Similarities And Differences Between Martin Luther King And Thoreau

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.

Henry David Thoreau was a great American writer, philosopher, and naturalist of the 1800’s who’s writings have influenced many famous leaders in the 20th century, as well as in his own lifetime. Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817, where he was later educated at Harvard University. Thoreau was a transcendentalist writer, which means that he believed that intuition and the individual conscience “transcend” experience and are better guides to truth than are the senses and logical reason (Prentice Hall 1174). Thoreau is well known for writing Walden Pond, Excursions, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and A Yankee in Canada. In 1849 Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay

Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. are two American men who were key leaders during very controversial periods in U.S. history, and they were instrumental in movements that forever changed American society. Although their generations, cultures, backgrounds, and motives were quite different, their cause was relatively the same. It was a cause that stood against injustice, oppression, and sought the freedom of all men. Their beliefs and struggles were evident in their writings. Two of the most famous writings in particular are "Declaration of Independence" and "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Both writings are very effective and successful in reaching out to their intended audience. However, "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is more

A similarity in both the essays is that both Martin Luther King jr. and Henry David Thoreau advocated civil disobedience. King mentions in “letter from Birmingham Jail”, “Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek”. King states in his letter how important it is to peacefully protest and not violently retaliate. Thoreau also stated how he did not desire to fight or be superior to his neighbors. In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau revealed, “ I do not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do not wish to split hairs, to make fine distinctions, or set myself up as better than my neighbors”. These humble man only care to change racial injustice and inequality, so that the world can evolve to a place where everyone is equal.

Thoreau and McCandless are people who are very similar and different at the same time. The thing is people can’t be completely the same even if they tried to. You can’t think the same thoughts at the same time, people are bound to have differences. People are always growing and changing even if it is in the smallest way. This makes it impossible to be exactly the same as other people. Of course the same is true for the other side too. You can’t be a completely different person either. People are also bound to have similarities. We are all humans so that’s a similarity. But do similarities and differences matter? In the end we know that Thoreau and McCandless have many similarities and differences, here are three examples of them; Thoreau and McCandless are both determined and hard-working people, McCandless went to the forest to run away from his family problems while Thoreau went to the forest to live by himself, and they both hate materialism.

When comparing two essays, there are many different aspects that the reader can look at to make judgments and opinions. In the two essays that I choose, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', and FREDERICK DOUGLAS'S 'From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,' there were many similarities, but also many differences. Some of them being, the context, style, structure and tone. Many times when readings or articles are being compared, people over look the grammatical and structural elements, and just concentrate on the issues at hand. I believe it is important to evaluate both.

The articles “Letter to Birmingham jail” and “Civil Obedience” both address the injustices that are being done to people of color. Martin Luther king Jr and Henry David Thoreau speak on the act of civil disobedience being necessary and both believed that the government needs to address the issue and make a change if they truly believe their laws should protect and affect everyone equally. Martin Luther King uses a first person narrative and several types of rhetoric such as Simile, Allusion, Appeal to authority, imagery, personification, and metaphor. He also uses logos Ethos and Pathos from the rhetorical analysis triangle. Henry David Thoreau also uses first person narrative and similar rhetoric such as Appeal to authority, Simile, Imagery, Allusion, Metaphor, Ethos and Pathos from the rhetorical Analysis triangle. They both has similar ideas but had a different target when arguing for equal rights. Dr. King wants to ultimately raise awareness and provide equal rights for black people and Thoreau wanted equal rights for each individual person.

The fight for civil rights and freedom is a reoccurring subject that has appeared throughout American history. Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” were written over one hundred years apart. Although they are set in different time periods, they discuss the rights the American people should have, while also criticizing the people with superior power in the government. Thoreau’s aggressive writing style and King’s peaceful, calm style help to deliver their messages. Not only their writing style but also their emotional appeals, tone, and other rhetorical strategies help to give their audience a sense of the social issues they are disagreeing strongly with.

The two essays, "Civil Disobedience," by Henry David Thoreau, and "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King, Jr., effectively illustrate the authors' opinions of justice. Each author has his main point; Thoreau, in dealing with justice as it relates to government, asks for "not at once no government, but at once a better government. King contends that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Both essays offer a complete argument for justice, but, given the conditions, King's essay remains more effective, in that its persuasive techniques have more practical application. Both essays extensively implement both

     Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau both believed that one should stand up for what he believes in, as wells as accepting the consequences for his actions. Even though they also had different views about what makes law just or unjust. First of all, Martin Luther King believed that a law that is just should be square with the moral law or the law of God. This basically means a law should pertain to the Ten Commandments according to the bible. He also thought an unjust law was one that was inflicted on to a minority who did not even have the right to vote for this law in the first place.

While both Martin Luther King Jr. and David Thoreau recognized that society needed modification, they acquired contrasting perspectives about the dilemma. King writes out of concern for the African-American race and believes that even though law states, something is wrong, it could be right. Thoreau believes writes out of frustration and that "Government is best which governs not at all." (Thoreau 407). King and Thoreau agree that everyone has the ability to take charge, on the other hand, their actions are distinct in many ways.

King’s position on unjust laws was very close to Thoreau’s position on unjust laws. In his famous letter written when he was in jail, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King wrote to the ministers who did not like his protests to desegregate the city of

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. was thrown into jail due to participating in non-violent protests against racism and segregation in the city of Birmingham. There, he wrote the famous “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” which became one of the most important letters in history of the American civil rights movement (Colaiaco 1). The open letter covered many points to King’s arguments for why the marches, protests, and other non-violent actions were necessary and justifiable. James Colaiaco analyzes the key components to the letter and the different ways Martin Luther King, Jr. used literary devices to form a well written argument.

Henry David Thoreau writes in 1849, which adds its own set of situations. During Thoreau’s time period, slavery was an enormous controversy which he addressed in his essay. King’s letter, in 1963, was revolved around the segregation between whites and colored peoples. In both the essay and the letter, one can sense the urgency of these issues within the tonality of each author. Thoreau is fighting the majority during the Mexican war; While King is fighting the ‘war’ against segregation, unjust laws, and injustice across America.