Birmingham Jail And Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God Analysis

Lastly, King appeals to character as well as establishing his creditability. For starters, the the vocabulary King chose to use shows that he is educated and possesses the knowledge to respond to the clergymen. King also informed the clergymen that he had previous experience in conducting and participating in non-violent campaigns. This provides credibility because it showed that he had prior knowledge of the behavior and purpose of those participating, while also addressing that past campaigns have always been “untimely”, but with desired outcome. The last and most obvious proof of credibility, is that King was a black man that faced the same adversities that he referred to in the last paragraph of this section. The example being of having to personally tell his daughter why she could not be allowed to go to a public amusement park because she was black and looked at as less than.

The 1960’s was a sad time when segregation existed. Although the colored people were technically free, were they really free? This time in history was filled with colored people being disgraced, threatened, held in captivity, and “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 sister” (King). Children ripped apart from their families, not being able to socialize with certain people, or even go to the local amusement park. It was a hard time to be a colored person, and there was one hope. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that one day blacks and whites could one day come together peacefully. King tried to do what he believed was right with everything in his will to finally join forces and not be talked down on by whites. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he includes several events that affect not only him but thousands of others emotionally, he uses creative examples to get his points across, and lastly King includes multiple past and present historical facts.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King’s wrote this letter for eight white clergymen who unapproved of his nonviolent protests for racial equality and segregation. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King been arrested and is writing to the clergymen about why he felt the need to be protesting also reasons why the clergymen should care. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. uses persuasion to show that the clergymen and the church should be ashamed of themselves for discontinuing his nonviolent protest. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. remains calm, although he is in jail for leading nonviolent protest for equality and ending segregation. King believes that if

In Dr. King's essay 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' he addresses the claims made about his arrest by the eight clergymen. His responses are very long and detailed, giving a very compelling and moving point of view. His letter is directed to his audience, which consists of white middle class citizens who Dr. King refers to as the 'white moderates'. Dr. King's letter is very persuasive because his use of pathos makes the audience think or imagine themselves in the situation. It is very poignant of him to write his letter this way. He is in touch with the views of his audience, which makes a greater impact on his readers. Dr. King uses antecdotes to make his readers see the injustice

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King writes to fellow clergymen defending his view on nonviolent protest and his actions in his protest against the racial injustices during that time. King is a reverend from the South and a Civil Rights activist. King was arrested while partaking in an anti-segregation march. Segregation laws were part of the Jim Crow Laws (any state law discriminating against black persons) arrangement of separation of races in schools, restaurants, bathrooms, and so on for blacks and whites that existed a long ways past the period of, particularly in the American South.

After being arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote one of his most famous works to the people of Birmingham, titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963. This piece speaks of the evils of the segregation laws and how the blacks had been treated unfairly in Birmingham, in an attempt to get the white people to support the desegregation of Birmingham. He had been imprisoned because of his participation in a civil disobedience protest, and he is arguing that, even though the white people of Birmingham see the black’s way of protesting as wrong, it is a justified way to fight back against the unjust laws. In “Letter From Birmingham

An effective writer is that one is prosperous in creating an bias result. The author wants the reader to feel that his way is correct. The goal of the author is to leave an effect on the audience in order to convince them to change their views. Both pieces: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King Jr. and “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, have a appeal to all men being created equal, and yet their pieces are different in their own contextual ways. In order to understand which piece is more effective, one must first understand the history. The Letter from Birmingham Jail was composed in April of 1963 as a response to a letter that was sent to MLK, from the local white clergymen, while he was in jail. The letter to MLK was asking for an end to all protests and civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama. He replied with what he felt was a knowledgeable letter that explain his actions, purpose, and wants. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was given as a sermon to a local church of Puritans. Written in 1741 Jonathan Edwards was an idealized Puritan whose word was as good as gold. He was a successful man, who had traveled many miles to preach. His purpose was to convince the people that hell is not too far away; and if they didn’t devote their life to God, he would let them die in hell.

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” discusses the life of Martin Luther King Jr. He became a leader in the civil rights movement to end racial segregation and discrimination in America during 1950s and 1960s. According to the letter, “I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, … So, I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” Also, he became a leading spokesperson for nonviolent methods of achieving social change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” after he was arrested for peacefully protesting segregation and racial terror in Birmingham.

