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. Throughout the text King both clearly and subtly justifies the reliability of his explanation through the positions he has held in society, his knowledge of both current and past events, and his control over his writing. At the beginning of the letter, King informs the audience of his standing as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). This not only connects him with the audience, who are also Christians, but also places King in a position of authority with whom society generally views as trustworthy and honest. However, to keep the audience open-minded, King addresses his readers as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”, which places King at the same status and shows that King sees the clergymen as equals to himself.
The control King has over the flow of the passage only further proves King’s credibility as a skillful writer and speaker. This is seen in the first paragraph of the letter, where the juxtaposition of overly polite diction and backhanded compliments creates doubt in the
The main intended audience is the 8 clergymen from Birmingham who wrote King a strongly-worded and disrespectful letter regarding his arrest from protesting on Easter of 1963. You know that this letter is being addressed to the clergymen because the first three words in the whole letter are “Dear Fellow Clergymen”. King includes the word “fellow” instead off “sir” to, as Michael Osborn says in his essay, “Rhetorical Distance in “Letter from Birmingham Jail””, “Thus, from the outset, King asserts his identity and claims his seat at their table, whether welcome or not.”(26). King wants to be at an equal level with the clergymen, he wants to be respected. The eight clergymen were targeted as the main audience because, initially, they are the ones who started the conversation between them and King by writing the first letter. This reader is expected to understand where the author, Dr. King, is coming from and also to open their eyes to the reality of
King’s tone appears outwardly polite and deferential. However, the first hint of irony is when he uses ‘secretary’ in the plural, suggesting that he considers himself above them in material means. however, at the end of the first paragraph, he writes that he would try and answer their criticism in ‘patient’ terms. Since we are normally the most patient with people below our mental level, this changes his tone to tolerant and somewhat condescending, suggesting that he is doing them a great favor by taking the time to ‘answer their statement.’
While unaware of the impact this would have on the American people, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” turned into an iconic piece of American history. King’s tremendous work as a civil rights activist through non-violent protest changed our day-to-day life, and his words captured the entire American population. King was persuasive due to his genuine nature and passion for his work, which is easily communicated in his writing. Specifically in the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King’s use of logos, ethos and pathos portrays the detailed importance of his struggle and the importance for action from the American people.
Martin Luther King builds the letter using credibility. Referring to the backlash as “my fellow clergyman” giving them the respect and exhibiting that they both have the same common ground and some understanding of the Christian church bringing himself to their level and showing then he’s just like them. The level means that the Black community which King represents is not better nor inferior to the clergymen whom are representing the white community. Furthermore, he establishes ethos by putting forward how professional and experienced he is with criticism. He quotes them on what they say “Unwise and untimely.” Instead of jumping the gun and ignoring or throwing back the criticism he pauses and answers the questions circling them. If he answers all the criticisms he receives ,then productive work in building a united America will lack due to the negative feedback he receives . By mentioning his secretary King bring up his credibility because he is a well rounded man with a business with people who attend to him making him a man of his word and with experience. Usually when we enter an office and the boss has a secretary, we instantly trust the work of whomever we visited. Martin talks about how his secretaries will never accomplish work due to the high criticism and he is replying to the clergymen because of the respect he has for them, he will answer all the questions.
In his letter King’s tone is very restrained, despite the tone of the letter from the clergy, which is criticizing of his actions. He starts his letter with a display of unity by addressing them as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” with this address King is showing he is there are all men of faith. Although, there are other insistences in the letter where Dr. King’s tone can be viewed as aggressive his overall tone remains polite there for creating a friendly tone, and the aggressiveness in his tone comes more from frustration. King illustrates his frustration in the way he lays out his argument, and he is able to do this through the use of repetitiveness. King does the best job of this in a very length sentence by delaying his point with the repeat
Topic Sentence-King knew he could not lead the fight on injustice alone so he reached out to the clergy in the Birmingham area and eventually across the South for help in hopes they would stand with him. King longed for the time when churches stood strong, but he said modern church is weak. Christians were known for suffering for what they believed in. Battles had been fought by Christians who stood strong as they were “called to obey God rather than man” (389). Their numbers had always been small but their commitment to a cause never wavered. He sought that kind of Christian support but was sadly disappointed in the response he received from the leaders of the churches. He responded to being called an extremist by the same leaders whom he sought
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?”
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. wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” after an unjust proposal made by eight white clergymen. Their claims were to be that no Negro “outsider” should be allowed to establish or lead any protest and should leave them to their local neighborhoods. King replied directly to the clergymen, but used religious ties to also have his voice heard in the public. In his counter argument, King strategically used logical evidence, emotional aspects and good motives to present his perspective to the clergymen.
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.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key figure in the civil rights movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an open letter written by King defending nonviolent resistance against racism. The letter argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust and unethical laws. The letter also stresses themes of unity among brothers in order to overcome racism. I will argue in support of King’s stance that citizens are morally justified in breaking unjust laws and that openly and responsibly opposing unjust laws is itself a duty of every citizen.
Martin Luther King Jr., a peaceful advocate for civil rights, was jailed for his non-violent protest against segregation. During his stay at the Birmingham Jail, a group of religious leaders publically attacked him with criticisms for his peaceful protest. As a counter attack, King wrote 'The Letter From Birmingham Jail'. This counter was successful for King was able to analyze and address his audience, refer to historical and religious figures and utilize anaphoras, making this letter, one of the most impressive argumentative essays.
He begins his letter by stating that he is writing this letter “while confined here in the Birmingham City Jail” (King 2). However although one in such conditions for being wrongly convicted and forced to write this within small jail walls would be expected to be hostile, King’s tone is instead calm and patient. He addresses his attackers as “my dear fellow clergymen” (2). And even apologized that they expressed different opinions (3). This, to an open audience, gives
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a powerful and eloquent letter that effectively argued the point that segregation is fundamentally unjust and should be fought with nonviolent protest. This letter, through describing the injustice taking place during the civil rights movement also provided some insight about Dr. King’s view of the government in the 1960s. Three mains themes present in Dr. King’s letter were religion, injustice, and racism.
King wrote a letter that reaches audiences that weren’t thought of when it was written. He knew of the clergyman and many of the then present-day populations that were going to read his story, but the letters have touched so many people in the present day. King knew his then present-day audience to a tee. He starts his letter with one of his key indicators; “My dear Fellow Clergymen” (263). While doing this he knew who was going to read the letter but also that these people will understand his references to religion, in which the letter is littered with references to the Bible.