious leaders to give their hands to the black, but his own jail experience and the rude and cruel behaviors of the policemen made him disappointed. Most of the logic appeals are based on King’s experience and lack of facts support which can be understood because King was put into the jail at that time. The emotions of readers are triggered by both logos and pathos.
The pathos of the article is involved in the emotion of the readers. In King’s letter, strong emotion words and phrases were used to show the disappointment of the author. At this time, King took advantage of some strong phrases such as “ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes” [Para35] and “judgment of God” [Para36] to show his sympathy and disappointment when he saw the unfair treatments of the Negroes. These phrases can resonate with the reader. Additionally, capturing the imaginary picture of the reader is used to illustrate the author’s point. King used beautiful phrases “lofty spires pointing
King made use of examples, facts, and personal experiences as logos appeal to logically support the author’s point. In the “Call for Unity”, King was viewed as an extremist by the clergymen. However, King responded to this by examples of many famous historical figures that are considered heroes today were regarded as extremists during their periods. He cited some comments of famous people such as the Apostle Paul, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Jesus Christ. Furthermore, King noticed the discrimination and inequality between different people were easy to find in Birmingham. He expected the white religious leaders to give their hands to the black, but his own jail experience and the rude and cruel behaviors of the policemen made him disappointed. Most of the logic appeals are based on King’s experience and lack of facts support which can be understood because King was put into the jail at that time. The emotions of readers are triggered by both logos and pathos.
The pathos of the article is involved in the emotion of the readers. In King’s letter, strong emotion words and phrases were used to show the disappointment of the author. At this time, King took advantage of some strong phrases such as “ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes” [Para35] and “judgment of God” [Para36] to show his sympathy and disappointment when he saw the unfair treatments of the Negroes. These phrases can resonate with the reader. Additionally, capturing the imaginary picture of the reader is used to illustrate the author’s point. King used beautiful phrases “lofty spires pointing