Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

Dr. King starts paragraph 12 with explaining why the clergymen were naive to say his protests were untimely. Dr. King poses a rhetorical question that shows he is cognizant of criticisms from opposing parties. The rhetorical question states why he did not give the new administration time to act. Dr. King responds by saying that the new administration “must be prodded as much as the outgoing one” (A Portable Anthology, page 206). Dr. King appeals to logos when he explains that even though the new mayor is a more generous person, he is still a segregationist, and

Dr. King shares in his letter a sense of kindness, a trait that reveals ethics as his citation for presenting his argument. He begins his letter by addressing the clergymen by simply stating, “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” (1301), proving that he is writing this letter as a follow up to their letter about ending the protest that were non-violent. Dr. King believes that the clergyman are good people with a misdirection, so he adds to the letter, “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” (1302). As King writes about what

Blacks are going through a really tough time during this Negro revolution in 1963 and Dr. King accentuates the point by the use of strong diction, which set the tone of the letter. For example, Dr. King elucidates the reason his people can't wait for their rights and that's because “hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill” his “black brothers and sisters” and that basically most white people torment them any chance they get. In the letter written by the clergyman they say (like it was something new), that they were now facing demonstrations led by outsiders (King).

Martin Luther King created an archive that might start the defining moment of the Civil Rights development furthermore provides of the battle for genetic equity. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” aims to defend those who are frantic for peaceful immediate action, the outright shamelessness for unfair laws is very disgraceful and it needed to be exposed for what it really was. Also the expanding likelihood of falling back on amazing confusion and fighting, the utter frustration for those who lie within the chapel who, in King's opinion, required not to live up to their obligations as individuals for the lord. Those activities of the African-American race needed aid and support as the lord required demonstrated in King's Letter. Likewise, King explains, “past promises have been broken by the politicians and merchants of Birmingham and now is the time to fulfill the natural right of all people to be treated equal”. Secondly, King's solution for those clergymen's declarations that separating the law may not be the path to accomplish the effects the African-American is searching for. King feels that the chapel has bypassed its responsibilities to the African-American people, concealing behind “anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows”. King sums up his letter by making a side point that he trusts that the chapel will view its duty and intend as Concerning illustration individuals of the lord and comprehend to have immediate action, those who support unfair/one sided laws and the looming risk of the African-American climbing dependent upon Previously, savagery if they would not listen. King does this all in a diplomatic, ardent

Ethos, ethical appeal and credibility as a writer, is portrayed in every word in this letter. King’s language is more than appropriate to the audience and subject, and his

He then continues on by insulting their strategy to go about this situation and their unwillingness to do anything about it. King then explains the four steps to try to get his point across to the clergymen and says it was to happen here because it is one of the most segregated cities in the U.S., and he uses pathos to try to get the clergymen to feel guilty for the black people the they have mistreated. Paragraph 10 is just a long sentence consisting of pathos, and by giving examples of what it’s like to live as negro during this time. Using this as his main way of persuasion, he gives many different situations where being black would mean you could not do a specific thing because you are not good enough. He uses very academic language during this letter, and other than being very educated, I think he uses this type of language to make himself seem smart in the eyes of the clergymen.

uses in his letter is ethos. Ethos appeals to an audience, the credibility, and the trustworthiness of the writer and the writer position (Kirszner and Mandell 12, 13). The audience see’s King and his followers are problems causers. The audience does not believe that they have any right to come into the town of Birmingham and protest. King challenges the audience beliefs by saying, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights” (King). This quote shows that king is a leader of a religious organization just like the clergymen. This shows the audience that they and King have something in common: from this the audience sees King a more trustworthy person. King also shows that he is a leader of a large organization that is presented in all the southern states. He also states that the clergymen and King, himself, share staff and resources whenever it is possible. (King) This information gives King a reliable reason for his actions and gives the audience more reasons to trust and agree with his situation. (King)

