Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", was written to answer a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in Birmingham. The clergymen were critical of King for "interloping" in the activities of their city. Dr. King said that he had every right to fight unfairness in the country that he lived in. The letter he wrote, in response to the "Call for Unity", and a statement that he would battle racial inequality wherever it was. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was the main point in his life. In this letter, he perfectly described his reasons why he felt this way, appealing to logic, emotion, and ethics. A logical appeal is an appeal that uses reason, facts and documented evidence to make a point. King makes a logical appeal later in the letter, in which he replies to being named an extremist. He answers to this by saying that many historical figures today are considered heroes were thought to be extremists during their time. He quotes people such as Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. He uses reason to create a logical appeal to the reader. That is if he is an extremist for campaigning for freedom, then all of these other people are extremist as well. Using second hand evidence and the proof of others can too be used in constructing logical appeals. King offers us an example of this when he points out how the Birmingham police abused the activists. Though he does not provide a informant, the occasion was extensively broadcasted. King uses the proof to refute the clergymen's charges. Direct descriptions of the actions can also be used to construct a logical appeal. King uses a actual explanation to express a main point. He tells about how he expected the white religious leader... ... middle of paper ... ... phrases, such as "the judgment of God" and "forfeit" (551) to make the reader feel seriousness about what is happening. Emotional appeal depends on the use of strong words. King knows this, and uses this to help get his idea across. The emotional appeal of the letter is his best accomplishment. King makes good use of Aristotle's three argumentative appeals. Though, he does not use strong facts in his logical appeals. This is reasonable, as he was in jail. He did not have any way to get evidence, which would be necessary to provide proof. Nonetheless, this would have made King a much more reliable source. King's letter is mostly an ethical piece. And it has to be, because the letter is a reply to criticisms pointed to King. For whatever reasons, the cultural effects of the letter are great. King used the letter to explain what his logic, reasons, and purposes were.
In any argument that you come across, you are going to show the audience (if it’s one person or a larger group of people) that you are right and try to change their mind or make then look at the subject of topic differently. If King did not have the reader on his side it would have been extremely difficult to get the outcome he was looking for. The way that king was able to get the clergymen to listen to him was making himself their equals by saying, “I have honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia." (701). This was one of the strategies King was able to use. This allowed his audience and fellow clergymen to listen ...
Granted, both essays effectively implement both emotional and ethical appeal to the reader in order to be persuasive, and each, given the right conditions has the potential to be equally effective. But, given the conditions we are under, including the time frame, ("Civil Disobedience" was written over one hundred years before "Letter From a Birmingham Jail") King's essay, overall, features more of the characteristics, as well as the accessibility to produce a higher level of comprehension and relevance for the reader.
In the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to an article by eight clergymen, in which he explains the racial injustice in Birmingham, and reasons why King's organization is protesting for Civil Rights. He introduces himself and his actions at the beginning of his letter. He states that the purpose of his direct action protest is to open the door for negotiation on the Civil Rights. He tries to convince his audience by providing evidence in order to gain his audience to be involved in his movement and support him. He also highlights police actions against nonviolent Negros and crimes against humanity in Birmingham city jail.
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed towards him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from, “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern in particular that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” by clarifying that there are just and unjust laws. He also goes on to explain the difference between the two, the effect of unjust laws on the people that they are aimed towards, as
King’s letter was influenced by “Apology”, The Bible, and The Tanakh, some of the most important pieces of philosophical literature in history. Socrates in “Apology” is known to be one of the founders of Western philosophy because he was successful in challenging and persuading his audience. And it is because of Socrates, the art of philosophy is so successful today. King used this source to justify disobedience and defend his reason for his actions as an advocate of desegregation. The Bible and The Tanakh were used as Christian references to justify the moral justification of his actions.
