What Is King's Argument In Letter From Birmingham Jail

seems to address the entire country and whoever reads the letter, instead of his main audience who are the eight white clergymen. This letter was written to certainly impact anyone who read it and to persuade people and the clergymen to take effect. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. remains calm, although he is in jail for leading a nonviolent protest for equality and ending segregation. His tone is urgent but remains gentle. King remains stern and speaks about his cause and what he believes in. King's main themes of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is justice and action. Martin Luther King does a great job convincing his audience that justice was lacking, and action needs to occur. When reading the letter, the reader is convinced King presents a very effective and persuasive argument. King tries to convince his readers that the time to act is now. Dr. King uses a lot of ethos in his letter by using his audiences’ morals and ethics and evidence that supports his argument to convince the clergymen and people reading that segregation is wrong and the matter needs to be addressed. Dr. King also uses pathos, emotion, to try to appeal to his audience to make his letter more effective. Some examples of pathos throughout the letter where Dr. King tells about elderly African Americans being mistreated, imprisoned people being mistreated, King also uses his young child's bitterness toward

       Martin Luther King Jr's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written during his 8 day sentence in jail in 1963. He chose to travel and protest in Birmingham due to the fact that it was widely known as one of the most segregated city in the U.S. The letter not only addresses the issues of unjustly being arrested for being an "extremist" of his approach to the protest, and of the incompetence of the church but its also an appeal for things to be seen from his point of view.

"The Letter from Birmingham jail", by Martin Luther King, is a letter about him using ethos appeals by showing his emotional through his letter. Dr. King explained to his audience that he is not an outsider, but he was also invited to Birmingham for the protest. Dr. King says that "men are genuine good and reasonable critics". Everyone is a minister in Birmingham and he is a minister himself by being invited there. King has organizational ties with the people, he states that "honor of serving as president" showing that everyone venerates him and allows him to take that position in becoming their leader.

While in jail, King wrote the famous Letter From Birmingham Jail. In this letter he addressed the criticisms people had about the Civil Rights movement and what was taking place. He sheds light on the “nonviolent action” that created tension, but that needed to be done in order for change to happen. He stated that nonviolent action would create necessary tension that would make the oppressors notice. King explains that tension isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it doesn’t have to be violent; instead he believed that there was a kind of “nonviolent tension” necessary for the growth of the nation. There was already tension but it was not talked about or brought up. King explained that the way to bring this tension to the surface was through the

The letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a famous and influential activist during the period of Civil Rights struggle in 1960 's America, from a confinement cell in Birmingham as a response to the open letter written and published by eight white clergymen from Birmingham. In their letter, the clergymen criticized Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) for their activism, while commending the Birmingham police. Though Dr. King structures the "Letter" as a direct response to the clergymen, they are ultimately a means through which he addresses white moderates in general and society at large. The Letter reflects many of his central philosophies, including those of nonviolence, civil

Martin Luther King Jr. skillfully uses ethos throughout his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In paragraph two, he establishes credibility by writing, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference." The SCLC is a legitimate organization that has organized nonviolent resistance against racism in the south, and by saying that he leads this group King is implying that he is in a position to where he can be trusted. Throughout the letter King repeatedly establishes his ethos to his target audience, the white clergymen from “A Call for Unity”, by referencing to important biblical figures such as Jesus Christ and Apostle Paul. In paragraph three, King compares his work on the Civil Rights Movement with the

On April 16, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes a letter to clergymen to justify his protesting of Jim Crow laws. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. argues his reason for being in Birmingham through a letter while in jail. In addition, he responds to clergymen claiming that his actions are "unwise and untimely." To develop his argument, Dr. King uses rhetorical devices and appeals. To establish his credibility, King uses rhetorical devices and appeals.

King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail portrays King’s feelings in such a way that you want to keep reading. Reading this piece through his eyes as the writer makes it much more enjoyable. In this piece the background is one of the most important parts to understand why King has these feelings of disappointment with the Clergymen. King’s use of Formal diction and his use of rational thoughts give an interesting and thought-provoking piece.

In the beginning, King responds to the criticism he received concerning his present activities as “unwise and untimely.” King then explains that he is in Birmingham because the presence of social injustice, and the purpose of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights is “to be on call to engage

In Dr. King's essay 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' he addresses the claims made about his arrest by the eight clergymen. His responses are very long and detailed, giving a very compelling and moving point of view. His letter is directed to his audience, which consists of white middle class citizens who Dr. King refers to as the 'white moderates'. Dr. King's letter is very persuasive because his use of pathos makes the audience think or imagine themselves in the situation. It is very poignant of him to write his letter this way. He is in touch with the views of his audience, which makes a greater impact on his readers. Dr. King uses antecdotes to make his readers see the injustice

Dr. King had to serve his time in Birmingham jail because he was involved in protest activities to end racial segregation, an act that was said to be violating the laws and orders of his society. During the time that he served, he read an open letter from eight clergymen who mentioned that the objections were “‘unwise and untimely… [and advised the] Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham’” (King 425). Dr. King was disappointed by what he read, and in response to the clergymen—and indirectly to the general public—he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to explain that his nonviolent protest was necessary. With

Most of the church does not support his tactic of civil disobedience and direct action because it is “inciting violence” and is “untimely.” His rebuttal consists of questions like, “Do people who have money get blamed for robbery?” and “Who gets to decide the timing of our actions?” The protesters were getting blamed for problems that they did not start or contribute to, thus showing the drastic prejudice of the time period. How would one even pick a time for change and what the conditions would be to make perfect environment? The church is against violence, so any sign of brutality tends to make the church uneasy. In the clergymen’s eyes, civil disobedience leads to violent actions, so they determined that the “instigators” and their methods must be unsuitable. King disagrees with the church as an institution, which makes him seem religiously irreverent to some. Nevertheless, he is actually preaching the ways of his faith in a powerful and devout

In April 1963, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was caught in the midst of massive civil rights protests. Protestors advocating for desegregation brought the city to a halt with widespread disruptive yet peaceful protests. After a circuit court placed an injunction against protesting, parading and picketing King was arrested for his involvement. While in jail King received a letter written by eight Alabama clergymen criticizing King for his disruptive protests and the breaking of laws which lead to his arrest. In response King wrote an open letter explaining his actions that would be known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his letter Dr. King effectively addresses an unsympathetic audience by focusing on building his credibility rather than seeking an emotional response.

Lastly, King appeals to character as well as establishing his creditability. For starters, the the vocabulary King chose to use shows that he is educated and possesses the knowledge to respond to the clergymen. King also informed the clergymen that he had previous experience in conducting and participating in non-violent campaigns. This provides credibility because it showed that he had prior knowledge of the behavior and purpose of those participating, while also addressing that past campaigns have always been “untimely”, but with desired outcome. The last and most obvious proof of credibility, is that King was a black man that faced the same adversities that he referred to in the last paragraph of this section. The example being of having to personally tell his daughter why she could not be allowed to go to a public amusement park because she was black and looked at as less than.

1. The reason King was in Birmingham is because he was invited there as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and it was his duty to protest injustice and spread freedom through a nonviolent program. As King was invited by one of his affiliates at an official organization, he is not an outside, but more akin to an important guest. Even if the invitation had not occurred, it was still his duty, as the prophet of the “gospel of freedom” just as it was Paul’s duty to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.