The Rhetorical Analysis Of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

King understands where blacks are coming from in wanted equal rights. King sees the injustices of the black communities and is very involved in black movements which what what put him in jail. By being African American as well as witnessing injustices, King has firsthand knowledge which establishes his authority to speak on this issue of racial equality. King shows the audience that he is competent by stating that he is the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This helps show his strength of leadership in the religious community. This also again shows his competency to speak on the issue of equal rights. He continues to establish empathy by stating how he normally doesn’t respond to criticism; however he chose to respond this time due to the “genuine good will” of the clergymen. That response in itself tells the clergymen that he and the clergyman are on the same playing field, one pastor to another. King showed the clergymen’s “good will” deserved a response which established trust. Creating an ethical appeal in a rhetorical piece is essential in persuading the audience to believe an authors argument.

Dr.King uses different examples throughout the text and does an excellent job in making the argument more approachable. With key points and non- violent intentions, which he is trying to get the idea across to the clergymen of Birmingham, Al.

Martin Luther King’s adherence towards peace and especially social justice is clearly shown in “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this letter King writes with passion and conviction. Through this suggestive yet powerful letter Martin Luther King uses various rhetorical devices to get his point across by saying “justice too long delayed, is justice denied.” Through the clergymen’s arguments and use of ethos, pathos, and logos, he demonstrates to them that they need to take action immediately.

Relating to several biblical allusions like Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ, he sensuously establishes credible authenticity and significance to his motives of civil disobedience against unjust laws; they assist in accentuating the justice within his “unjustified” actions. King also provokes compelling emotional tides of sympathy and compassion to overcome his readers when he provides sorrow-filled descriptions of the torments Blacks have to go through everyday. Furthermore, his usage of logic in identifying equality as a natural right of all men firmly defends his reasons on sanctioning desegregation. Leaving no loopholes behind his reasoning or ambiguity in his purpose, King competently succeeds in proficiently perpetuating his views on injustice and civil disobedience.

It's the 1960's; American society is being torn asunder by civil unrest involving the struggle for equality at home and an inhumane war in Vietnam. In the midst of such turbulence, Martin Luther King Junior argues that American involvement in the war in Vietnam is unjust. He poignantly examines the thesis using appeals to ethos logos and pathos.

Martin Luther King Jr wrote an extremely powerful letter that created awareness within the Negro community that displayed use of logos, pathos, and ethos effectively. King writes from Birmingham Jail to the clergymen using the rhetorical appeals to persuade, particularly the white community that, “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (King 7) by being the voice of the Negro communities. Even though the letter was written to diminish the clergymen’s assertions about the Negro community, King wrote a timeless piece of literature that moved both the white and Negro communities. Balanced sentence structures offered logical and concrete arguments that were addressed by Dr King through the heavy use of logos. King argues against the

Martin Luther King Jr. compassionately responds to eight criticizing clergymen in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Refuting the opposition posed by the catholic church, King retorts in a non-confrontational manner, raising many topics to defend his nonviolent protest. King utilizes his time in jail to accurately represent the African American perspective, and the struggles that motivate them.

During Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign for equal rights, the harassment, beating and killing of African Americans happened on a daily basis. Most members of the white community saw the inequality and brutality, but few from the Church stepped between the African Americans and the bigoted white mob who viewed themselves as higher beings. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, King expresses his disappointment in the Christian Church for sitting by and even condemning the plight of the African Americans, but taking little to no action when they had the ability to invoke a change in society. If the Church had cast aside its divisions between black and white, then it could have been a major catalyst for change that reinvented America’s society.

King played a key role in the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. King faced a lot of obstacles in that time but one of the obstacles King faced during his long fight with the Civil Rights movement was him and hundreds of other protestors were arrested. During his time in jail King wrote a letter that became known as “The Letter From Birmingham Jail.” In the letter King talks about the injustice, racism and unjust law systems in Birmingham. Also in his letter King criticizes certain groups in Birmingham for not helping the matter. In this paper I am going to show how Kings use of pathos and logos in his argument helps bring a stop to injustice and unjust law systems. Also I am going to show how he uses pathos and logos when talking about the church.

These people would rather stay at a comfortable, albeit unjust, state than fight for fairness. He connects this point to another, that we should not stop trying to gain our rights if we might cause violence in doing so. Together with other supporting points, like how some African-Americans are also inactive, these points urge people to take action. He moves into a section about the criticism about him being an “extremist”. King says that extremists might actually be needed and compares to historical figures, like Jesus, who might have been considered extremists. This part appeals to religious folk who admire figures such as Jesus and might be swayed to take action. King wraps up with a criticism of the church, specifically the white church, who had not taken action in favor of the Civil Rights movement. This section could also have stood to be shorter, as his major points, how the church has gone from forging new paths to following those already forged and how there are some exceptions in people that have been prosecuted for their choice to help the blacks, could be given equally as effectively in much fewer words. Much of King’s piece was wordier than necessary and would have been more engaging for the general

wrote a well planned out speech for the specific occasion he was speaking at. He delivered his speech to the nation on August 28th, 1963, during a time where racism was ravaging especially in the south. However, being the man he was, bravely stood up in front the nation’s capitol and spoke his mind. His purpose, to alert the citizens of America “...the fierce urgency of now.”. In hopes that one day “...little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls…” to end all of the discrimination that has been experienced for years.

King uses an example of why color people deserve freedom (aside from the Declaration of Independence). King uses a perfect example when explaining how a Negro was the victim of the “unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” Through days of slavery and also through the start of the Civil Rights Movement, racist violence was carried out. Martin sent the message of racist violence through the choice of words of “unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” If we closely analyze these words with its proper sentence, “We can never be satisfied as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

King’s portrayal of logos was one technique that he made excellent usage of in his speech. In one example he stated, “When will you be satisfied? We will never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” (Martin 2001, par 9). He goes on to give other extreme examples as to why “we can never be satisfied,” if we continue to be treated less than equals. In this valuable use of logos, he uses an example of “If…then” to convince his audience that change was needed in order to be satisfied of true freedom. In this excerpt passage of the speech, King emphasized that the “Negro must want more out of life and should not settle for being treated less than human, but must demand to be equal to his fellow man.

Martin Luther King Jr. is an activist and leader of the Civil Rights Movement, he fought to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through nonviolent means. In the 1930’s Martin Luther King Jr. was thrown into jail during the protest of Alabama Christian Movement of Human Rights, where colored people peacefully protested for their rights. He then wrote a letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” why he has been placed in Birmingham Jail and why it is wrong that peaceful colored protesters were placed in jail.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was not only a Baptist minister but a social activist who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s to bring freedom to African-Americans. He attempted to have peaceful conversations with Americans in the opposite sides for the Civil Right movement at that time. He insisted that everyone have the right to be treated equally regardless of human skin colors in that everyone is the same being in God’s eyes. From my perspective, with proper and clear ethos, pathos, and logos in his address for the long history of equal rights, he appealed to audience’s emotions and raised their awareness of racial discrimination for all races, especially African Americans.