Swift, Orwell, and King: Standing against the Injustices of Their Times

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.

Effectively ushering change in society or pointing out faults that have existed and gone unnoticed can be a daunting task for any social commentator. Often, blandly protesting grievances or concerns can fall upon deaf ears and change can be slow or non-existent. However, Jonathan Swift in his pamphlet A Modest Proposal, uses clever, targeted, and ironic criticism to bring the social state of Ireland to the attention of indolent aristocrats. He accomplishes such criticism through satire, specifically Juvenalian satire. Swift’s A Modest Proposal stands as an example of the type of satire that plays upon the audience’s emotion by creating anger concerning the indifference of the voice created. He complements such criticism with sophisticated,

One evening in jail, a young man by the name of Martin luther king jr, received a letter outlining the the concerns of eight clergymen in reference to the demonstrations taking place of which he was a clergyman to. Martin was always aware of the criticism and retaliation of other and learn to keep order with it. But for some reason, this letter struck him, and he decided he must write a response to this letter. MLK being one of the most influential people in the world today, wrote a response letter to the right clergymen highlighting the concerns of being an outsider, having untimely and unwise demonstrations, and having extreme ideas.

Martin Luther King Jr's speech, "Letter from Birmingham Jail", and Franklin Roosevelt's seminal, "Four Seasons", explore people's fundamental human rights in their own time in history. Both Martin Luther King Jr and Franklin Roosevelt were very important people in history. They had very strong viewpoints on justice and advocating for human rights. King and Roosevelt were both greatly influenced by what was going on in history at the time. Martin Luther King Jr was speaking, from experience, about the injustice and racial prejudice that he had received. He defended his view on his race being oppressed and helped others realize what was being done. By writing this letter from jail, he was showing his endless want for justice. He explicated this in his poem by stating, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." In King's letter, he thoroughly explained how these innocent people were being oppressed and it was an extreme injustice that needed to be resolved. In Franklin Roosevelt's seminal, "Four Seasons" he showed the audience how the freedom of speech, religion, want, and fear, are unalienable rights that should be given to ever person. Roosevelt continuously repeats how these rights should be given "everywhere in the world". He also tells the audience, "Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle is our unity of purpose." This is very

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. 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.

Martin Luther King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a very sophisticated argument that gets to the point, but in the same time it gets very deep and complex. The letter is a historical and emotional letter that spoke to the hearts of people all across America. It was also well thought out and wrote with great deep meaning. By using three categories of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos, King was able to get on a much needed personal level with his audience. Along with letting the reader know that he had valid ideas and reasons. Getting on a personal level would let King explain his view of what was Right and unjust. I believe that King’s letter was the greater argument than Swift’s, because he knew what his argumentative goal was, to

In King’s essay, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King brilliantly employs the use of several rhetorical strategies that are pivotal in successfully influencing critics of his philosophical views on civil disobedience. King’s eloquent appeal to the logical, emotional, and most notably, moral and spiritual side of his audience, serves to make “Letter From Birmingham Jail” one of the most moving and persuasive literary pieces of the 20th century.

In Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, there is a numerous amount of rhetorical strategies used throughout his essay. The use of rhetorical strategies helps make King’s piece more viable, and appealing. While he is arguing for the urgency to change segregation laws, he uses rhetorical strategies to build up his argument. Using information from the introductory paragraph, we know that Dr. King is an intelligent man considering he received a Ph.D. from Boston University. The diction King uses in this letter is exceptional; it consummately reflects that he has a Ph.D. In King’s letter he states, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

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.

Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail both serve as proposal arguments, responding to a problem in society that the author experienced in his lifetime. In their personal writing style and perspective, they both outline effective solutions for the issues confronting them. Jonathan Swift is responding to the impoverished Irish through his writing style, which is satire, he suggests possible solutions for the lack of food and an overwhelmingly large population of children with single mothers who are not able to provide for them. Martin Luther King Jr., on the other hand, responds to the problem in society in a more straightforward, realistic way. King is a civil rights leader, a Christian

Dr. King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in front of more than 200,000 people. He spoke of his hopes for future generations, inspiring many people. Through describing the difficulties that he and other African Americans had to face, he even changed some people's perspectives, leading to a renewed interest in the movement for equality. Another literary piece of Martin’s was titled “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. His letter was a famous argument and a response to “A Call for Unity”, which had criticised the actions of protesters and African Americans at the time. While this was a letter written only a few months before his speech, they had many similarities and differences.

Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” sums up the shift in societies thinking by highlighting the plight of Ireland and the disregard of it by England in an exaggerated, over the top way much like satirical websites and television shows such as The Onion and Saturday Night Live do with current issues today. Just as Swift pointed out

In “A Letter From Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. is fighting for civil rights and equality for African Americans. During the mid 1900s civil rights movement, the rights of African Americans were subjugated and oppressed due to long standing racism and fear of change. King addresses these inequalities and advocates for change. His stance in the civil rights movement often corresponds with the non-violent protests Gandhi led. Both MLK and Gandhi courageously stood up for the unspoken minority and encouraged integration and equality. Martin Luther King Jr. states, “An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote” (Paragraph 3). African Americans,

Johnathan Swift penned, “Vision is the Art of seeing what is invisible to others.” The human eye is miraculous and achieves incredible feats, from spotting galaxies millions of light years away to perceiving invisible colors. However, Swift was not implying the marvelous function of sight but embraces a different phenomenon of human nature. A common trend among human beings is to limit their sight to physical objects, as well as limiting themselves to what they want to condone as truth. Swift’s vision is beyond one’s self, a vision that perceives situations, consequences and changes that normal sight cannot. Vision that embraces truth and applies the truth to the viewer’s life. As an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ Elder David A. Bednar has been gifted with a special vision and authority. At a devotional on Brigham Young University–Idaho campus, Elder Bednar utilized his apostolic authority to raise a “voice of warning” by discussing elements of our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, methods of attack used by the adversary to distract us and the responsibilities that rest upon the rising generation to see things as they really are. Elder Bednar wields his apostolic authority balanced with a parental rather than professional tone to exhort a highly distracted student body to view their destinies at risk.