Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

King’s use of many rhetorical devices in these three paragraphs of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” solidify his conviction that segregation needs to be quelled immediately. Dr. King’s explanations justify the demonstrations and protests that he is participating in. Although this was a letter meant for clergymen, Dr. King simultaneously taught all of America a very important lesson: justice is a universal natural right, and when it is denied, it needs to be demanded. Racial equality is the form of justice in this case, as segregation was the culprit that divided society into two racial groups. Thus, Dr. King successfully advocated civil rights through this letter with powerful, clever

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who genuinely knew how to capture his audiences with his words. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” makes an appeal to his reader about the injustices that have been set in place by the oppressor. In the letter he talks about numerous things, mortal authority in Christian communities, American ideas, and the suffering of the African American community. Dr. King uses logos to persuade the reader why he s protesting in the first place because the oppressor has broken the negotiation between the whites and the African American. His logical argument to why the ideal way to proceed with non-violent protests is because of the political decisions that have been made. An example he brings up is the idea of there being just and unjust laws in America and as citizens those unjust should be deliberately disobeyed. Dr. King says, “Conversely, one has a mortal responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all” he soon starts to define what both type of laws means…”A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law…An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the mortal law.” In order to persuade his reader about the idea he has do more than engage with the readers emotions. By Dr. King defining what the difference between the two laws sets a more conceiving idea of the treatment towards African American. Martin Luther King basic point is unjust laws do not just hurt the one being oppressed but also the one doing the oppressing. This is more of logos appeal for the reason he is not trying to connect with the reader emotionally but rather make sure the reader understands his cause for the protests.

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. makes appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos to convince the clergymen that colored people have been waiting for too long for political, economic, and social justice and freedom. He argues that it’s unfair to promise someone, or a group, for a change and not fulfill that promise. Along with demonetizing and/or belittling a person to the point where they don’t feel as important or as worth as they should; making them feel hatred and anger towards the person(s) that inflicted the pain on them, and anger towards their ethnic/culture. Also, that he is needed and wanted in Birmingham. King appeals to ethos to establish credibility and biblical allusion. King uses logos to process his

In April 1963 Martin Luther King was wrongfully arrested after a non violent protest. The peaceful protest took place in Birmingham, Alabama where many people of the black community participated in hopes to change segregation laws in the city. Martin Luther King president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led the protest and was arrested because of it. He stongly believed “all men are created equal,” no matter the color of your skin, race or ethnicity. While in jail, Dr. King hand wrote his famous letter “A Letter From Birmingham Jail,” in response to the criticisms of his peaceful debate by eight prominent white clergymen. In his letter Dr. King uses a combination of three rhetorical appeals, it legitimized him and his

King told a story about a bus protest he attended in Alabama. He thought that he would have had support from the white church, but sadly he did not. The ministers, priests, and rabbis refused to “understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.” He hope that when he came to Birmingham, the white church would see the justice in King’s actions and serve “as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power

King then moves on to address the clergymen's disdain of his demonstrations. For paragraph 5-9, King Jr. Appeals mainly to logical appeals, or logos. He states, "It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's while power structure left the negro community with no alternative." (King Jr., p.#) This is to show that while he understands the despise of the demonstrations he understand there is a greater need for the "Negro Community" (King Jr., p.#) to stand up against the oppression of the "white power structure".(King Jr., p.#) He then goes on to introduce the four basic steps to any "nonviolent campaign": "collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action." And explain that they have gone through all those steps in Birmingham. This is to justify the demonstrations to his audience. While he mainly used logos in this section, there was also a touch of emotional appeal when he talks about haw the leaders of Birmingham's economic community had promised to improve conditions and then they became "the victims of a broken promise" (King Jr., p.#) and "[their] hopes had been blasted and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon [them]". (King Jr.,

King knew that many would criticize his actions, but it wasn't until his fellow clergymen deemed his activities to be "unwise and untimely" that King felt compelled to provide his point of view (1). In response to the comment about his protests being untimely, King passionately responded, "We have waited more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights" (2). How long is long enough? For the oppressors, there will never be a suitable time for negotiation. People will always stand idly by while their negro brothers and sisters are mistreated because they merely desire to maintain the status quo. Change is frightening. In Dr. King's words, "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue" (2). Discussions that would have never been considered in the past were at last coming to fruition due to King's tension generating protests. The African American population will be denied their constitutional rights no

