Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

It takes a strong human being to fight racial injustice and that is what Martin Luther King Jr. was, In “Letters from Birmingham jail” Martin Luther King, responded to his fellow white clergymen who opposed his nonviolent approach to get racial justice for African Americans while he was confined in Birmingham jail. Throughout the letter King Use rhetorical devises such as allusion to biblical and historical figures, metaphors, and anaphora, that allows the reader to think about the issues King is talking about. In the letter the author use allusion to biblical and historical figures to allow the reader to create parallels in their minds. The parallels leads to comprehension of what King is saying through his letter.

In his letter King’s tone is very restrained, despite the tone of the letter from the clergy, which is criticizing of his actions. He starts his letter with a display of unity by addressing them as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” with this address King is showing he is there are all men of faith. Although, there are other insistences in the letter where Dr. King’s tone can be viewed as aggressive his overall tone remains polite there for creating a friendly tone, and the aggressiveness in his tone comes more from frustration. King illustrates his frustration in the way he lays out his argument, and he is able to do this through the use of repetitiveness. King does the best job of this in a very length sentence by delaying his point with the repeat

Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama, wrote his “A Letter to Birmingham Jail” in 1963. In this letter, King addresses eight white clergymen who had previously written to King regarding his demonstrations. The purpose is to inform the audience on ethics/ morality and how segregation is wrong. Through the use of ethos and pathos, Dr. King exposes the cruelty of segregation to justify his protest.

For example, when King says “When you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society”, he is portraying how racial injustice is constantly sinking America and its citizens into dangerous circumstances. His main goal here is to convince the Clergymen to see into the eyes of a African American and get a real sense of oppression they felt at the time, often at the expense of white entitlement. King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, raise empathy in the hearts of white conservatives, and create passion in the minds of the eight Clergymen to which the letter is directed. While King uses this metaphor to make one of the stronger points in his argument, it is clear that within it he is appealing to pathos or the reader’s own sensibilities. The images of black men suffering at the hands of the lynch mobs are so strong and vivid that they cannot help but provoke a sense of empathy and shock over such conditions. In addition, he does a wonderful job describing the atrocities of racism and prejudice in his description of fellow black men being smothered in an “airtight cage of poverty”. To the reader, this brings to mind the thought of being constrained within a way of life that is inescapable because of racism. Furthermore, as

King uses strong rhetoric efforts and appeals to his primary audience with tone, knowledge, and religion. Dr. King’s tone in this letter varies but it was all done with a specific purpose- to move his audience.

One appeal shown in the letter is ethos. Ethos means to convince the audience of the authors work or character. In the letter Dr. King relates himself as being as an incredible, and smart individual by appealing to the reader to ethos. One example of this is how he starts off the letter with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” (King 1) By him starting off the letter this way he is putting himself on the same “level” as the clergymen. He is sending out the message how he is no less than them and how they are no better than him. Another example of ethos shown is when he says, “I am here because I have organizational ties here. Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because

What do you visualize when you think of a jail cell? Some might see restraints blocking them off from the rest of the world, feel cold metal or scratchy cloth against their skin, or experience the stench of sweat and despair. Martin Luther King Jr. saw a quiet place to write. After being arrested under the charge of “parading without a permit,” Dr. King used his eleven days in the Birmingham City Jail to respond to one specific instance of criticism through a letter geared to each of the many audiences that needed to learn about the desegregation campaign. Mr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is absolutely effective at convincing the overall audience to join and support the desegregation movement in Birmingham and across America as a result of: Reverend King’s credibility as an author due to life experience and personal background on the topic, his deep relation to and understanding of his audience(s), and his use of many types of rhetorical devices to develop eloquent, attention-grabbing writing.

King’s letter also appeals to the emotions. He uses pathos to appeal to his audience and at the same time influence them. For instance, he uses overwhelming truths to justify his actions he says, “When you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a negro , living constantly in tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect” this will explain to the audience why it is difficult for him and his contemporaries to wait (Jnr, 2012).

     Emotional feelings are felt through out the paper. A main emotional appeal king makes is when he is talking about his kids. When he is talking about his daughter and how she wanted to go to the new amusement park and how he would have to tell her that they could not because they were colored and colored people were not allowed. Also when he would have to answer his son?s question ?Why do white people treat colored people so mean?? King is hurt by having to answer these difficult questions posed by his own

Dr. King was an educated black man who had a dream to change the world. He used his intelligence and power of his words to make the world how it is today. In the passage “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he uses Logos, Ethos, and Pathos to show his emotion and make it easy for the people to understand what he was trying to say. Pathos is the strongest part of an essay because it shows the emotion, show the power of his words, and show what the people did to fight back. He proves to the people that they do not need violence to scare people or to change their minds.

The control King has over the flow of the passage only further proves King’s credibility as a skillful writer and speaker. This is seen in the first paragraph of the letter, where the juxtaposition of overly polite diction and backhanded compliments creates doubt in the

Through a personal anecdote, King describes the hardships that a parent has explaining the injustices to his daughter. He uses “tongue twisted and your speech stammering” and “tears welling” to give a relatable reason for why action must occur now. King implements pathos not only to appeal to emotions but also to show his reasoning for

As King’s tone in the letter begins to shift and change direction, so does his use of the rhetoric

King Jr while sitting in jail with thoughts of a better solution running through his mind created a letter that was able to win over his reader using the rhetoric strategy tools. The first corner of the Rhetorical Triangle that King uses throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is the appeal to Ethos. Ethos is a humans sense of right vs. wrong, it’s our morals and values. Ethos is the thought of the God in the sky vs. the god of the land. When King writes “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”….. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (King 295). This quote is important because it is the purpose of the entirety of the letter. We are all affected by these laws and we all must follow these set laws. No individual should get a pass due to the color of their skin or how wealthy they are. Another example of Ethos that King uses is “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King 299). We are all responsible for our actions and reactions. If something or someone wrongs us, it’s in our human nature to defend ourselves and to fight back whether it is words or physical violence. Because King didn’t use violence but the power of words he was able to convince his readers of his stance of positive

Martin Luther King Jr., a peaceful advocate for civil rights, was jailed for his non-violent protest against segregation. During his stay at the Birmingham Jail, a group of religious leaders publically attacked him with criticisms for his peaceful protest. As a counter attack, King wrote 'The Letter From Birmingham Jail'. This counter was successful for King was able to analyze and address his audience, refer to historical and religious figures and utilize anaphoras, making this letter, one of the most impressive argumentative essays.