Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk's Letter

Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements.

MLK most certainly does use emotional appeals in his letter to the clergymen. He use

In paragraphs 12-14 of “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King begins addressing the clergymen’s belief that the peaceful demonstrations conducted by him and his associates were untimely. King starts answering questions frequently heard by opposing or moderate forces, as well as essentially denouncing the resistance to desegregation. King then introduced the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed; concluding that the oppressor is not inclined to act on things that do not directly affect them. Therefore, providing a platform of his argument as to why blacks could no longer wait to be given their basic human rights. Action needed to take place because fair treatment was no longer a hope to be given, it had to be taken.

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

After being arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote one of his most famous works to the people of Birmingham, titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963. This piece speaks of the evils of the segregation laws and how the blacks had been treated unfairly in Birmingham, in an attempt to get the white people to support the desegregation of Birmingham. He had been imprisoned because of his participation in a civil disobedience protest, and he is arguing that, even though the white people of Birmingham see the black’s way of protesting as wrong, it is a justified way to fight back against the unjust laws. In “Letter From Birmingham

Furthermore, in Birmingham, there are four basic steps done to have a successful nonviolent campaign. The first step they practice is the collection of the facts which determines whether injustices are still alive or not. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states in his letter, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He is trying to imply that African Americans in Birmingham are being affected by injustice directly, but other African Americans not living in Birmingham are being affected by injustice indirectly. With

The civil rights movement has caused many issues for African Americans, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes “Letter From Birmingham Jail” as a response to the clergymen who share a different view with segregation. King placed his views from the idea that everyone is equal, rather than one is better because of their skin color. His letter from Birmingham jail shared many points, with the ending of segregation being the main goal. With his familiar clergymen with disagreements, he rebukes their letters with his take on the civil rights movement. His letter has an amazing pull from different views that unites America as one. Dr. King uses incites from the black community to share their side of segregation, while also presenting an argument using ethics, facts and emotion that establish his letter as unique.

RFK made a speech about MLK and he had to tell everyone that MLK had been shot and killed. The central idea of “On the death of Martin Luther King Jr.” RFK wants us to know that we can all come together and instead of acting in riots and anger we can act in peace like MLK wanted us to. RFK wanted us to know that we can act in peace and come together as one and not fight but be at peace to continue the dream of MLK. The most compelling speech was On the death of Martin Luther King Jr.” speech. I said this speech was most compelling because RFK wanted us to know that we should treat everyone equal.

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.”

In Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK uses ethos, logos, and pathos powerfully and effectively to present his argument that the discrimination of African Americans all over the country is unbearable and should be outlawed forever. King wrote the letter in Birmingham, Alabama after a peaceful protest against segregation which was King’s way of reinforcing his belief that without forceful, direct actions (such as his own), true civil rights could never be achieved.

As a reader this becomes evident when MLK is speaking about an instance when “hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sister ( CITE)”. Again when he speaks about how black people of the time lived a “degenerating sense of nobodiness”( CITE), it is felt through his words that MLK is trying to connect to the reader by using his own personal experiences of the hatred that he has encountered through his

Everyday black people in the South had to wake up to harsh discrimination. They had to devote their whole day being victimized. In many cases, they couldn't stick up for themselves because they were afraid of what would happen to them if they contravene the policy. In Birmingham, Alabama they tested their limits, and fought the system. Hoping for a better future, they put their lives at risk.

The year was 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, one of most segregated cities in the country. A sequence of marches and sit-ins, known as the "Birmingham Campaign", had been organized by numerous civil rights organizations. This open letter was a response to a public statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen while King was still in jail. Even though they agree that racial segregation and the ill-treatment of African Americans was intolerable, they accused MLK of being an radical and of not having the tolerance to wait for the courts to sort out these issues. In response to the criticism on why King's advocated to "break some laws while obeying others", he argues there is a difference between just vs unjust laws:

King had identified a way to campaign nonviolently with four basic steps “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (MLK). King had called Birmingham the most segregated city in the country. The black community have been treated poorly, had been faced with legal and economic disparities. Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, by injustices, King Jr.

When Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Birmingham, Alabama after he was called in by one of his organizers, MLK addressed problems among African American people. MLK’s movement was known to advocate the end of segregation against colored men by reuniting everyone without hate. In the city of Birmingham, there were a lot of problems with African American treatment from the people in the area because racism was still a norm back in this time. As MLK was called in to help with the problem, he started with a nonviolent movement to express that African Americans should be treated the same way as anyone else despite their background and color. The majority of the people in Birmingham supported the imprisonment of any participant involved in the movement because the movement’s ideal differed from the ideal of Birmingham’s majority. . MLK resembles a deontologist because he had established a base of Christian belief and morals of how to treat people, and he proceeded every way to make the best outcome for African American citizens.