In King's Letter, he clearly states his views and beliefs to not only stand up for himself, but also to stand up for equality and justice for all. His actions also show his commitment to his belief. King later goes on to tell how he was going to achieve his goal. He states that he will be doing it in a non-violent manner which was influenced by Mahatma Ghandi. He also says that this will be done in a well-thought-out, civilized manner. Next, he begins to show them some of the actions that the police force took, such as letting dogs loose on the people and their harsh treatment of the people. Dr. King states that he saw the dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. They refused the give them food because they wanted to sing
King begins his letter with an appeal to ethos. By saying “My dear Fellow Clergymen,” King forces himself to be
In Conclusion, A Letter from a Birmingham Jail met its intended purpose to those of the audience being the clergymen and the reader today. Martin Luther King, Jr. has proven himself to the clergymen of Alabama, in regards to his reasoning for a more equal nation. The bottom line is that every man was created equally, so we should all have the same rights as the next person. In my own opinion, I think the letter was very necessary. These men of faith were more focused on what man thought rather than their creator's. This piece by King is very affective to the reader as well as the audience. It is evident that Martin Luther King, Jr. works went unnoticed, because we are living in a mixed racial society. The reader is very affected by the letter's history and how it came to be.
King writes the letter to defend his organization's actions and the letter is also an appeal to the people, both the white and black American society, the social, political, and religious community, and the whole of American society to encourage desegregation and encourage solidarity and equality among all Americans, with no stratifications according to racial differences. King's letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the American society, particularly the political and religious community of the American society.
His argument did a great job of convincing me why the clergymen had flaws in their first statement and how to refute them well with different sort of argumentative tactics. King did a great job incorporating appeal to emotion, ethical appeal, appeal to reason and even use of language through word choice and metaphors into a strong argument.
In the introductory paragraph, King introduces his reason for writing the letter and details who the audience is to be. He explains that he rarely answers criticisms and gives his reasons for answering this particular one. This grabs the reader's attention in the first three sentences of the letter and establishes the importance of the document, intriguing the reader to keep reading what becomes a gripping and moving letter.
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 that would continue if there were no changes. It helps his audience to feel that they are a very powerful part of this issue, and that they can make a difference. Dr. King uses imagery in his writing that makes the audience visualize what he has seen.
King uses numerous biblical allusions to resonate with his clergymen audience and to make them realize that they were condemning a righteous movement. The vivid language in metaphors captures emotion and expands understanding. Mr. King was able to do anything to end the injustice in Birmingham and his commitment was shown in his tone.
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail) written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the three artistic appeals of Aristotle are plainly apparent, especially logos. Dr. King repeatedly appeals to logos (Ruszkiewicz) throughout the entire piece; particularly when he says he was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist then gradually gained a matter of satisfaction from the label. He is very impassioned in his language and tone in this part of the letter, yet still makes a strong argument for logic. Despite the overwhelming emotional and personal investment involved Dr. King still allows logic to prevail thus lending him a huge amount of credibility. As a member of the community being persecuted in this case, he might have had trouble remaining objective but clearly he doesn’t let his own pathos take center stage. All in all the use of logic and concise reasoning make a strong argument for the effectiveness of the letter in general.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and a civil rights activist during the mid 1950s Civil Rights movement. Dr. King was one of the major influencers in changing federal and state laws in the betterment, by removing segregational laws, of the African American community. Dr. King won a Nobel Peace Prize along with other awards for his involvement in raising awareness of the civil liberties being taken away from the African American community. One of the reasons why Dr. King was so influential in his movements, along with his speeches, was because he was able to communicate his and the African American community’s feelings towards segregation and use his orating and writing abilities to move that community into action. King was highly motivated to do what was right and did not care of the consequences of acting out towards his suppressors. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a perfect example of a time King uses his ability to communicate feelings into getting a large group of people to join his movement. Although his letter had little to no effect on the issues of Birmingham, since by the time the letter was written most issues had been resolved, it did help gain support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Letter from Birmingham Jail uses pathos to criticize the white church and gain sympathy for the atrocious acts committed towards the African American community to increase the white churches’ support for integration.