Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ““Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” This is just one of the hundreds of powerful quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his writing and speeches, he used his words as a way to engage his audience and keep pulling them in. Martin Luther King Jr. uses metaphors in his letter to appeal to the audience from an emotional angle; he uses other figurative language, as well as an urgent tone to make his text relatable and important.

11. Topic Sentence: King, employ the use of metaphor and analogies to appeal to the Clergymen and the city of Alabama.

He begins his letter by stating that he is writing this letter “while confined here in the Birmingham City Jail” (King 2). However although one in such conditions for being wrongly convicted and forced to write this within small jail walls would be expected to be hostile, King’s tone is instead calm and patient. He addresses his attackers as “my dear fellow clergymen” (2). And even apologized that they expressed different opinions (3). This, to an open audience, gives

Dr. Kings speech contains numerous persuasive devices of repetition and metaphors which reinforce the call for ending discrimination. Dr. King repeats the phrase “I have a dream” numerous times towards the end of the speech. Dr. King uses repetition to influence the audience that there is a hope for the future of minorities within the United States of America, and they someday will be equal to white people, causing them to no longer be persecuted. Dr. King also uses the metaphor “the manacles of segregation” during his speech. Dr. King has used this metaphor to entail that the hands, portraying the white people and the minorities, are unable to touch or interact with each other. This metaphor allows the civil rights protestors and the racist whites to be able to interpret the situation and be enlightened on the issue. Dr. King has used the persuasive devices of repetition and metaphors to effectively bring forward his goal of civil rights

One powerful example of King’s pull on the reader’s consciousness in his letter is on page three when he refutes the argument of the Clergymen saying that Colored people should just “wait”.  While many words truly stand out, King’s true effect was mastered by the appeal to the parents in the group, “When you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why white people treat colored people so mean” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 3)Then again, “humiliation day in and day out by nagging signs” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3) and even further, when “you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3).  Another element that helps support King’s point in his letter is the fervent repetition of his blatant disappointment in more than simply the clergymen, but their Christian faith and the churches in service within Alabama during this time. King repeats how disappointed he was in the “common whites” also and their bystander reactions to racial issues. The fact that this man, a minister, “beneath” the said extremist white clergymen, and inhabiting a jail cell during that time, who was disappointed in people showed a true depth which hit the audience profoundly. (King)

In King’s letter, paragraph fourteen is an essential paragraph that brings out the most affecting and sentimental emotions than any other paragraph throughout the entire letter. It is also in this paragraph where he has the longest sentence throughout his whole letter. King states his personal reason for the need of social change. He uses his words in such a way that it really affects the reader and creates a feeling of sorrow and melancholy. King explains that the white community puts off helping the black community because they do not feel the agonizing pain that poor innocent African American’s feel and they do not have to go through what the African Americans go through everyday by saying “I guess it’s easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say “wait.””(Paragraph 14)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech was an astonishing display of language that persuaded the American nation to dissolve the barrier that stood between equality for all in our great nation. The true beauty in Dr. King’s speech rests in his ability to persuade the audience at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as, the nation to believe that it is a necessity to rid the exigence of segregation. Through the usage of metaphors that engage the reader, King uses language as an instrument to control the audience’s emotions and fuel their ideas that they can be the ones to make the change to propel our nation from one mediocrity to greatness. In his speech, King uses an eloquent blend between symbols and emotions through metaphors to persuade the audience that there is no true constraint that can hold them from achieving their goal and use the historical March on Washington as the solution to this exigence that failed to wither away one hundred years ago when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Obviously, again my primary motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is that this is a requirement for my English Composition Class. My heartfelt motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis is the respect I have for Martin Luther King’s intelligence and commitment that he displayed for the equality of the African American population. In analyzing “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I developed an even stronger understanding of the dedication Mr. King had for the disadvantaged poor black population and the injustice that victimized them on a daily basis.

The metaphor targets emotions by showing how deadly it is to stay in the quicksand of racial injustice. The metaphors used by Martin Luther King Jr’s. writing creates a vivid image of the severely horrid situation that blacks are facing during their strive for

Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was arrested and placed in Birmingham jail after leading a non-violent march to protest racism in the streets of Alabama- a highly segregated state at the time. There he received a newspaper containing “A Call for Unity,” which was written by eight white Alabama clergymen criticizing King and his movement’s methods; this prompted King to write a letter in response to the critics. Martin Luther King Jr. employs ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade and demonstrate to the critics and other readers the many injustices of segregation.

As a result of the good structure and the powerful figurative language this letter was written, King entices the Church to react and act in favor of racial equality. So strong was his message with the stylistic devices, that’s not only the clergymen were touched, but the rest of the community. Consequently, the letter captivated people’s attention and moved them to action. To break the silence and stand against segregation, everybody is urged. Fifty-three years later, here is one analyzing the letter to learn how the correct using of figurative language can motivate humans and bring us to action. Having a vision of equality should be in our eyes and as a grain of sand; one need to start working in a peace loving World for the reason that

In the “Metaphors We Live By,” George Lakoff and Mark Johnson explain that metaphor is much more than just a poetic device—it is essential and pervasive in our everyday life, communication, thoughts, and actions (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, Pg. 3). In the speech “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr., there are many metaphors that fall into metaphorical categories which Lakoff and Johnson describe in the “Metaphors We Live By.” King tries to pull attention of his audience by using metaphors in his poem so his audience could understand the message better. Before looking at the King’s speech, a clear understanding of Lakoff’s and Johnson’s terms and metaphorical concepts need to be present. Following that, you should know when, where, and why King wrote his speech and what is it about.

A young black male is racially harassed. He is hurt. He is depressed. Only a flicker of light manages to keep his soul from being completely dark. A speech-called I Have A Dream. Martin Luther King was the author of the speech, I Have A Dream, which was targeted at racist white people in the 1960s’ , designed to get them to accept the black person as their equal. In this speech, he used a variety of figurative language to get his message across, though single one was stronger then all the rest-the metaphor. It appears reoccuringly, almost in every sentence, and, like a paintbrush on a canvas, they weave horrible images of segregation into the listeners mind.

With Civil Rights supporters surrounding the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. spends a hot August day emphasizing the necessity of equality amongst each American. While capturing the attention of Civil Rights activists, he discusses racial injustice and the actions that need to be taken in order to create an equal society. King presents nonviolent protest ideas that he hopes will help further their fight for equality. King relays his goal of freedom to the Civil Rights activists encompassing the Lincoln Memorial through pathos matched with an array of rhetorical devices such as anaphora and metaphors.

With religious allusions, Doctor king was able to put a new take on segregation. In paragraph 3, he timed this phrase, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere.” Making the point, just because in one part of the country there is racism, segregation, prejudice, etc., this could lead to something much worse: Segregation everywhere. Stopping the prejudice now could make a positive impact on future generations, which king petitioned and managed to do. In paragraph 3, king dedicates the entire paragraph to comparing himself to the apostles, carrying the word of God. He uses this to not only compare himself to these prophets, but to show he too will carry his word. King’s word is not only of God, but to abolish the old prejudice and segregation of the South; also to go at any length to fulfill this dream. In