At the beginning of the letter, (from paragraph 1 to paragraph 3) King successfully reverts his passive position as prisoner to a busy leader minister, who had little time to respond to criticism. In the first paragraph, he kept his polite tone, and made the statement in such a way that he was not forced to answer but willing to reply because he respected those clergymen's good will and sincere. Then, in the following paragraphs, he answers the question:" Why is Martin Luther King is here in Birmingham?" In this section, the words "more basically", "moreover" show a logical organization. He mentions his president position in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, to indicate his responsibility of the situation of Birmingham. Here, he emphasizes the invitation and organization ties to imply that he should be respected as a guest. In the coming paragraph, he compared himself as a minister with those Christian saints in the history to gain trust and more respect. Then he focuses on the duty of a human being and an American citizen, who should show more concern to those injustices no matter where they are. Here, he refutes the clergymen's statement about "outsiders coming in" by saying:" Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea"(King 404). By the end of the first section of the letter, King has perfectly got the trust and respect he deserved as a man, a minister, a civil rights leader, even a prisoner. We can see

In this article “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. discussed the problems with racial inequality that African Americans were facing in the 1960s. King wants freedom for his “people”. He wanted to discourage Americans from tolerating racial discrimination and to advise Americans to live up to the ideals of the country’s belief that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He is trying to convince the clergymen that the actions he took were absolutely necessary at this time. In doing this, he provides a valid argument using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos throughout his piece.

King states, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South....” One purpose of the introduction is to set up his trustworthiness as a citizen of the United States of America.

King used ethical appeals to show his credibility to the clergymen which showed them that he knows what he is talking about because he has experience since he is African American himself. One thing he did in his letter was tell how he was not an amateur at events that led to imprisonment by using ethical appeals. In his letter he stated, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South” (King 1). The dialogue shows that he was a man of good character because everyone wants their rights but he was consistent in his nonviolent approach in getting it for his race. He was the leader of a nonviolent group of African Americans who never broke just laws but broke the unjust ones which were not man-made laws. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is labeled as credible because it was created to coordinate the action of local protest groups throughout the South in a peaceful manner. He was an activist for African Americans so he knew how they have suffered because he has been involved with a lot of the violent altercations himself. King’s use of ethos should

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explores the issues African-American dealt with in Birmingham and throughout the United States during the 1960’s. In the letter, Dr. King pleas to the reader’s emotions, ethics, and logic to justify his desire for racial justice and equality. Also, Martin Luther King utilizes ethos to establish his credibility and his right to address the issue at hand. Furthermore, Dr. King postulates, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” meaning that by helping the people in Birmingham, people around the country would also benefit. As previously stated, in his thesis he used ethos to establish his credibility and his reasons for his stay in Birmingham which comes to his position as president of the Southern

This sample of Dr. King's writing is from an extremely contested point in American history. He wrote this letter from a jail cell in Birmingham where he was roughly placed after the peaceful protests for human rights that took place in the city in April of 1963. He was responding to an article in a paper from some of his fellow clergymen who denounced his actions in the city calling them untimely and unwise. The response penned by Dr. King in his cell is a lengthy one, written full of emotion in an attempt to show these so called fellow Christians the folly of their thinking. They accused him of being an extremest in his spreading of the message of love and acceptance in the segregationist south of the time. They accused him of leading a movement

In the beginning paragraphs, King states the main goals of his letter. He then goes on to set up the main points of his argument by stating, “You deplore the demonstrations taking

In part 6 of the letter, Dr. King articulates his disappointment on the leadership of the white church. He praises the Reverend Stallings for inviting the African Americans in their Baptist church on a worship service discussing nonsegregated basis. However, he himself as a minister was not to fond of the white church. Calming his strange feeling, years earlier Dr. King was brought into the bus protest in Montgomery deliberating that he would have gained support from the white church. “I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies.” (Part 6). Dr. king had anticipated having support from white church, but in return gained “outright opponents” who rejected the acceptance of the “freedom