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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” during 1963, in this time frame African Americans were fighting the rest of the population for civil rights. We can see this from the vocabulary MLK uses, like “Negro”, which was majority used when African Americans were not seen as equals. We can also see this through the context of the letter; that he wants freedom for African Americans. The purpose of the letter he wrote in jail, is to convince the clergyman that he and his "people" acted out because their actions were necessary at that time. When doing this, he used condemnatory and persuasive tones to try to persuade the reader to his point of view. Martin Luther King uses Logos, Pathos, and Ethos throughout his piece to provide his argument.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
Argumentation has followed humans from the dawn of time as a way for us to express our ideas and for our ideas to be heard. People naturally obtain the knowledge to persuade others, either backing their opinions by fact or touching others emotionally, from growing up and through their own experiences in life. We can be persuaded by a numerous amounts of different factors pertaining to the argument. There are four different types of strategies in which an argument can be presented and make the argument effective. Martin Luther King is a key example of the utilization of the strategies as he wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Nicholas Carr also portrays the strategies with his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Both authors perfectly
In Martin Luther King Junior's Letter from Birmingham Jail, King responds to a public statement made by eight Alabama clergymen about African Americans being too extreme and their actions untimely. In this public statement, made on the twelfth of April, 1963, the clergymen also commended the police on their control of the situation. Four days later, King writes a letter showing his opinion on the statements while he sits in the Birmingham jail for parading without a permit. King carefully uses rhetorical devices to force the clergymen to realize that they are the ones responsible for teaching morals. King uses figurative language to create pathos in his audience of Alabama Clergymen
King utilizes the rhetorical strategy of ethos to justify his presence in Birmingham to the white clergymen. He was in Birmingham to help the civil rights movement, using peaceful protests. While he resided in jail for parading without a permit he received a letter from a group of clergymen. These clergymen told King that he should not be using such drastic means to achieve his goal of equality. King peacefully replies with his Letter From Birmingham Jail proving to these men that he had every right to be in their city.
Imagine being beaten, thrown in jail, and denied your basic human rights. This is the exact pain and suffering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went through during his fight for African American rights. Dr. King was an educated African American preacher and civil rights leader. By writing this letter, he is able to show what life was like for an African American at this point in history. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is effective at convincing the audience that segregation is wrong and that colored people should have the same rights as all others.
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
Christine Resey Horn POLS101 Derek Carver 5/1/14 Martin Luther King “Letter from Birmingham Jail” What put King behind bars? Martin Luther King was placed behind bars for his bravery. He stood up for the sake of his people, for a better lifestyle, and for equality. As stated, “Martin Luther King was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama.” He was put into jail for committing a very thoughtful act that he knew would one day make a difference in the world.
In the reading of Essays by Joseph Kelly, I read Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I learned a lot about what he is trying to accomplish. In this essay he is writing to the people about their concerns and is trying to bring them forward. The clergymen that he came to Birmingham jail to cause trouble, which isn’t helping anyone at all. Dr. Martin is trying to bring justice to the black men to try to get people to understand they are the same men. He states that the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was invited to Birmingham because of their racial acts. The SCLC held out their actions because of the Mayoral Elections were going on. The Clergyman believes that the SCLC came at an untimely manner. Which
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963, in Birmingham, for having a protest without a proper permit. On the exact day King was arrested, eight clergymen from Alabama wrote a letter called “A Call for Unity.” The letter called for termination of civil activities and demonstrations and designated King an “outsider” and saying that outsiders were the problems in Birmingham and not the blacks that are from there. On April 16 King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which was his responds to his fellow clergymen. He wrote the letter as a means to convince the clergymen and the white moderate that the nonviolent demonstrations that had got him arrested, were a necessity and to enlighten them on why the segregation laws in the southern states needed to be changed. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the clergymen and convince them in assisting him in putting an end to segregation laws of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama.
"Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham.
Now seen as one of the most influential men in history, Martin Luther King was known for doing so much for the cvil rights movement. From implementing sit-ins to marches, every one of his acts had one belief in common: civil disobedience. As a free society, we have this right of free speech. We have been blessed with the right to protest, but we do not have the right to protest with violence. King understood that nothing will ever be accomplished with guns and warfare, but with words. In his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", King does not conclude his letter with harsh threats of violence. His ending quote was not one of bloodshed, but one of peace as he said: "yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood". He knew that peace was their goal, and the only path to that was peace itself. He was a law abiding citizen, even when the laws were against him, and he fought for his cause continuing that law-abiding belief. At some points in his fight, he had to accept his punishment, "An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality
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.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
Throughout history and in recent time, there have been many events and protests that have gained attention from every aspect. These protests have happened for the hope of a peaceful world and the good of mankind. These stimulus events and people include the Florida mass shooting, NFL players kneeling, Martin Luther King Jr, and Josephine Baker. With the attention gained by these protests nationwide and throughout history, they have had many positive effects. Therefore, the methods of protests used in these various cases are effective in representing the goals of these demonstrations.