Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an example of a rhetorical text that is centered on ethos. King Jr.’s letter is a response to “Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen,” which was written about the civil rights protests that King Jr. had led in Birmingham, Alabama, causing him to be in jail. In his letter, King Jr. addresses the concerns that the clergymen had about his motives and intentions in Birmingham. A rhetorical analysis of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” shows that through his use of effective logic, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has a way of re-creating the ethos that was taken away from him in “Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen”. Specifically, the arguments that King Jr. uses to defend his untimeliness, his willingness to break laws, and his extreme actions are appropriate for the audience and help him build credibility, which ideally will move his audience to action.
April 16, 1963 MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms. I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."
Victoria Lopez English 1101 December 10, 2012 Rhetorical Analysis Martin Luther King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”, published in 1964 in his own book Why We Can’t Wait, addresses and explains his current situation to the clergymen of Alabama. On April 12, 1963 Dr. King was arrested in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama for contempt of court and parading without a permit during a protest. His purpose of the letter is to inform the clergymen of his views and the reasons for his “direct action” on the issue of desegregation. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important voice of the American civil rights movement, which worked for equal rights for all. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice, and he never got tired of trying to end segregation laws.
Jacob Martin Mrs. Nguyen English 101 March 5, 2013 Rhetorical Examination of “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” The employment of rhetorical strategies is imperative to effective persuasion. Martin Luther King, Jr. utilizes these methods throughout his dialogue. In April 1963, “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written while incarcerated for leading a nonviolent protest against Jim Crow laws. The purpose of the document was to be a reaction to a statement eight white clergymen issued disparaging King’s approach to protesting discrimination. The methods of logos, ethos, and pathos are used to convince his audience.
He furthers this credibility by noting that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference has some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South. King’s connection with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights directly confronts the clergymen of Alabama by including a local, well-respected organization of Alabama, as one of his supporters. The incorporation of this organization in his text intensifies his ethos by signifying that the clergymen’s families, neighbors, and fellow citizens of Birmingham, are supporters of his movement. King begins his letter by informing the clergy men why he is in Birmingham, the concept of nonviolent direct-action, and the sequence of events leading to his “direct action” approach. King recounts his presence in Alabama as an invitation.
Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay In ³Letter from Birmingham Jail,´ Martin Luther King Jr. uses many rhetorical strategies to makehis purposed known to the clergymen that segregation laws should be abolished. Some of his strategiesare used the most in paragraphs thirteen and fourteen, when he argues for the urgency of changingsegregation laws. A few strategies that he uses are: diction, repetition, and Aristotelian appeals. ³Therecomes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into theabyss of despair.´King¶s diction, or word choice, is obvious and blunt in these two paragraphs, especially when hesays, ³when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers andsisters.´ The fact that he brings up physical abuse being brought upon his people should be enough to persuade the clergymen that what he¶s doing isn¶t wrong. He¶s simply being a good American andstanding up for people¶s rights that have been taken away from them due to the color of their skin.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was imprisoned for breaking a court ruling while leading a nonviolent direct-action protest program against segregation. While imprisoned, King wrote an open response; “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. This letter was addressed to his fellow clergymen, but he wanted the entire world to read it. King elaborately explains; why he was in Birmingham, why he believed change must take place immediately, and what he planned to do to help bring about this change. In his prodigious letter, King creates a vigorous yet respectful response to a criticism made by eight Clergymen from Birmingham, Alabama.
The approach thrives on presenting reasons on a certain subject and then arguing out. In order to comprehensively exhibit each of the three approaches, this paper refers to. " The letter from Birmingham Jail" is an emotional letter addressing the issues and critics of white clergymen thrown at Martin Luther king Jr, about his non-violent demonstration actions against injustice and racial discrimination among black Americans in Birmingham. Injustice is the backbone of all the social evils taking place in Birmingham and Alabama cities. Injustice is the violation of another person's right with the satisfaction of the other individual.
In the second chapter (2-5) he lays out the authority by which his group came to Birmingham. The great breadth of organizations that stand behind his actions overshadow the voices that reject his presence there. In the third paragraph, King makes one of many Biblical associations between the plight of blacks in America and the call of God upon his people to go and act on His behalf. This paragraph begins the preliminary thrust of the wrongness of injustice, and it is capped in the fourth paragraph with the
This letter appeared in the Birmingham Newspaper. In response, Martin Luther King drafted a document that would mark the turning point of the Civil Rights movement and provide enduring inspiration to the struggle for racial equality. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” strives to justify the desperate need for nonviolent direct action, the absolute immorality of unjust laws together with what a just law is, as well as, the increasing probability of the “Negro” resorting to extreme disorder and bloodshed, in addition to his utter disappointment with the Church who, in his opinion, had not lived up to their responsibilities as people of God. King's justification to the eight clergymen for protesting segregation begins with a profound explanation of their actions, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue”. The actions of the African American people are overdue and very well planned as King had explained in the letter.