Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos- …show more content…
This is an imagery for the life of Negro people and that blacks were living a life no better than a jail because they were labeled as “colored”. He also stated, “It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative” (King). The white had taken over the power of the country, left the blacks with no choice but to …show more content…
King had gained respect from some audience because of his soft tone. He established his ethos to readers, especially to the white, by saying, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.). To connect his idea to the real world, he used the image of Apostle Paul left the village to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ as it’s his duty to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his hometown. He explained in his text that anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered as the outsider (King). By saying this, he created logic that there was a connection between people to people. He also explained that the reason he was there because injustice in Birmingham was calling for him. In the letter, he wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere… Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea”
King reminds the reader that racial injustices engulf the community by stating, “Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the united states. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatments in the courts. There have been many bombings of Negro homes and Churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are hard, brutal facts.”
King, through his appeal to logos, elucidates the purpose of this letter by presenting rational concepts reinforced by germane examples to challenge the clergymen’s erroneous accusations and acknowledge misunderstandings of his purpose of direct action. When unfairly accused of being an outsider, King explains that he is “here because [he has] organization ties here. [and] because injustice here” (2-3). Incorporating a description of his leadership over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he does not permit leeway for additional inquiries about his situation in this city.... ... middle of paper ...
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written in 1963 by Martin Luther King, Jr. During this period, the African Americans were involved in a battle for white and black equality. This is evident from the vocabulary used by King including “Negro” which was common during that period but not used commonly afterwards. Moreover, the letter’s context tells it argues that King wanted was African Americans to have freedom. The letter’s purpose is that King wants to persuade the clergymen what he together with his people were demonstrating since it was extremely necessary during that period. In achieving this, King utilizes persuasive and condemnatory tones so that the reader can consent with him. King Luther King, the author of Letter from Birmingham Jail, presents a valid argument through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos in the entire piece with the intention of explaining his actions and changing the audience’s opinions.
“When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. That quote by King explains his fatherly struggle which he felt by not being able to provide. King is relating to the pit forming in the stomach, caused by a situation where they have to disappoint. For the Clergymen, it relates to having to upset his city when he is unable to provide their wants. For the white, it relates to having a family, wanting to provide and give them everything you can. Having to let someone down is not a positive feeling and I would not wish that upon anyone, whether black or white. The white’s could picture their own child on their favorite ride, the excitement bubbling inside of them, and the satisfaction of seeing your child so happy. That emotion was crushed and snagged away from Kings daughter before she even experienced it. He relates to the reader through love of family and wanting to provide when providing is seen as your
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He wrote the article “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which was published May 12, 1963 in the New York Post Sunday Magazine. King uses metaphors in the letter to question the audience from a passionate and unpassionate view. Also puts figurative language and a demanding tone to make the audience join his anti-racist movement.
wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail with a more literary kind of antithesis to express the need for the fellowship of the black people and the white people. In the fourth paragraph, King made the statement, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere”; the marginalization of one group and their rights showed that other groups were willing to oppress one another, and this should have been seen as a threat (Letter from a Birmingham). Using this antithesis gave King the ability to tug at the clergymen’s heartstrings, as they at the very least advocated for their own justice and wanted it left untouched. Similarly, while elaborating on the need for justice, King wrote, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, paragraph four). Only those in the focus would feel the immediate shock, but all would feel the aftermath, and by turning the phrase on itself and telling that anything that harms one, harms all, King created a sense of urgency, for the clergy didn’t want the side effects of something that otherwise didn’t affect them. In another account of King attempting to show the need for change, he noted, “... Our beloved Southland has been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, paragraph ten). Many called the South home; however, the purported greatness of their homeland was only suffering due to the parochial views that caused the citizens to rather read their own soliloquies than participate in the drama unfolding before them. This carried much of an emotional effect, as King’s target audience consisted of southerners -- such a powerful statement had the ability to hit them close to home and truly open their eyes to the sins committed. By employing the use of antitheses, King was able to show the contrast between the different sides of the same moral coin and
In this way, King’s letter in fact served a fourfold purpose: to establish himself as a legitimate authority in the eyes of his audience, to show the trials of the black in America, to justify his cause, and to argue the necessity of immediate action. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter, written to the clergymen from Birmingham Prison, he uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos to establish his credibility on the subject of racial discrimination and injustice. He starts off the letter with “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. By him saying this, he is putting himself on the same “level” as the clergymen, sending the message that he is no less than them, and they are no better than him. He then goes on to say, “I am here because I have organizational ties here.
