KING’S LETTER FORM BIRMINGHAM JAIL Questions for Discussion 1. Martin Luther King writes as a member of several communities, some overlapping, some in conflict. What are they? Focusing on two or three, explain how he defines himself within each. The communities are the church and the community itself.
Martin Luther King Jr’s letter uses tone, diction, and analogy to develop his argument. In his letter he addresses his clergymen’s criticism to his actions in Birmingham. He justifies his actions by arguing that he was invited here (Birmingham), and that he belonged in Birmingham. Dr. King uses different variations of the rhetorical devices tone, diction, and analogy. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter uses different tones in his letter, to justify his actions in Birmingham.
1. Martin Luther King writes as a member of several communities, some overlapping, and some in conflict. What are they? Focusing on two or three, describe how he describes himself in each. Throughout his letter, King describes himself as an integrationist, a civil rights leader, a fellow clergyman, a Christian brother.
By king alluding to the Apostles he appeals to the audience ethically. Rhetorical questions are also used in the letter to appeal to ethos. “Now, what is the difference between the two” (Paragraph 16)? King uses rhetorical questions to make the audience think about what he is asking them. Along with rhetorical questions, King uses syllogism, where he constructs a conclusion from statements he stated earlier in the letter.
An important element of this letter is that he achieves his appeal for nonviolent protest and unity. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrates the legitimacy of his claims and the legality of his fight by his rational appeal of evidence. King, Martin Luther Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Bloom, Lynn Z. and Louise Z. Smith. The Arlington Reader.
However, he mentions them in order to imply that he does get a lot of criticism and is taking particular care to address the specific concerns of the clergymen. 2. King starts his paragraphs by introducing his background as an important member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. His appeal to ethos gives his critics legitimate reasons why he should be directly involved in the
The repetition of rhetorical questions in most people’s opinions would be considered an effective strategy. Repetition being another key weapon in Dr. King’s arsenal can drill certain ideas into the reader’s head, which is a good thing when persuading. Repetition for effect is used expertly when Dr. King repeats the phrase, “I have” to emphasize his multitude of experiences in the field of view like, “I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities” (215). Martin Luther King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail was taken well and was well respected not only by the clergymen, but by a multitude of people throughout history. This is because of the writing strategies he used that included flattery, display of credentials, allusions, use of metaphors, repetition for effect, guilt, and use of rhetorical questions, just to name a
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair”(King) His assumptions of the basis of American society (religion, founding fathers, and the American Dream) enable him to keep his intended audience paying attention for what he most wanted to convey—the emotional battle of those involved in the campaign for civil rights. Although his letter and his speech are targeting two separate ideas on the basis of two separate (for the most part) groups of
This train of thought cleverly warrants the evocation of faith, or belief without physical proof or empirical knowledge. Appropriately so, Anselm opens the chapter of Proslogion discussing Divine existence with a meditative prayer in which, he modestly supplicates such highly pertinent concepts including wisdom and faith in order to better understand the existence and character of God. With such faith and understanding, Anselm boldly asserts his beliefs about God’s nature, existence, and attributes before even finishing his central argument in an attempt to comprehend what he genuinely believes to be true about his higher power. While my own personal convictions are comparatively nowhere near as bold as that of Saint Anselm, his approach epitomizes what I believe to be an authentic and selfless demonstration of faith. Ideally, I believe that unconditional faith of this
3) King balances the twin appeals to religion and patriotism throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by linking them together. When he is told that he is an extremist, he answers with “Was not Jesus an extremist for love… Was not Amos an extremist for justice… Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel” (269). Here, Martin Luther King is linking both by saying that he can not be criticized for this since other did the same for different reasons. Therefore, Martin Luther King isn’t emphasizing religion nor patriotism more than the other since he wants his ideas to appeal to everyone. Questions on Rhetoric and Style 3) King’s allusions to biblical figures and events appeal to ethos because he is proving to have credibility in what he is saying since he is referring to the bible, which many people read.