My Life As An Undocumented Immigrant Summary

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.

Throughout his letter, King talks about how unfair the white Americans were towards the black nation, he talks about the disrespect, unfair and unjust treatment the black community had received from the white Americans. In the letter King’s response is very moving and effective to the readers, he has achieved this by effective use of language, stylistic devices such as the use of imagery, similes and metaphors, and by using

 The letter has become known as one of the greatest works of argument in American history. Part of the reason for the letter’s effectiveness is due to its expressive use of pathos. King’s use of pathos in his letter not only supports the claims that he makes but also makes his argument morally certain. King’s letter is littered here and there with pathos that appear next to logos and ethos. King’s paragraph explaining why it is difficult to wait for the end of segregation is one that is entirely dedicated to stirring the emotion of the reader of which it does quite an effective job. The main theme throughout the letter is King’s urge to the clergymen to see things from the black person’s perspective. The clergymen want King to wait for their chance at freedom so that the courts may handle it. Since patience is considered as a virtue, they believe it is perfectly reasonable to ask King to delay his direct action so that desegregation can be handled in the courts. King makes the claim that the time to wait is over. He says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given

King uses a vast amount of emotion into his letter to the clergymen. He believes it will show people how much the colored people go through and hurt physically and emotionally. Colored people are humiliated everywhere they go, by Caucasian people or even the local grocery stores that have racial signs posted out front. There “came the opportunity to talk with leaders of

Vargas is really good at drawing the audience in with his emotional description, and his story telling ability. He is able to make the reader understand the struggle of being an undocumented immigrant trying to live in the United States and be happy with who he is. The audience is able to understand each decision that he makes in order to try to keep himself out of trouble, but they could always see the constant fear that he could come crashing down at any given moment if he was found out. It is hard to imagine living in that kind of situation, and Vargas portrays his experience extremely

King writing this letter from behind bars. He walked the statement that he makes in the letter that says, "I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do-nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle" (530).

King uses irony, by giving examples of him using peaceful actions that were condemned anyway because they were said to ?precipitate violence?. He went on to say, ?Isn?t that like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated in the evil act of robbery??(King 563). Dr. King also realizes that the white moderates are mostly religious. He reminds them ?Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability, it comes through tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God??(King 563). Again, he urges the audience to get up and become active, and that there will be no change without their action.

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

Jose Vargas tells the story of his life; from coming to America, finding out that he is residing here illegally, learning how to live with that, and finally to sharing with everyone that he is an undocumented immigrant. Jose has a difficult task in front of him, though. He must win his audience over to his side so that he can further his agenda of developing an easier path for undocumented immigrants to receive citizenship. There are many ways he could go about this, trying to skirt the topic of his illegal activities, but Jose is an intelligent man and knows how to influence his audience. He uses the story of his life to connect with others, and in connecting with them wins them over, even if only indeterminably so. In My Life as an

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, shares his life-long journey as an undocumented immigrant in his text, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” As the title suggests, Vargas attempts to convey to his audience, who likely never has and never will experience anything similar to what he has, what it is like to live as an immigrant in the United States of America. Skillfully, Vargas details the perfect number of personal stories to reach the emotional side of his audience, which is anyone who is not an immigrant. Through the use of his personal accounts Vargas is able to effectively communicate that immigrants are humans too while simultaneously proving his credibility, as he has experience and a vast amount of knowledge

‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be

Martin Luther King Jr., the author of “Letter to Birmingham Jail,” that was written in 1963, uses many rhetorical strategies throughout his letter;. Additionallyconsequently, he uses these strategies to get his points across. For example,The rhetorical devices he employsuses are repetition, he uses ethos, and he uses rhetorical questions. During the time he gave his speech, was during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, segregation was happening, and racial discrimination between blacks and whites is commonplace.were not treated equally. King uses d rhetorical strategies in order to emphasize what he was most passionate about; he was his passionate about - equality and nonviolent protestings, for he was a black himself. He usesd his letter in order to bring about make a change. Therefore, he needed to really get the listeners’ attention.

Some varieties of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice as did Martin Luther King in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective. After stating the general purpose of his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. specifically addressed the clergymen to set up for his logical counterargument.

One powerful example of King’s pull on the reader’s consciousness in his letter is on page three when he refutes the argument of the Clergymen saying that Colored people should just “wait”.  While many words truly stand out, King’s true effect was mastered by the appeal to the parents in the group, “When you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why white people treat colored people so mean” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 3)Then again, “humiliation day in and day out by nagging signs” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3) and even further, when “you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail 3).  Another element that helps support King’s point in his letter is the fervent repetition of his blatant disappointment in more than simply the clergymen, but their Christian faith and the churches in service within Alabama during this time. King repeats how disappointed he was in the “common whites” also and their bystander reactions to racial issues. The fact that this man, a minister, “beneath” the said extremist white clergymen, and inhabiting a jail cell during that time, who was disappointed in people showed a true depth which hit the audience profoundly. (King)

King combines the use of ethos and pathos as he compares himself and the rights of men to religious backgrounds. His first comparison is with the Apostle Paul, where Paul had “carried the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as to Kings carrying of “the gospel of freedom.” King addresses this similarity to show why he felt committed to go to Birmingham, because like Paul, he needed to respond as an aid to his people. Towards the end of Kings letter; he exemplifies courageousness in the Negro demonstrations by relating them to the actions of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they refused to follow what they believed to be unjust laws. Saying that if they are supposed heroes by going against unjust laws, why shouldn't the people see Negro demonstrators the same way? They are also God's children and by those disobedience’s, they were really showing the grace of God. These connections to religion supports their fighting against unjust laws as a divine cause.