Rhetorical Analysis Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail The “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, was written by Martin Luther King, who was an amazing writer, and speaker. King was a man that fought against racism toward African Americans. With being an African American himself, he understood the way racism had affected African American’s daily lives. He says “Its [Birmingham] ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negros has experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation.” (pg. 2), which shows what African Americans are living through. It also shows the fear they were living through. They weren’t able to have …show more content…
In his intro he talks about a statement that he heard while he was confined in Birmingham city jail “… calling my [Martin Luther King] present activities were “unwise and untimely” (pg. 1). His response to the statement was, “If I sought to answer all criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work.”(pg. 1), which is a great example of logos. Logos is the appeal to logic, which helps when writing something to persuade someone, because the part of the audience that is against him might think that logically he is right. It also increases the chance that King’s audience will read Kings Letter with more of an open mind. The meaning behind his statement is, if people suspect him to think over everything that he’s already done then they need to realize that he actually has a job to do instead of thinking about the activities he’s already done. In his intro he also includes an amazing thesis statement. A thesis statement is normally located in the first paragraph and is a statement that explains what the writer’s topic is and what the writer’s viewpoint is on that topic. His thesis statement in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, is, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.”(pg.1). In his thesis he’s telling his audience that he wants to show his point about the criticisms that whites put on African Americans were wrong. He say’s “… you have been influenced by the view which argues against “outsiders coming in.”(pgs. 1), which supports his thesis because he thinks whites weren't completely in the wrong because they were being raised in a world to look down on African Americans. Whites were being brought up to
As a leader of civil rights activist, Martin Luther King wrote a letter in response to the Alabama clergymen called, “Letter to Birmingham Jail” to discuss and present different tactics to end racial discrimination. The clergymen respect King’s ideas, however they were hesitant about his tactics because they believe in the end it will turn out to be violent. King understands why they might be unsure about his tactics but does not approve in what the clergymen labeled his strategies is one of an “extremist”. In order to bring his explanations across he uses rhetorical strategies to help achieve what he is trying to convince the clergymen of the idea of being an extremist. Logos is one of the rhetorical devices King uses to support his opinion.
Letter From Birmingham Jail – A Rhetorical Analysis In April of 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting the mistreatment of blacks in the American South. During his time in jail, King produced a letter intended for his fellow clergymen, a response to the criticism he received for his work and ideas. One of King’s main arguments in this rhetorical work is that people have a moral responsibility to peacefully reject unjust laws. King’s position is that laws that are out of harmony with the moral law or the law of God are unjust and should be rejected.
Prejudice is a major issue that has dominated the society for years. Many have spoken up against this discrimination, making their voices heard over the views of numerous people. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist in the mid-1900s, spoke and acted strongly against injustice against African Americans. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he uses powerful and eloquent language to display an ardent desire to influence people’s judgments and to encourage others to join him in making the society one of equality and justice rather than one of bias and hatred. Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical strategies, purposeful word arrangement, and other literary devices to passionately express criticism against injustice.
However, this is why he feels the soldiers should come to the United States to fight for democracy because it will change this perspective about black people not having their say so in a lot of situations. This source can be used to show how selfish and segregated the United States used to be. It gives plenty of supporting details to show how they would treat their citizens especially, black people. Although blacks were treated unfairly they still did what they were told to do because if not there would be consequences such as
He had seen firsthand how African Americans experienced brutality growing up. He had seen this when Jess Alexander Helms a police officer brutalized a black woman, and dragged her to the jail house. He had explained it as “the way a caveman would club and drag his sexual prey”. This shows how little rights African Americans had in these days because he was unable to do anything. All of this happened while other African American individuals walked away hurriedly.
If a person was in jail for peacefully protesting against an injustice in society, only to have their cause attacked and ridiculed by white religious leaders in the city’s religious community, would the person write a moving and inspirational speech in response? Martin Luther King Jr. did in his speech, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his letter, King gives the counterargument of the time was right to take direct action in Birmingham and that King had all the reason to be there. King furthers this purpose by developing and refining claims that strongly support his position against his fellow clergymen’s beliefs through the use of rhetorical devices such as imagery, metaphors, pathos, logos, ethos, and others.
While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.
Extreme: reaching a high or the highest degree. One example of extreme would be Martin Luther King Jr.’s demonstrations in Birmingham, according to the Alabama Clergymen. Letter from Birmingham Jail is a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. in response to a statement made by eight Alabama Clergymen during the year 1963. The clergymen accused King’s nonviolent demonstrations of being “extreme,” and as a result, Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated four paragraphs in his letter to justifying this accusation. King was, at first, disappointed at the thought of him being seen as an extremist, but as he began to think about it more, he was no longer appalled by the thought.
“You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence”. His letter also discussed the idea of discovering one's self not through the sentiments of others, but rather through the conclusions of oneself. I feel like he is not just cautioning his nephew, but the black community in general of such society. I believe that his letter was a plea to the black community to “accept the whites with love” for “they are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand”, while in the same token, not giving in to their stereotypes of black identity like his father did.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the letter from jail, after he got arrested during a peaceful protest. At the time segregation was still a part of the culture in the United States and Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers were working diligently and peacefully to try and make a change in people’s hearts about segregation. In this letter MLK Jr. is writing to defend his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, which he does effectively by using rhetoric. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference focused on Birmingham, Alabama to start a nonviolent direct action campaign with the goal to get the city to get rid of segregation laws.
In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.
In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to “A Call for Unity,” a declaration by eight clergymen, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. Through powerful, emotionally-loaded diction, syntax, and figurative language, King adopts a disheartened tone later shifts into a determined tone in order to express and reflect on his disappointment with the church’s inaction and his goals for the future. King begins this section by bluntly stating that he is “greatly disappointed” (33) with the church, though he “will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen” (33). By appealing to ethos and informing the audience of his history with the church, he indicates that he is not criticizing the church for his own sake, but for the good of the church.
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Analyzing Paragraphs 15 - 22 African-Americans’ rights and liberties were suppressed heavily at the time Dr. King wrote this letter and he played an essential part in facilitating equality and the riddance of unjust laws. Through various speeches, demonstrations, letters, and gatherings he managed to peacefully stand for what he believed what was to be morally right. Throughout Dr. King’s letter from jail, he uses many rhetorical devices in order to highlight the moral duty he and his constituents have to act against injustice. Dr. King employs various logos arguments, rhetorical questions, , and a carefully constructed tone to create his peaceful argument to the clergymen and show them that he actually need
At the end of his letter he addresses the clergymen " I also hope that 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 clergymen and a Christian brother" (paragraph 7). This statement makes a claim the king wants to meet these seven clergymen in person and speak about the issues he wrote in this letter. Another rhetorical tool king uses in his letter are similes. This rhetorical tool helps king compare two things and address the point as he sees it. " Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek" (paragraph 3).
He really supports this idea using rhetorical devices to further strengthen the central idea as a whole. He uses ethos as shown in this quote, “ … our bodies, full of fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities,” to persuade his audience that there should be equality by explaining how blacks have a lower quality of life as whites in this supposedly equal nation. People