King’s critics wrote that he was “unwise and untimely” in his pursuit of direct action and that he ought to have ‘waited’ for change, King explains that “This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never’”. This short statement hits home especially when followed up with a lengthy paragraph detailing injustices done towards African Americans, including lynching and drowning. In his descriptions King uses familial terms such as ‘mother’ and ‘father’, which are words that typically elicit an emotional response from an audience, to picture ones family in such terrible situations would surely drive home the idea that the African American community cannot ‘wait’ anymore for a freedom that will probably never be given to them
Eight Alabama clergymen made a public statement directed towards Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. containing many criticisms against the civil rights movement. The criticisms were as follows: (1) The issue of race relations should be handled by local leaders instead of “outsiders” like himself. (2) Pressing the court and negotiation among local leaders is a better path. (3) The Negro community should be more patient, for the workings of the legal system take time. (4) The demonstrations are “unwise and untimely.” (5) The methods used by demonstrators are extreme and (6) If it weren’t for the police, your demonstrations would have turned violent. As a result, King, while imprisoned in the Birmingham City Jail, wrote them a lengthy letter that refuted all of the aforementioned criticisms and then proceeded to express his disappointment in them for saying such things. Through his skillful use of diction, anaphoras, rhetorical appeals, and syntax, King successfully achieves his purposes: to refute claims made by the eight clergymen while justifying his reasons for the demonstrations he lead and to encourage the clergymen to join his cause.
Martin Luther King, Jr. wants to be the spokesperson of the African American community in the United States of America. His intention is to prove his opponents he has sufficient authority to promote the civil rights cause on behalf of his community. The first example that illustrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s use of this strategy is present in the second paragraph of his letter: "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference". Thus, he reminds his interlocutors of his position of leadership in the religious community....
In addressing and confronting the problem of injustices among the black Americans in the American society, particularly the violence that had happened in Birmingham, and generally, the inequality and racial prejudice happening in his American society, King argues his position by using both moral, social, and political references and logic for his arguments to be considered valid and agreeable.
In his "Letter," Martin Luther King Jr.'s ability to effectively use pathos, or to appeal to the emotions of his audiences, is evident in a variety of places. More particularly in paragraph fourteen, King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, invoke empathy in the hearts of white moderates, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.
King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to eight clergyman. In Birmingham the racial discrimination was active thus he moved to Birmingham to abolished the racial segregation. there, he got arrested for protesting against the racial discrimination. Their demand for equality was never fulfilled despite their nonviolence action. He states, "oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. the yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro (349). American africans were separated from whites. Whites were considered superior and American Africans were inferior. The colored children goes to different parks, school. They were not accepted to white school. A colored mother says, "tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children" (345).
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr, responds to various criticisms directed against him by the white Clergymen. King responds to the criticisms in a professional manner but with a twist. He uses a respectable tone since they are men of good will. The white Clergymen publish an open letter about the racial problems in Alabama. The letter was direct to the outsider of their community, which was King. King agrees with some of the main points that the Clergymen said, but he turns what they say around on them. He uses important people and symbols to make his point across. Two criticisms that King uses are “unwise and untimely” and “tension”. For example, the Clergymen show how the police are doing their job as good law enforcers.
The idea of the interconnectedness of all is seen in the third paragraph, where he notes that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. He explains that we are “caught in an inescapable network” and thus, we cannot “afford to live” in ignorance of injustice occurring outside of one’s hometown; however, inaction has caused a need for a “nonviolent campaign”. King expresses this as a four step process where all steps have been taken and proves that there is a need for change in the “the most thoroughly segregated city” in America. He uses strong language to explain the “grossly unjust” treatment and “ugly record of brutality” in Birmingham that the city fathers” continuously ignore. Despite being “victims of broken promises”, the Negro community “began a series of workshops on nonviolence” for a direct action program. King explains that they had planned the program so that it would bring a “pressure” for