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Influences on martin luther king
Influences on martin luther king
Influences on martin luther king
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In order to reveal his ethos to the clergymen, King provides his knowledge of historical religious leaders, and the Christian church by asserting a quote from a Christian philosopher, Paul Tillich. When describing segregation to his audience, King states, “Paul Tillich said that sin is separation” (209). This idea regarding the separation of individuals in society is used to support the evil nature and unjust treatment to African Americans. He is able to clearly convey his motives for proper treatment and equality for all individuals through the words of a well know and influential Christian individual. By connecting his claim to religion, King establishes his credibility and knowledge of religion, keeping in mind his audience of clergymen. Another way King establishes ethos is by comparing his actions to religious prophets, such as the Apostle Paul. By doing so he is conveying his knowledge about the gospel and its history which appeals to the clergymen and their Christian background. King composes, “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid” (204). The Apostle Paul’s key role in history was carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the land. Similarly to Paul, King explains that he is, “compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond [his] own home town” (204). The use of ethos developed by King …show more content…
Like himself, Jesus was known as an extremist yet his actions were, and continue to be admired in society. King strengthens his argument regarding extremism by stating, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love…” (214). He is regarded as one of the most influential individuals in society, yet he pursued his actions in the same type of manner as King. Like King, Jesus Christ was motivated by, “love, truth, and goodness…” (214). King is able to defend his own actions and appeal to his audience by relating his civil disobedient acts to a well admired biblical
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses his personal experience to convince others of the importance of revising the segregation laws that were in place during 1960’s. In paragraphs 13 and 14 in particular, there is a lot of language used to persuade the reader’s opinions and emotions toward King’s argument. He does this not only convince his fellow clergymen, but to inform others of the reality that African Americans faced in the 60’s.
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 ...
...g this King has gave himself a trustworthy reason for his actions and gave the clergymen more reason to agree with him. This use of ethos is masterfully because how can he be an “outsider” when he is the president of the conference. He is a clergyman writing to other clergymen, but he is also a part of an organization with a chapter in their state.
King's allusions cause the reader to want to take action against injustice, whereas Thoreau's are darker -- more likely to make the reader want to submit to and accept the injustices portrayed. For example, King, in his first biblical allusion, manages to draw glory into his struggle by comparing himself with the Apostle Paul, feeling "compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town," just as Paul "left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city in the Graeco-Roman world. . " This stirs admiration in the reader for King and adds relevance to his struggle. Later King discusses the history of his style of civil disobedience by relating the tale of "Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks, before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire."... ...
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.
The Report of King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” a letter addressing eight Alabama Clergymen, depicts King’s response to their public. During the time King articulated his response, Birmingham Jail had imprisoned him for not following the court order to cease his protests against segregation. In his rebuttal against their public statement King masters the art of an argument. King’s mastery of argument shines through when looking at his capability of addressing every side of an argument, his ability to use analogies, and his easily understandable repetition.
The more he thought about it though, the more he started to embrace the label. In this anaphoric and parallel statement, King uses ethos to explain why being an extremist could be good: “Was not Jesus an extremist for love [...] Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel [...] Was not Martin Luther an extremist” Here, King uses well known figures dealing with Christianity who all practiced civil disobedience and changed the world for the better. He is telling the clergymen that he is like those aforementioned men in that he is an extremist for a positive cause and they can be
...church. With each claim the clergymen provided, King refuted their claim with evidence and more by describing what should be done with segregation laws. King’s tone in this piece was appropriate because he did not come off as someone who wanted to spread hate and prove the clergymen wrong. He genuinely wanted to change their views and show them the flaws of society regarding policemen and even the church. His tone was not threatening or spiteful, he made sure to address that he was trying to come off as respectful and concerned.
...r. “Niebuhr’s great contribution to contemporary theology is that he has refuted the false optimism characteristic of a great segment of Protestant liberalism.” King found Niebuhr’s critique of pacifism challenging, yet he was fascinated with Niebuhr’s awareness “of the complexity of human motives and the relation between morality and power.” King was intrigued with his teachings of human nature and behavior. This was the foundation of Kings later perspective as he optimistically believing humanity could solve its own social problems; including the social ails of racism. It is unquestionable the ideals of Niebuhr impacted King’s understanding of sin and how it is related to power in a powerless situation. It was these concepts that allowed King to develop an understanding of group behavior, human motivations, and the undeniable link between power and ethics.
In 1963, Martin Luther King wrote a response to clergymen who criticized his actions while he was stuck in the Birmingham city jail. This letter, titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, was written on the side of a newspaper and secretly taken out of jail by King’s lawyer. The goal of this letter was to address and confront concerns that were brought up in the clergymen’s letter titled, “A Call for Unity”. In “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King asserts a strong emotional appeal on the clergymen who oppose his actions by placing guilt on them when he inserts Biblical references periodically throughout his letter.
In his letter, Martin Luther King is trying to persuade his readers to understand his action and point of view of an African-American living in this era. He did so all while replying to the public published statement and criticisms written to him by the eight Alabama clergymen. This illuminating work of art that King had created was filled with heightened terminology which was gratified by his precise framework. By King writing this response letter with such high dialect, it reflects off of his determined and highly educated mentality immensely. In this letter King directly tries to build a connection
Even though they both achieve their goal of captivating their audiences’ attention, they achieve it differently. Whereas X achieves it by using a conversational style, King achieves it by using a sophisticated style. King has respect to the audience to whom he is addressing; therefore, his rhetoric needs to reflect that respect; the respect that the people from God deserve. In order for him to be taken seriously by the clergymen, he must show them that he is one of them through his writing. We can see how King reflects his respect to them when he writes, “Since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth…” His respect is accompanied with a sophisticated tone which makes him stand out and shows his audience the type of person who he really is. As King writes: “On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South 's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward.” Over all, his rhetoric is focused, addressed, and specifically used towards his audience; to show the clergymen that they all held the same position and
The injustice of segregation laws is leading to a violent impact throughout the African American community, as they strive to have equal rights. In the essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. describes the many struggles the African American community is going through. Dr. King effectively uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust and must end. Dr. King exemplifies his credibility as an advocate for the ending of segregation laws. He gives an example of how society should realize that there is no need for violence by comparing both Socrates’ and his techniques.
Martin Luther King Jr begins his essay with “My Dear Fellow Clergyman” in an attempt to form a sense of parity between himself and the men being addressed. More ever, he says that he believes that these criticisms are “sincerely set forth” and the men are “of genuine good”. Through this, he applies a Rogerian tactic, where the writer attempts to find a common ground as an alternative to further dividing the sides. His demonstration of equality due to the inter-connectedness of all people is a central idea of the entire letter. He notes that his “secretaries” can’t answer the amount of tedious “criticisms that cross [his] desk” since “constructive work” requires superior attention. In the informational second paragraph, King, “the president
This essay is very influential from the start to the very end. He uses terms that make oppression seem to terrible, to make them feel bad about what they let happen. King seems very successful in capturing the audience that he intended to capture through stating scripture to draw in the Christians, words that are used to describe things that would be so much worse; like using evil to describe oppression or unjust, to writing it down in an obvious form that everyone could understand. He left them with very powerful messages that will linger in their minds until they cannot take it anymore, until they see that it is actually wrong and do something to fix the justice system to which they are governed under. By leaving with that thought of mind, he was very successful in getting his point through to all he intended it for.