Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

At the beginning of the letter, King had already manifested his great ethos. He showed his sincere attitude to readers to better answer their questions, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (King), which enabled him to establish his trust in some demanding readers. Moreover, at the end of the letter, he wrote, “I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother” (King). This shows

Then, wathe appeals that King had used throughout the letter were both ethos and pathos. King’s usage of words were persuasive. King used ethos because, King makes his text credible to his audience since they are clergymen they will all relate to these other clergymen and it will follow what they have studied as religious leaders as he talks to them by saying, “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms” (King 1061) showing how he feels about them the

King’s text is recited to a social media platform. Catering towards the emotions and morals of Internet users has a remarkable influence on the level of affliction that people feel towards a subject. Such as the inclusion of how the protestors, including Dr. King, were peaceful in their endeavors, yet received very harsh treatment. Ironically, foundation of opinions that social media has diverged into has actually made it remarkably easier to sway the views of others. Humoring the morals and feelings of an audience would be made more malleable when topped with undeniable facts; such as the number of arrested peaceful protesters or the amount of people who were injured due to police brutality.

To be able to counterattack, one must know where the attack is coming from, hence analyzing the audience. By doing so, King is able to address his audience appropriately. In the preface, the

“I Have a Dream” is a speech by one of the most famous figures of the 20th century in the United States of America, Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) who was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is well known for his struggle in the advancement of civil rights using non-violent civil disobedience based on his religious beliefs. Thousands of supporters showed up to hear this great speech on August 23, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

His examples he uses brings up images of police brutality and the hatred acts towards Negros across the United States. Pathos is a strong tool and King had a great sense of this.

While Martin Luther King Jr. was locked up in a jail he received a letter from eight clergymen. They reached out to King in a letter that is called “A Call for Unity.” In this letter, they are telling king that people needed to stand up and try to make a change by peaceful protesting to get their point across (“A Call for Unity”). King then replies to their letter with a letter of his own which is known as “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” King states that he gets a lot of letters and doesn’t reply to them but he thought that the clergymen meant good so he would try to answer their questions to the best of his ability (King). Also in the letter, he focuses on what is going on in Birmingham at the time and tells about himself and how he oversaw a lot of planning comities (King). In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” King uses three main ways to connect with the audience of the letter and those are ethos, pathos, and logos.

King’s use of pathos in his letter not only supports the claims that he makes but also makes his

King's central idea of utilizing pathos is to make people perceive something. He knows where people feel disturbed and what to say in order to make people feel it. But one hundred years later, The Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, he had a lot on his mind while sitting in Birmingham’s jail. He usually did not answer to the questioning and criticism of his ideas; however, he decided to give his reasoning for his actions in Birmingham. King states that Birmingham has injustice; while others may sit around and watch, he believes that if injustice is in one place it affects everywhere and everyone. Waiting for their Constitutional rights, black people were getting beaten and harassed every day. As he watched all of this happen, he noticed a huge gap between a law being just and unjust. Many people will alter these laws to where a law is unjust in its purpose. King reverts back to the past when civil disobedience is not new; it has shown up for years against Jews, Romans, and Communists. He concludes that he is not afraid and that African Americans will reach their goal of freedom all over the nation. After reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he uses effective logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the nation to fight for justice.

Dr. Martin Luther King understood perfectly how to construct an argument that would strike the hearts and minds of his audience through the use of emotion. Throughout the letter, a consistent theme is King’s play on pathos which is evident through his description of emotional experiences and use of comparisons to biblical figures. An example of pathos through biblical comparison comes when King responded to being labeled an extremist for his non-violent actions while in Birmingham. He pointed out that Jesus was “an extremist for love” (King 6) and Paul was “an extremist for the Christian gospel” (King 6). If both of these highly regarded religious figures were classified as extremists then being labeled an extremist is an honor, as long as it is for love and acceptance.

The pathos that King creates plays on his audience’s guilt and shame. For example, King states, "But 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, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity….” King makes all whites, even the clergy, feel guilty and ashamed for being so cruel even if they are not the ones directly lynching and drowning black people. He

First of all, King really makes you think and feel what he is saying. The words that he uses really applied to lots of people, so; they felt the same way as him and it lead other people to think about what others go through everyday and hopefully change their opinion. This helped develop the central idea that people should all be treated the same exact way and that’s what the central idea is trying to say. Also, he uses rhetorical devices such as tone and ethos.

King wrote a letter that reaches audiences that weren’t thought of when it was written. He knew of the clergyman and many of the then present-day populations that were going to read his story, but the letters have touched so many people in the present day. King knew his then present-day audience to a tee. He starts his letter with one of his key indicators; “My dear Fellow Clergymen” (263). While doing this he knew who was going to read the letter but also that these people will understand his references to religion, in which the letter is littered with references to the Bible.

It is imperative to note the use of anecdote in King’s letter. He integrates the use of anecdote in the letter to enable his audience to have the right view of the injustices that would emanate to other severe things if no action was taken. Similarly, anecdote establishes that feeling on the audience to realize that they are a compelling part of the progress and that together they can drive change. The arguments in the letter are surely persuasive, and their various stages are justifying his campaign that would eventually lead to a call for