Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

What do you think the author’s thesis, or main argument is, and why? Be sure to put his thesis in your own words.

With the people of The United States of America categorized as the audience, King speaks to people of all races and ethnicity. This discriminated audience included the grasping appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos. As each appeal is fully informed of the rhetorical purpose, King finds a way to encourage all three. Through several metaphors and types of imagery, he makes the decision to speak to all of the appeals in order to accomplish to need for change. Clearly aimed directly at the hearts of blacks and making the whites feel ashamed of their actions brought together a turn in society as they knew it. This specific structure geared towards the audience was the main reason why King impacted Americans across the country and not just at the march. These different appeals mixed within the audience to help King influence his purpose of racial equality as each type of person could relate to his moving words.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was serving a prison sentence in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama for nonviolently protesting through sit ins and marches.. It was during this time that King, outraged by the criticism of his methods of nonviolent direct action, wrote one of the most thoughtful arguments for civil disobedience and direct action against unjust and immoral laws. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was a poignant rebuttal to critics and clarified his argument, inspiring much of the American youth to rebel against the racial injustices occurring in America at the time. Martin Luther King’s arguments in Letter from Birmingham Jail are effective because they draw the reader’s attention to the dehumanizing nature of systematic racism and force them to consider the ethical implications of large scale racial discrimination through intense imagery, articulate through reasonable rhetoric the philosophy behind civil disobedience and why direct action is the only path to achieve racial equality, and use practical and logical arguments to methodically refute the arguments of the Alabama clergymen who criticized him.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “A Letter From Birmingham Jail,” depicts the fight for equality by African Americans during the civil rights movement. In this letter, King uses tone, rhetorical questions, and allusions to discuss the racial segregation sweeping the nation. King’s letter is a response to “A Call For Unity,” a condemning message written by eight white clergymen who frowned upon the peaceful protests conducted by many African Americans. Although Dr. King is presently seen as an American hero, during the civil rights movement he was simply seen as just another negro attempting to break the social norm. “A Letter From Birmingham Jail,” counters the arguments made by the clergymen in a very effective way by appealing to their

The primary source chosen is the “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,”  written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was a letter sent to the clergyman of Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The actual document was written inside the Birmingham city jail on articles of newspaper and scrapes that Dr. King had near by in his cell. Throughout the letter Dr. King addresses the comments made by the Birmingham clergymen about his civil rights demonstrations. He understands that someone will have to break the racial barrier. The question that may arise is that, “If Dr. King’s message went to most southern states and did not go to all including Alabama, would the action be centered toward equal opportunity or segregation with the idea that each race would be a product of their resources?”

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is the letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. to the clergymen of Birmingham, in which he speaks up against the nonviolence demonstration criticisms by white modernists. In it King suggests that Socrates is civilly disobedient, despite Socrates’ assertions of breaking the law in the Crito, the prison conversation between Socrates and his friend Crito days before his death. Socrates repeatedly states that it would be morally wrong for him to escape prison and go against the laws, however, King believes that he is civilly disobedient. I, too, believe that Socrates was in some form rebellious to the law, and that he was misunderstood and rejected by society. The Apology and Crito are two dialogues that discuss the intent of Socrates’ “crimes;” and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” goes along the reasoning behind King’s claim against Socrates.

Seas of glass varying in shape, size, and hue work together to form a stunning mosaic of the broken, working as one. Radiating above its inexorable admirer, the fluid contrast in such intoxicating amounts hypnotizes the soul -- permanently leaving shards of 1960. Such a piece represents the corruption embedded in history that afflicted the black community. Exploiting the rhetoric of appealing to reason, allusion, and anthesis, Dr. King stained his proclamation of civil inequality with these devices in his renowned, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.

One powerful example of King’s pull on the reader’s consciousness in his letter is on page three when he refutes the argument of the Clergymen saying that Colored people should just “wait”.  While many words truly stand out, King’s true effect was mastered by the appeal to the parents in the group, “When you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why white people treat colored people so mean” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 3)Then again, “humiliation day in and day out by nagging signs” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3) and even further, when “you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3).  Another element that helps support King’s point in his letter is the fervent repetition of his blatant disappointment in more than simply the clergymen, but their Christian faith and the churches in service within Alabama during this time. King repeats how disappointed he was in the “common whites” also and their bystander reactions to racial issues. The fact that this man, a minister, “beneath” the said extremist white clergymen, and inhabiting a jail cell during that time, who was disappointed in people showed a true depth which hit the audience profoundly. (King)

Martin Luther King Jr.’s essay “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a response and explanation to clergymen who challenged King’s methods of protest. The letter is laid out in a criticism-counter structure and was written while King was imprisoned for protesting without a permit. By appealing to the audience’s emotions, showing his credibility and persuading through reason, King successfully clarifies his stance on civil disobedience and the necessity of nonviolent campaigns.

Place yourself in the shoes of someone who is not allowed to sit down on a public bus,; who is not permitted to stay in certain motels,; who is not tolerated in the “white only” family amusement park,; that was the painful impediment that African Americans of the 1960’s faced solely due to the melanin in their skin (King 2). Among these African Americans was the reverend, doctor, humanist, husband, and Civil Rights activist, Mr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a middle class, black man with a life-long devotion of implementing ethnic equality to African Americans nationwide. Following one of Rev. King’s peaceful protests in Birmingham, Alabama, he was jailed on accounts of “parading without a permit” (King

My mind begins to think crazy. Heart beats fast as if I was running. I started to wonder is this really what life is about ? Will people stand up for what's right? When I read Martin Luther Kings, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” , I started to realize you have to stand up for what you believe is right. King was standing up for what's right and for justice and was put in jail for it. He stated that “ I came across your recent statement calling my present activity “unwise and untimely”,” (King, 2017, p. 411). King (2017) responded “Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas” (p. 411). The clergymen did not feel that King was supposed to be in this town saying that “ However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders” (Alabama, 1963). King was a clergyman himself, he didn’t think that he was wrong and he felt like it need to be done. King stated he was in Birmingham because “ injustice was here” (King, 2017, p. 412). Many people don’t believe that justice should be served. Totally opposite to Martin Luther King’s Jr. leadership, President Trump is not a leader of equality nor non - violence.

After Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. was arrested in Birmingham he wrote a letter, “A letter from Birmingham Jail” in response to one written by eight clergymen Criticizing his action. He was fighting for justice, and trying to open eye of clergymen. This letter has been considered as most important letter of the era. Through his letter he has created history because the letter expresses his feeling towards unjust event and it is also regarded as the good example of well written argument essay. Most importantly, his letter explains current event on Birmingham in 1963.

He questions the audience about society and what they have done for their community. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity,” (King). King knows how to bring the people into the speech to involve every single person standing before him and make them feel like they are apart of the speech. He mentions what has been taken away from them which creates anger within the crowd. King’s ability to appeal to the audience through emotion affected society for decades after and changed the sense of pride the African Americans had.

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. Martin Luther King Jr. employs ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade and demonstrate to the critics and other readers the many injustices of segregation.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th, 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr had become an eminent leader of the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans. His commitment to nonviolent protests and resistance created him into a leader both politically and morally. Dr. Martin Luther King constructed and lead multiple efficient and sizable protests of the era for Civil Rights. He was also considered to be one of the strongest and most moving public speakers of modern time. Towards the end of the 1950’s, Dr. Martin Luther King was a well distinguished part of the Civil Rights Movement, leaving behind prime documentation and his legacy, before he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Both “I Have a Dream” and “The Letter From Birmingham Jail” display and represent persuasive.