AP Language & Composition Sample Responses to Questions on MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail Read as a response to the letter by the clergymen, King’s essay can be approached as a shrewd argument that shows a thorough understanding of its immediate audience. Following his introduction, in paragraphs 2-3 King explains why he is not an ousider; in paragraphs 5-11, he explains how his organization has tried to negotiate and how it will again; in paragraphs 12-14, he refutes the accusation that his organization’s actions are untimely; and in paragraphs 15-22 he presents an argument justifying civil disobedience. In each case, King deftly crafts his response to show that he, in fact, agrees with the claim the clergymen make, but he redefines the terms for them. For example, he agrees that outsiders should not intrude in community issues; then he shows that he is an insider by virtue of his position in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, his concern for justice, and his belief that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Thus, King systematically, logically, and (one might argue) respectfully responds to each claim made against him. After these counterarguments, he mounts his own argument.
Letter from Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. uses many different types of strategies to convince his reader bout his views on cultural segregation. King’s letter is a direct response to the eight white clergymen of Alabama. They believed that these civil rights movements should be fought in the courtrooms and not on the public streets of Birmingham. They referred to King’s action of protest as “’unwise and untimely’” ( qtd in King 289 ). Rather than writing a letter agreeing with the clergymen, King arouses his readers by bringing ethics, emotions, and logic to provoke thought and push his opinion about civil right protest.
Toulmin Analysis In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King he responds to a letter written by eight, white Alabama Clergymen to the editor of a newspaper in Birmingham. He wants the audience to believe that the clergymen fail to discuss the circumstances that brought about the demonstrations in Birmingham. In September 1962, King had the opportunity to talk with the leaders of Birmingham economic community. The merchants made many promise such as how they would remove the stores’ racial signs. Upon these agreements, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, the leader of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, (including Martin Luther King) had agreed to delay the peaceful demonstrations.
Analysis of “I Have a Dream” and “Letter to Birmingham Jail” In the “Letter to Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King addresses the criticisms and objections that the white clergymen had made towards his and his affiliated organization’s efforts in trying to end segregation and achieve his and his people’s birth right: the right to be free through nonviolent means. Through the “I Have a Dream Speech” King speaks to his supporters and as well as to the entire nation to make them be fully aware of the injustices they are facing and through this make them stand up to those injustices. Both “Letter to Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream Speech” have the same underlying meaning however. That way too long have the black community been treated wrongly. That way too long have the black nation been “judged by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character (King 815)” and therefore it is time for them to rise and stand up for their rights.
Martin Luther King Junior became a warrior fighting for the injustices that burdened African Americans, spreading the gospel of freedom wherever it was needed. While working towards this cause King heard the cry of injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham had become diseased by illegal segregation. King answered the call for help and agreed to lead a non-violent protest. He soon found himself wrongfully imprisoned and kept in a small jail cell.
The Selma to Montgomery marches was three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL). In 1963, the DCVL and organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began voter-registration work. When white resistance to Black voter registration proved intractable, the DCVL requested the assistance of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who brought many prominent civil rights and civic leaders to support voting rights. Planning the First March With civil rights activity blocked by Judge Hare's injunction, the DCVL
Jennifer Smith Prof Franco 3/26/2011 Engl 1213 Standing up One of the most known advocates for equality is Martin Luther King Jr. He’s had some of the most moving, convincing and change inducing speeches of all time. His “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is no exception. King wrote the letter from a Birmingham jail cell in April on 1963 following his arrest for public demonstration. In the beginning of the letter, King describes his reason for writing the letter as a response to the Clergymen’s statement calling his “present activities unwise and untimely. ” (King).
and just as the Apostle Paul left his village . . . and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my hometown” (742). In this way, the Reverend places his mission of preaching freedom alongside the efforts of the prophets of old in terms of importance, and thus invites the reader to reflect upon the noble task he is undertaking.
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" In the letter from birmingham jail there are hundreds of examples of rhetorical strategies, from repetition to syllogism. In the third paragraph of the letter there is a good example of allusions to religion starting with the first sentence (but more basically....injustice is here) and ending with the last sentence (like paul...for aid). Martin Luther King Jr. alludes to the Bible and the prophets who went and proclaimed God's words. He says he is like the prophets and must travel past his hometown to proclaim the gospel of freedom. In paragraph 5 there is a good example of syntax.
Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical strategy in a “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by citing philosophers, theologians, presidents, and the Constitution as evidence. King uses St Thomas Aquinas views to clarify and deduct the fairness of a law: “All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (570). To explain why discriminating laws demean the segregationists King states, “Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an ‘I-it’ relationship for an ‘I-thou’ relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things” (570). He references Paul Tillich to validate his contention that segregation is not only morally despicable but also sinful. Stating this country cannot survive being divided as further evidence on his fight for equality by mentioning Abraham Lincoln.