Letter from Birmingham Jail (Rhetorical Strategies) Since ancient times‚ promoters of justice have brought into play rhetorical strategies to persuade their opponents. On April 16‚ 1963‚ Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter regarding the criticism several clergymen made‚ stating that the movements of nonviolent resistance to racism from Dr. King were “unwise and untimely”. In this letter King uses several rhetorical strategies but mainly he makes use of 3. In the first one‚ King uses an outside
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‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ Rhetorical Analysis Martin Luther King Jr.‚ the leader of the Civil Rights Movement‚ was arrested and placed in Birmingham jail after leading a non-violent march to protest racism in the streets of Alabama- a highly segregated state at the time. There he received a newspaper containing “A Call for Unity‚” which was written by eight white Alabama clergymen criticizing King and his movement’s methods; this prompted King to write a letter in response to the critics
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In 1963‚ Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the eight Alabama clergymen under the confines of a jail cell in a Birmingham‚ Alabama prison. The letter stated his thoughts and opinions on the racial tension between the white and the black communities of Alabama. Martin Luther King’s letter was written as a rebuttal to the letter he received from the Alabama clergymen that stated the demonstrations‚ protests‚ and acts of civil disobedience of the Negro community were unlawful and should be put
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Attaining Equality Objection of what is unjust has long been a part of human nature. Human beings have the tendency to oppose things that contradicts their morals or beliefs as it indirectly challenges who they are or what they stand for. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written in 1963‚ Martin Luther King Jr. responds to clergymen who criticized his actions and role in the battle against segregation. These actions that were carried out by King were done so because he believed it was his moral responsibility
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Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes Ethos‚ pathos‚ and logos in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King uses rhetorical devices to help him embody his thoughts and emotions into his letter. At the start‚ he employs ethos when he states‚ “Dear Fellow Clergymen” (King 1). This implies that he is one of the clergymen‚ to whom who he is writing too. Within King’s “Letter”‚ he responds to charges and assumptions brought against him in the letter from Birmingham clergy a few days earlier in which they suggested
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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. Martin Luther King is famous for his daring counter-cultural
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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
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In this letter‚ addressed to eight “fellow clergymen” from Alabama who collectively published a letter of criticism in a newspaper on the handling of protests by King and his cohorts in Birmingham‚ King gives a few different takes on the difference between a just and unjust law. They’ve all to do with‚ as King says‚ “difference made legal”; as to say‚ “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” It is necessary
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claim that they were a necessary part of their lives in order for them make sense of life. Antigone‚ from Sophocles’ Antigone‚ and Martin Luther King Jr and his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”‚ engage in civil disobedience where both fight the laws of the land in order to follow a higher good with no regret. However‚ both do such in specific ways that ultimately differ from one another: Dr. King believes civil disobedience is a necessary moral obligation to defy unjust laws while Antigone believes
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"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King‚ Jr.]" This letter is very powerful. He makes very good points about our rights. One part that stood out to me was when he spoke on just and unjust laws. He talked a lot about morality and what is really morally right and wrong pertaining to our laws. When he was speaking about unjust laws‚ I tried to imagine living in such a time like that. Seeing amusement parks on TV but not being able to go‚ being abused and taunted at school it all seems so farfetched
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