In the text, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. creates a clear, persuasive claim on why non-violent protest are ethical using the rhetorical appeal of pathos. Martin Luther King Jr. also enhances creativity through the use of literary devices such as antithesis. The text states, “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality,” (King 7). The language of the passage reveals the author’s want for the reader to feel certain emotions while reading. For example, words such as distort and damage illustrate feelings of sadness and anger. Overall, the use of pathos in the text allowed Martin Luther King Jr. to connect on a personal level with the reader. Along with rhetorical

Martin Luther King Jr., a well-known civil rights activist, was arrested on a Friday for protesting about delayed rights he felt African Americans deserved without a permit. Even though the first amendment grants all Americans the right to assemble and protest peacefully he was still sent to jail along with other African Americans who he protested with. King wrote this letter while he was in jail responding to eight white religious leaders of the South in concern of the treatment African Americans have endured over the past decades. Whites have made African Americans feel inferior to them for years and King was always the person to bring attention to all their wrongdoings. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail to express his strategies of using nonviolent tactics to break unjust laws that were against racism. As King wrote the letter he expressed his strategies by using ethical, logical, and emotional appeals to the readers in different readers and draw them in more.

Meanwhile, Dr. King also appeals to the logical side of the men within the letter, to lead them to the bigger picture of the injustice faced by African-Americans during this era. Dr. King uses facts and United States laws to prove that his actions were not untimely but in contrast these actions were overdue and that in fact he was not an outsider, but rather an invited guest.“So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here, I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” (King) He goes on by saying “Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants --- for example, to remove the stores’ humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a

Dr. Martin Luther King, one of the most influential men in the world, had played a pivotal role during the Civil Rights movement. He led the entire nation in the fight to end segregation, but while trying, he faced many obstacles, one being getting arrested during a rally. While in jail, King had time to respond to the critics of his work in the movement, and he wrote a marvelous, captivating response. In King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he replied and professed his emotions to the white clergymen 's stance on his non-violent organization. In the tense racial south, Martin Luther King Jr. made a brave choice to speak out about the injustice occurring in the city of Birmingham, and explained his steps on how it should be fixed, and displayed the purpose of why it needed to be stopped, or else the frightful actions towards the African-American community will not only continue to flood in the streets of Birmingham, it would continue in the rest of the world. As he discussed these broad discussions, King managed to use rhetorical devices throughout his letter, as well as establish different modes of persuasion.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a protester and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, greatly known for his use of nonviolent forms of demonstration. On a specific occasion, King was arrested for leading a peaceful protest as part of the Birmingham Campaign, which attempted to bring national awareness to the gruesome treatment endured by blacks. While in jail, King replies to the clergyman’s remarks of him being a foreign agitator in his “Letter from a Birmingham jail,” passionately defending the actions he took. The clergymen accused King of being an extremist, as they saw his relentless protesting and civil disobedience as a threat to a stable political and social system. In paragraphs 27-32, King attempts to persuade the

King uses logos to counter argument the clergymen’s claim that the actions at Birmingham were untimely. For example, “All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry (pg. 941).” King counters that claim with the logic that time itself is neutral and can be used either destructively or constructively. It’s what we do in the time were given that is important. Martin Luther declares that the white power structure left the Black community with no alternative and logically describes the actions the Negro community took and the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. He supports his claim saying that Negro leaders sought to negotiate with city fathers but they refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. Some merchants agreed to move their stores’ humiliating racial signs but they briefly remained unseen. As weeks

King empathizes with how the African Americans were alienated and treated unfairly. Dr. King also uses logos in his speech to show evidence and reason. He states: “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.” (Goodwin, 4/1/2016, pp. 199-203)

King presented the rhetorical appeal of Pathos to show the urgent need for change when he stated, “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the day of justice emerges”, (King). King presents Ethos in his speech to show that the movement would need to remain ethical on their approach to equality and is shown when he states, “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force”, (King). King uses Logos to reason that the movement is justified for wanting equality when it was promised to them and is shown when King states, “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.