King's Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

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Lisa Nguyen Professor Carter English 1302.741 12 February 2015 Sympathetic Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written to address the public criticism he and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference received from eight clergymen. In his letter, King shows off his fiery emotion throughout his letter. However, King does not force his beliefs upon his readers. Rather, he hopes that his readers will see his perspective on the situation through an emotional appeal. If the readers are able to recognize the injustice and inequality suffered by the African American community, perhaps they can. The fourteenth and fifteenth paragraphs were a true testament to his passion and ambition for equal rights. King uses pathos …show more content…

When speaking of the fears that parents must face, King describes it as finding one’s “tongue twisted” and “speech stammering” (King pg.217). When addressing the fears “a African American,” King describes it as being “harried by day and haunted by night,” “forever fighting” to be more than skin color (King pg.218). All of these words are intentionally used to create alliterations throughout the paragraph, a technique King mainly uses in these two paragraphs. The alliteration does more than creates a smooth cadence that emphasizes King’s eloquence: it helps to connect specific details that King wants to stand out. All of the alliterations have one thing in common: they create a negative perspective on the life that African Americans must endure. The people are at a loss for words about the injustice they face on a daily basis in the first two examples. They are constantly shunned at every corner according to the third. And lastly, they are doomed to object their horrible lifestyle for eternity because no one will listen. King uses these examples in order to urge people to listen. He wants the white community to understand the cause he is fighting for, and he wants them to understand why. King implicitly lists the reasons with the use of the alliterations. Furthermore, these alliterations elicit an emotional response within the audience, as they all describe an oppressive state of being. This oppressive state of …show more content…

Dr. King notices that the clergymen are anxious over the black man’s “willingness to break laws” (King pg.218). He understands their anxiety over that issue. King then refers to the “Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools," praising it for its civil rights initiative (King pg.218). By mentioning the Supreme Court decision, he is reminding the reader that even a credible source such as the Supreme Court supports racial equality. Since most citizens are law abiding, the addition of the Supreme Court decision might convince the reader adopt the belief of racial equality. King then streamlines into a rhetorical question and answers the question. King writes, “One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying other laws” (King 218). This question is King admitting that his intention seems paradoxical since he urges people to follow “the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation," while he is apparently willing to break laws (King pg.218). He insists that it is not a paradox, but rather an acknowledgement of the distinction between “just and unjust” laws (King pg.218). He insists that everyone has a “legal” and “moral responsibility” to follow just laws, but one equally “has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King pg.218). In order to further provide evidence for his claims, King alludes to St.

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