Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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1. The opening paragraph presents itself with a respectful and gracious tone. King exhibits this when he addresses the audience as “my dear fellow clergymen” and by stating they are “men of genuine good will”. Considering that he wrote this in a jail cell, one could say King was not in the best mood. The numerous times he had tried to negotiate with members of the community had failed, so he could had been irritated. In those terms, one could argue that King sounded condescending, and seemed to be mocking the clergy men.
2. In paragraphs 2-4, King arranges the paragraphs in that order where is is establishing the qualification, purpose, and justification. His purpose in Birmingham is to fix the injustice. In the paragraphs, he establishes …show more content…

He proves his familiarity towards the topic he is speaking about because of his ability to reference to the scripture, showing that he is credible and a man of intellect. In the letter, he states that it is St. Thomas Aquinas who said that “an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law”, because St. Thomas Aquinas was of strong authority for the church. King establishes ethos from referencing to St. Thomas Aquinas, whom was a trusted figure. By quoting him, this validates King’s point even further. Besides ethos, King is able to establish pathos by referencing to biblical figures. In a response to King being called an extremist, he states “Was not Jesus an extremist for love?... Was not Amos an extremist for justice?... Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel... Was not Martin Luther an extremist... and John Bunyan”. Here King appeals to ethos because of relating his extremist actions to famous biblical figures along with their morals. This reference also evokes pathos when King says how three of the extremists were crucified for “the crime of extremism”. By relating himself to these figures, this makes the audience feel sympathetic for the mistreatment of King because of their prior understanding of the biblical

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