Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King And Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Many preachers want to grasp the attention of their audience, maintain the attention, then to persuade them. In Jonathan Edward’s sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he utilizes many creative forms of narration that help achieve his goal of persuasion. He includes repetitional devices, he applies metaphors that can be easily interpreted and relies on descriptive imagery within his sermon to coax his audience onto his ideas. Edward resorts to these rhetorical devices in order to create a narrative that ingrains fear in his audience, Puritans who have lost their heavily religious values, to persuade his audience to align their religious views with his.

I interpreted it as King trying to get the clergymen to acknowledge these issues by viewing it from the blacks perspective. When a person is told to look at a situation from a point of view that differs from their own, it opens doors to new perspective and understanding. Also, most people tend to lead by emotion, possibly providing King’s desired outcome of understanding and action.

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

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.

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.

     Martin Luther King Jr. writes the Clergymen that have written him a letter disputing his actions in Birmingham. King is disturbed and offended by the Clergymen disagreeing with his purpose in Birmingham. King say he normally does not respond to criticism because it would waste to much precious time, but since these were men of good will he wanted to give his answers to their statements. In King's letter he appeals to many emotions as pathos, ethos, and logos to appeal to his audience.

Martin Luther King created an archive that might start the defining moment of the Civil Rights development furthermore provides of the battle for genetic equity. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” aims to defend those who are frantic for peaceful immediate action, the outright shamelessness for unfair laws is very disgraceful and it needed to be exposed for what it really was. Also the expanding likelihood of falling back on amazing confusion and fighting, the utter frustration for those who lie within the chapel who, in King's opinion, required not to live up to their obligations as individuals for the lord. Those activities of the African-American race needed aid and support as the lord required demonstrated in King's Letter. Likewise, King explains, “past promises have been broken by the politicians and merchants of Birmingham and now is the time to fulfill the natural right of all people to be treated equal”. Secondly, King's solution for those clergymen's declarations that separating the law may not be the path to accomplish the effects the African-American is searching for. King feels that the chapel has bypassed its responsibilities to the African-American people, concealing behind “anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows”. King sums up his letter by making a side point that he trusts that the chapel will view its duty and intend as Concerning illustration individuals of the lord and comprehend to have immediate action, those who support unfair/one sided laws and the looming risk of the African-American climbing dependent upon Previously, savagery if they would not listen. King does this all in a diplomatic, ardent

Martin Luther King started his letter right off placing himself on an equal playing field as the white clergy that was criticizing him when he wrote his salutation “My dear Fellow Clergymen” (King, 2017, p. 1). From those beginning words it is evident that Mr. King was using Rhetorical appeal of ethos, pathos and logos to establish ethical

King goes on in the letter and gets on a personal level with the clergymen. He opens the doors of emotions with his reader’s. With referring to words of religious icons, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." (740). Martin Luther King was able show the clergymen that segregation was happening and unjust acts toward African Americans were still occurring in the United States. King also knew that he was going to need to get the White majority to listen. King used personal experiences from his children,

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).

King begs for a civil and peaceful resolution to the unjust laws and unfair treatment of African Americans. But, as history shows, the clergymen were not going to have anything to do with that. King says that he is trying to do this in the best way possible but it will not seem that way, “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law… One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”(par. 12)

## Considering Dr. King is writing to clergymen, his emotional appeal may not have only been to elicit sympathy or empathy from his detractors, but cause some shame as well, when he expresses his disappointment with them. He indicates that because of their religious beliefs, they should be taking a proactive stance on the side of justice, rather than supporting the status quo because it is orderly (King, 1963).

Instilling fear into a person is a way to persuade someone to do something they might not want to do. In his story he describes how God is angry at everyone who is unconverted and there for will punish them by sending them to hell when they die or when they reach their after lives. “…as angry as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who their feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath.” (Lines 6-7 page 124). ” Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen.” (Lines 19-20 Pages 126). Edward’s tone was harsh, cold, bitter, etc. throughout most of

Dedication can be hard to evolve. Pursuing dreams and accomplishing what one sets out to do can also be hard. In “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. both Edwards and King think of ways to compel their audiences. King accomplishes his goals through ethos, hidden persuasiveness, and alignment; while Edwards accomplishes his goals through repetition, figurative language, and tone.

Dr. King has an automatic ethos, and he has enriched the audience’s trust through his authority, credibility, and unselfish motives. He is a person who previously participated in several protests at the time giving him fame. This earns him an authority for himself. In the fifties and sixties, the religion was all the rage. King and his father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all preachers. He is an expert in Christianity and morals, therefore people often look up at these types of people. He is also an African American who suffers racism. Being an African American preacher vastly supports his arguments about morals and racial oppression. This is an excellent example of an established ethos, giving him credibility and the audience more reasons to listen to King on this