Examples Of Ethos In The Letter From The Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements.

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter to African-Americans and all Americans who care about the civil right movement. In order to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and respond to being called an outsider, King wrote his famous letter “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” So why the King’s letter is so powerful and convincing to the readers? Is it because of his identity of civil-rights leader and his credibility(ethos)? Is it by the reason of the argument “there are just laws and unjust laws" (King) which he exerted numerous theoretical basis with utmost efforts(logos)? Or, It’s due to his passionate writing style and the description of the image of the oppressed black people(pathos). Actually, It’s all of them. These are the rhetorical method King used in his letter.

In “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King utilizes both ethos and rhetorical questions to effectively appeal to his audience about the value civil disobedience. The text reads, “We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal’”(King Page 8). This supports ethos because people know who both Hitler was and who the Hungarian freedom fighters were and what they were responsible for. Also, this quote explains the value of civil disobedience because the terrible things Hitler did were considered “just” and the amazing things the freedom fighters did were considered “unjust”. This relates to civil rights because segregation was considered just/legal

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.

Top of the seventh page is another great example of ethos in this letter. Martin Luther King Jr. makes reference to Jesus, Amos, Paul, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson for all being an extremist. King views himself as an extremist for equality. I think King first makes note of naming Jesus to refer back to the bases of the clergymen's religion. All these men that he names were men who stood alone in someway for what they believed in. They all stood for what was right according to what we see today, but not at the time they made a move.

Some varieties of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice as did Martin Luther King in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective. After stating the general purpose of his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. specifically addressed the clergymen to set up for his logical counterargument.

“A Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in the margins of a letter posted by the clergymen of Alabama at this time that sparked his interest and while he inhabited the jail cell for parading around without a permit. This time allowed him the ability to respond wholeheartedly to this cynical oppressing. King’s letter addresses specific points presented in the Clergymen’s and this direct response distinguishes King’s strong points through his powerful writing.  Unethical and immoral mentions came to the attention of the Minister through the letter, and he expressed his differing views and defended his ideals and actions through Aristotle’s three rhetorical devices, ethos, logos, and pathos.

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

In “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. uses the appeal of ethos and the literary device of rhetorical questions to defend civil disobedience. King writes, “Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here.” (page 10) This adds credibility to his argument because Thomas Jefferson is a former president whom many would put trust into. It gives the readers a reliable reason to believe and agree with what King is trying to make a point of. Referring to a past president that greatly influenced our country in a positive way, encourages people to put their faith into King’s actions. Martin Luther King Jr. also asks, “Isn’t this like condemning Jesus

In 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr composed “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” when the African-Americans community was struggling for black and white equality. Readers can perceive this by the diction that Dr. King practices, like “Negro,” which was used around that time and still being used. One can also see through the context of his letter that Dr. King wants equality for the African-American community. Martin Luther King 's intention of writing this letter is trying to convince the clergymen that his “Community” and he demonstrated because it was necessary at that time. Meanwhile, he uses condemnatory and persuasive tone to attempt to influence the reader to agree with him. In this way, his message, in fact, served a three-part purpose:

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Mr. King writes to the Clergymen from Birmingham Prison and establishes credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and discusses all the injustice that is going on during this time. King sends out the message that they are no better than he is by starting off his letter with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”, which puts him at the same level as all clergyman. He puts himself out to be a legitimated authority in the eyes of the people, by speaking of the intolerable acts being put on all black people to be able to justify his cause. Martin Luther King uses ethos to establish all his credibility on the matter that he is trying to get across, that justice cannot be waited on and that

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).

Have you ever experience discrimination? If so, how did it make you feel? In his letter from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King main claim is based on how injustice affects everyone right for justice. His goal was to convince the clergymen that fighting for segregation in a peaceful matter is something that we should value and it should happen immediately. In addition, King ‘audience are composed of eights clergymen who are hostile to his message but have similar value that him. Those believe are Christianity, compassion, love, equality and justice. In addition, Dr. King uses pathos to make his audience feel sympathy and guilt because by doing so he persuades them that discrimination is unjust, and that the action of nonviolent segregation

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King uses ethos and rhetorical questions to advocate for civil disobedience. For example MLK uses rhetorical questioning in this sentence when he says, “Isn’t this like condemning the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery?”(King pg. 8) This question demands no answer but it’s obvious who is right morally.

Riposte In the Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr., starts by building his credibility, then he provides a moral reason of his presence, saying that he came to Birmingham to fight injustice, because he believes that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"(1). Then he explains his process of nonviolent campaign in details. First, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) conformed that Birmingham had been practicing racism, and then attempted to negotiate to white business leaders there.