Letter From Birmingham Jail Logos

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.

Throughout his letter, King also uses literal and historical analogies as well as theoretical language, also known as logos, in order to conjure a cognitive, coherent reaction in his readers. His use of logos helps is arguments strength and irrefutability. King states facts that cannot be argued, facts that are accepted by all as true. He states that fact that he is in jail “because injustice is [in Birmingham]” (King, 10), a statement that is nonnegotiable. He continues to say that Birmingham is “probably one of the most segregated

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key figure in the civil rights movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an open letter written by King defending nonviolent resistance against racism. The letter argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust and unethical laws. The letter also stresses themes of unity among brothers in order to overcome racism. I will argue in support of King’s stance that citizens are morally justified in breaking unjust laws and that openly and responsibly opposing unjust laws is itself a duty of every citizen.

The use of logos (Ruszkiewicz) in the argument made by Dr. King proves that reason does rule over emotion, at least in the words he was able to get on paper. Even the use of paper was withheld initially to Dr. King and yet his words shine through the murk of politics and the depths of pathos. No matter what beliefs were held throughout Alabama at the time, it is hard to disagree with a point made so obvious through common sense. Just after the passage mentioned above he uses a great deal of pathos to back up his point. He asks “Will we be extremists for hate or for love:”, while this is an appeal to pathos it is directly backing up the conclusion reached through using logos. While initially disappointed, after thinking it through he decides being an extremist is really very satisfactory. He even uses ethos to back up the logos of his prior statements by comparing himself to historical and biblical figures once also deemed extreme. By keeping a clear head unclouded by ethos or pathos, he was able to speak precisely and profoundly to the heart of the matter.

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.

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. 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.

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.

When he was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama he then fell under criticism by white clergy for coming to Birmingham as an “outsider” to cause trouble and increase tension through public sit-ins and marches. I feel that Martin Luther King was able to both set aside that criticism by establishing his credibility to have not only been invited to come to Birmingham to help end the injustice to the Negro people via peaceful means, but he was able to identify moral, legal and ethical cause to promote his quest to put a stop to what he identified as “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States” (King, 2017, p, 3). I will provide a summary that will show what Martin Luther King believed were the cause of the injustice that he was striving to end to as well as his concern over the white community’s ability to make the Negro “wait for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights.”

Furthermore, Martin also uses logos and pathos in his "Letter from Birmingham jail". An example of logos can be found in paragraph 31, where he lists several other supposed extremists in the bible. " Was not Jesus an extremist in love? ... Was not Amos an extremist for justice? …

In 1963 in Birmingham Alabama, a man by the name Martin Luther King Jr. was put into the city jail because he and his followers were protesting for the equality of blacks. Mr. King was an excellent public speaker and often used rhetorical devices to further interest his fans, colleagues, “brothers and sisters”, as he called them, and even some people who did not support his dreams. King had a way of persuading his audience and usually always got his message across using logos and pathos, rhetorical devices used to trigger emotions or to give logical or physical points. King used an equal amount of Logos and Pathos in his two most famous writing pieces , “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and “I Have a Dream” making it easier for listeners and readers to understand his beliefs.

Martin Luther King Jr’s “letter from Birmingham jail relates to the civil rights timeline because the letter made a difference, more people stood up for racial equality, more people started fighting for their rights.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr has wrote many letters but the two most important and ones to remember were his “I Have a Dream” and “Letter to Birmingham Jail” he changed America by these speeches they both talked about segregation and equalities it talked about how bad it was people who were treated unfair because the color of their skin was different and they weren't the same as the rest, how it was unfair and blacks were treated with disrespect and hate the whites treated the blacks with such hate, Dr.King decided to write these to end segregation and make things right. In “I Have a Dream” he used pathos to show the change of language he used during it and in “Letter to Birmingham Jail” he used lagos which helped everyone understand and think about what is happening.

After reading and analyzing Dr.Kings “Remaining Awake during a Revolution” commencement speech that he presented at Oberlin College during his graduation ceremony; he wanted the people to have a good visual on what he was explaining and talking about. King wanted to inform the people about what was going; so he used allusions, statics, and logos.

This activity was part of a two-week lesson where students had to analyze Letter From Birmingham Jail to complete a graphic organizer to introduce argumentative writing. Before receiving this packet, students were frontloaded information on the historical context of the letter. Additionally, I divided the letter into three parts, so students were able to comprehend due to the length of the letter (9 pages). Throughout the course of two weeks, students participated in a whole group discussion to analyze how Dr. King used rhetorical devices to convey the message of peaceful protest tactics. During the discussions, students were prompted to annotate a minimum of three paragraphs to exhibit close reading strategies. At the end of the letter, students had to complete a graphic organizer stating either Dr. King’s claims or the opponent’s counterclaims. The lesson supported students to use the annotations created or shared by peers to complete the graphic

Although, King did also use logos in an effective way as well. For King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, it appeals more the emotion of his audience. He also uses a religious approach, referencing texts and quotes, which was great for appealing at the time for the people he was trying to reach. Though these references take up more of what could have been more logical statements, and to other audience, it may not be considered logos or perhaps a reasoned argument.