The primary goal of a sermon in church is to convince or persuade the congregation to turn to God and follow his ways and beliefs. A sermon is commonly broken up into several subsections beginning with “(1) an introduction ‘to establish a common ground of religious feeling’; (2) ‘a statement of the text’ which is often drawn directly from the Bible; (3) the ‘body of the sermon,’ which consists of repeated emotional climaxes; and (4) the ‘conclusion’ which resolves the emotional tension aroused by the sermon by drawing the sinners to God.” (Pipes 143). Based on these characteristics and King’s religious background and experience as a preacher, it is logical to argue that the structure of “A Letter from the Birmingham Jail” resembles that of a sermon which is aimed at an audience much larger than that of just eight clergymen. Through his brilliant use of persuasive methods and emotional appeal, Martin Luther King turns a simple response to a letter into a national cause for white support to combat segregation.

In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. informs the readers of the reasons how and why he is giving a nonviolent protest to racism. King begins the letter stating how he was invited to Birmingham and how he is trying to fight against the “injustice.” In his letter King continues on to explain that the black men have waited to long for justice and they are still fighting it in the present today through the unjust laws. The white churches were brought up negatively through the letter numerous times especially since the letter was specifically written to the clergy members. Dr. King ends his letter in personal hope that the clergy men will see what is wrong in the overall picture of injustice in Birmingham and

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, by Martin Luther King Jr., the central idea is that he strongly believes in nonviolent protests and to explain to the clergymen why he is in the Birmingham Jail. King gets his point through by using the rhetorical devices pathos, ethos and repetition. The letter defends the idea of a nonviolent protest for all of the african americans in Birmingham, Alabama. King writes “ WHILE confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom, if ever do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas” (pg1 par.1).

King creates an empathetic link when he utilizes the words "When you have" (King 2) followed by grievous moments in a typical African American life. For the purpose of showing the leaders why the Negroes cannot wait any longer for civil justice. Rather it is not that simple, King chose to write this to create an empathic link between the religious leaders and the African Americans. He does this with the intention of having the leaders feel the urgency and the burning pain the oppressed race has gone through. Simply, the African American walk of life is encroached by the actions and power of whites, creating an emotional scene for the leaders. King also rejects the fallacy that the leaders created with the "Isn't this like condemning..."(King 3) anaphora. The leaders believed that the peaceful actions of the civil rights group should be condemned for they participated in violence. King felt that this statement did not make any logical sense, but instead of outright saying it, he simply repeated instances where peaceful actions were taken place, but the subject faced consequences. In fact, by comparing the situation to the Christian icon Jesus, King exposes the fallacy of the leaders. In a broader sense, the parallelism between Jesus and King is noticed. Biblically, Jesus came down to Earth from Heaven to save sinners by acting as a sacrifice and dying on the cross. On the other hand, Historically, King came to Birmingham from Atlanta to aid the Civil Rights Movement by protesting, thus sending him to jail. Both came down to save a group, but to do so both were

Accordingly, in Letters from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King addresses that the reason he is incarcerated in Birmingham is due to the fact that he was trying to put an end to segregation and finally put an end to the social injustice going on. His tone was patient and rational. This letter was a response to the clergymen from Alabama who wanted racial segregation. He used this letter as an instrument of freedom, his own freedom from jail as well as freedom for the black Americans. As a black American Dr. King could relate to those suffering from the injustice. He was accused of abusing the law by hosting nonviolence protests in Birmingham; this was deemed as disobedient. He spoke for himself and the other black

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letters from Birmingham jail, he explains the many sacrifices made by himself and other people of color in attempt to get justice. King knew that there were many risks involved in protesting and speaking up for the rights of African

In order to understand both paragraphs I will first explain what both authors life was like during this time. King wrote “Letter in the Birmingham Jail” to address his audience. King started his movements for equal rights in the 1950s. He wrote over 450 speeches and spent years traveling the country. He did this to make a movement and get people to join his cause in a nonviolent way. Many people had crosses burned in their yard and objects thrown at them on the streets. African Americans did not have the same rights as white citizens did. King wanted to convince people that African Americans were the same but kings showed his action through nonviolent actions always. At a motel in Georgia King was assassinated in 1968 and left behind his wife and four children. Years later Kings movements made a difference allowing all