Argumentative Analysis Of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Jr used the Aristotelian persuasive method of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the clergymen to change their decisions of them stopping their non-violent protests. These persuasion techniques allowed King to infiltrate the minds of the clergymen in every aspect of their lives such as religion, white supremacy, and their own logic. He uses religion to shine a light on their perspective and approached problems within the letter that the Clergymen were unaware about. King, using these methods of persuasion, led the Clergymen to contemplate on their decisions which also led to them questioning their logic. Logos, the method of persuasion using logic, allowed King to address problems and bring forth those problems to

“The time of justice has now come. I tell you that I believe sincerely that no force can hold it back. It is right in the eyes of man and God that it should come. And when it does, I think that day will brighten the lives of every American (Johnson).” African Americans during this time period are in the process of having their rights and equality. These individuals experienced hardships and obstacles which led up to this. They suffered in different ways, additionally, some of them got killed. When Martin Luther King, the leader, stood up for what he believed in with a group of black people right behind him, he was put in jail and got severely bruised. King did not stop fighting for these rights and equalities and even through thick and

Dr. King uses the pathos mode of persuasion by using metaphor, anaphora, and parallelism. He uses metaphor at several places in the letter to make comparison between two things that are unrelated but share common characteristics. He writes, “I guess it is easy for

King understands where blacks are coming from in wanted equal rights. King sees the injustices of the black communities and is very involved in black movements which what what put him in jail. By being African American as well as witnessing injustices, King has firsthand knowledge which establishes his authority to speak on this issue of racial equality. King shows the audience that he is competent by stating that he is the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This helps show his strength of leadership in the religious community. This also again shows his competency to speak on the issue of equal rights. He continues to establish empathy by stating how he normally doesn’t respond to criticism; however he chose to respond this time due to the “genuine good will” of the clergymen. That response in itself tells the clergymen that he and the clergyman are on the same playing field, one pastor to another. King showed the clergymen’s “good will” deserved a response which established trust. Creating an ethical appeal in a rhetorical piece is essential in persuading the audience to believe an authors argument.

King uses strong rhetoric efforts and appeals to his primary audience with tone, knowledge, and religion. Dr. King’s tone in this letter varies but it was all done with a specific purpose- to move his audience.

Marin Luther, regardless of his intentions, is one of the most controversial men in all of Christian history. The growth of Martin Luther and essentially the whole Protestant Revolution begins by Luther walking in a storm and getting struck by lightning. At this time, he prays out to the saints in hopes that he will be saved; he promises them that if they save him, he will stop everything a become a monk. Luther is saved and does just that, he quit studying law and took his vows, and he began studying the bible as a monk. While studying the bible, Luther comes across a line in Romans 1:17 stating, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Luther’s interpretation of this is that no amount of pilgrimages, relics, or good deeds will save someone, what will save that person is his or her faith. At the same time that Luther comes to this conclusion, indulgences are being sold. An indulgence is a ticket to heaven which cleanses a person of all sins. A person pays for this certificate, which typically cost half a year’s earnings, and this will shorten the time in purgatory before going to heaven. The idea of what happened after death terrified some people so this gave those people a false sense of comfort.

In his "Letter," Martin Luther King Jr.'s ability to effectively use pathos, or to appeal to the emotions of his audiences, is evident in a variety of places. More particularly in paragraph fourteen, King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, invoke empathy in the hearts of white moderates, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.

when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, raise empathy in the hearts of white conservatives, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.Ethos are present throughout the “Letter” but there was one specific example that caught my attention. “Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code

These three elements to Martin Luther King’s letter aid it to be the most effective argument against the Clergymen’s rash and

Credibility and ethics are one of the first things noted in King’s letter, and the presentation of it helps the reader to carry on reading the letter with open-mindedness and trust that King will continue to sincerely explain the reasons for the letter and the protest. Also, he establishes his credibility in the second paragraph by responding to the clergymen’s view that he was an outsider coming in. Similarly, King institutes his credibility by revealing that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which was an organization working in every southern state. Martin Luther King Jr. also appeals to ethos by even stating the clergymen’s views throughout his letter, which, of course embodies the alternative to his views. People have respect and trust for King which is proof of his reliability, as one man writes, “I believe Luther's actions truly reflect his belief that all people should be equal. His actions also show his commitment to the movement and the fact that this man was a leader” (Akerman 1).

In both works, Dr. King Jr. adopted techniques of series rhetoric, repetitions, effective use of metaphors and similes in protesting against social injustice and assuring his audience of a hope for a better tomorrow. In the letter to the clergy Dr. King Jr. invoked their thinking of what a just and unjust law was. He explained that the just law is a moral act of God’s will and the unjust law is such act instituted by men. When in conflict, he admonished society to accept the laws of God over those of men and cited instances where society had an obligation to reject unjust laws of segregation. Dr. King Jr. draws inspiration from men of historical significance to ascertain his claim and quotes

In the beginning paragraphs, King states the main goals of his letter. He then goes on to set up the main points of his argument by stating, “You deplore the demonstrations taking

Faith. This alone is all that is needed to be saved by Christ. Martin Luther interprets the Word of God in this way, while he was closely questioning the practices of the Roman Catholic Church during this time in history. The practices and customs that the Catholic Church had come to know at this time where authorized without and scriptural support, and Luther’s plan was to expose the Church’s flaws in hopes of a reform. Little did Martin Luther know, that this attempt to reform the church on the basis of “through faith alone”, would change the history of the Church forever.

The poem on Martin Luther King depicts the difference between how he was viewed by the public when he was alive and how he was viewed by the public after he was killed. Currently, most people see him as a nonviolent man who delivered speeches about peace and equality for the sake of his family. People hear the name Martin Luther King mentioned and they tend to picture a man who helped spread the idea of racial equality throughout America and after a few years of speeches, everyone soon started to believe that racial equality was the morally right thing to support. However, the poem mentions how King was not widely praised for his work until after his death throughout the poem and specifically in the line, “Now that he is safely dead, Let

Dr. Martin Luther King has influenced generations with his impeccable ability to lead people, his persuasive skills, and oratory skills. While there were many key figures in the Civil Rights movement, Dr. King’s leadership and oratory skills set him apart from the others as the de facto figurehead of the movement. His ability to integrate ethos, logos, and pathos in his leadership contributed to the great historical figure that is globally recognized (Hughes, 1999). The famous 1963 “I have a Dream” speech and King’s letter to eight clergymen from the Birmingham prison showed how he used ethos, logos, and pathos to convince others of his vision for a country built on equality.