Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

“But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This short sentence hits deep, because it shows readers that King is working to help others and not just himself. This can cause the reader to admire King’s selflessness and his ability to risk his life to attain equality for his people. “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” This sentence also jostles the reader, as it tells how King’s point is not just some bandwagon fueled rebellion, but a solid and justified movement. It also appeals the the religious and patriotic majorities who wish to uphold the words of God and the government. “I have been arrested on the charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.” Once again, King uses the constitution to support his claims. People feel that to be good Americans, they should support the constitution and follow King’s claims. This is how King uses people’s emotions to make his

King belabors the point made on the struggles of colored people; he lists specific examples that highlight the overarching point of this paragraph. He establishes a candid, impassioned tone that allows the reader,

Throughout the letter, King illustrates the struggles systematic racism have on the psyches on black people within the nation and how it propagates socioeconomic imbalances, “twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society,” (King #15) by the usage of vivid imagery King invites audiences, primarily white America to glimpse at the reality of black struggle insteading of purposefully veiling themselves in ignorance. Capturing emotional responses through short narratives involving his own children and life experiences to accomplish the set goal of creating a conversation of raw honesty for true change to occur on a judicial level, “see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky.” (King #15) Through wholeheartedly eliudiating segregation impact on the youth of the time King strikes a fundamental cord in audiences -- the impact institutionalized racism has on future generations and in turn the future of

For the value of righteous justice Dr. King made it a point to express his respect for the law and his desire to obey the law. Then, he added clarification as to why some laws were unjust. He stressed that any law that was morally wrong and in good conscience could not be followed should be broken only with love and being

Relating to several biblical allusions like Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ, he sensuously establishes credible authenticity and significance to his motives of civil disobedience against unjust laws; they assist in accentuating the justice within his “unjustified” actions. King also provokes compelling emotional tides of sympathy and compassion to overcome his readers when he provides sorrow-filled descriptions of the torments Blacks have to go through everyday. Furthermore, his usage of logic in identifying equality as a natural right of all men firmly defends his reasons on sanctioning desegregation. Leaving no loopholes behind his reasoning or ambiguity in his purpose, King competently succeeds in proficiently perpetuating his views on injustice and civil disobedience.

King continues on by affecting the reader, on an emotional level, by going through and explaining some of the unending amount of torturous events that the black community had to endure daily. In an essay by an anonymous writer it says, “He uses a dialog that reaches into the pit of your soul and places you on an emotional rollercoaster.” When he says, “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,

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a true reflection on the reality of the 1960’s in the United States. This letter is one of the most intelligent pieces of modern literature I have ever read. Dr. King writes this powerful and meaningful letter to his fellow clergymen, acknowledging social injustices existed, which should only be fought in the courts not in the streets. Dr. King was about non-violent actions, during the time of inequality, and use his frustration into writing this letter to speak his mind. Even though Dr. King wrote this letter while he was in jail over a half century ago, it is still painful reminder of how the struggles during the civil right was very real, and what Dr. King had to sacrificed.

Equally important, King employs a barrage of persuasive devices with the goal of swaying the readers mind to his viewpoint. The author uses repetition such as using the phrase “all-Negro” repeatedly to show that segregation was practiced throughout the U.S. and in everyway possible. Martin Luther King asks the question of why blacks are in constant misery by using the rule of three in the sentence, “Had they shirked in their duty as patriots, betrayed their country, denied their national birthright?”. Numerous examples of injustice are displayed that clearly show King’s opinion on the treatment of blacks and they serve the purpose of persuading the reader to believe that blacks were constant victims of bigotry and racism. He also uses rhetorical questions like, “Was emancipation a fact? Was freedom a force?”, which pose the question if blacks are actually free or is it all a deception in the 1960’s. The rhetorical questions add to his persuasion tactics by putting doubt in the mind of the reader. King’s use of persuasive devices forces the reader to see his viewpoint and recognize that it

Furthermore, King connects with his audience when he criticizes the unjust segregation laws. When accused of having a desire to break laws, King immediately disproves that theory by agreeing with their concern, and then discusses the difference between just and unjust laws. He quotes St. Thomas Aquinas faultlessly when he states his thoughts on law: "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality" (222). He continues to say that a person has a "moral responsibility" (221) to refuse to comply with unjust laws, as well as having an obligation to obey just laws. His statement forces his readers to put themselves in his shoes and think of their moral responsibility to stand up against unjust laws regardless of

In 1963 on April 12th Martin Luther King Jr. along with 50 other protestors were arrested and then he composed the Letter from Birmingham jail. He was arrested for not having a parading permit while protesting against the way that African Americans were being treated. Birmingham was a hard place for a person of color to live because of everything being segregated and the amount of violent threats African Americans would face. Segregation and inequality of races was aloud at this time because Jim Crow laws were in place. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued in force until 1965. (Wikipedia) King was an extremely strong

Trying to prove that he has just as much understanding on the matter of injustice and racial discrimination, if not extra. King then appeals to emotion or pathos by explaining the sufferings; his community has passed through. He says, “When you has seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.”, moreover, “when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters.” In this sentence, he is exercising subversive words like “vicious mobs” an affinity such as “lynch your mothers and fathers." Through practicing this kind of vocabulary and sentence construction King is making them envision and feel what he had seen his family and friends go through in difficult times. Throughout the entire paragraph that uses this kind of sentence structure and vivid imagery, the readers begin to feel King’s position, pain, and struggles he had to go through. It is an impassioned paragraph that uses

“We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights”(King 1305). This is a statement that was given in the letter by Martin Luther King Jr., he was feeling as if his people will never have the justice they deserved to have. The publication of “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” by Martin Luther King Jr. is written from King himself to establish his personal opinion on all the injustice movements going on. Throughout the article you will find that King shows views from ethos, pathos, and logos on why the Civil Rights Movement and segregation all most come to an end during this injustice time period.

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.

By this statement King proved that in its application an unjust law can oppose a just law. Nevertheless, in this circumstance the just law is the First-Amendment right to peaceful assembly and protest and the unjust law prohibits one group of people from obtaining this right as a citizen of the United States of America. From this point King's appeal to reason carefully merges into an appeal to character.

If one see’s the issue of segregation as something that is not truly causing tension, than negotiations cannot be fair and reasonable. As such, King creates tension so that there is a direct need for positive changes.