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Analysis of martin luther king's letter
Analysis of martin luther king letter from birmingham
Analysis of martin luther king letter from birmingham
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Confined to a “narrow jail cell” (9), King admits to writing a rather long letter. With this letter he attempts to appeal to his audience’s logic with reason and ridicule. He explains the reasons to justify his actions and move them to realize that his efforts for equality were in fact peaceful and it was in fact the law and those who enforce it that were in the wrong.
King tries to reason with his audience to make them realize that what they are doing is morally wrong even though at the time it may have been legally allowed.”Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (3). He demonstrated how the laws that were in place at that moment affected in multiple levels the African Americans,
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At one point, he mentions how he feels more and more that “the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will”(5), meaning those who continue to oppress the African Americans have used their time to their own advantage, not for good, but instead, for their own selfish benefit. Meanwhile, those who fight for equality have spent hours, days, even years, but no results. King even goes to mention Adolf Hitler and everything he did in Germany which was seen as “legal” but yet what “Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal’” (4). The ridicule of that is how much damage and hurt he caused to Jews because of the hate he had towards them and it being seen as “correct” yet others who were trying to achieve something for themselves were seen as doing an illegal act. Also, the example of old people and children getting beat, “if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys…”(8). He felt the need to show how ridiculous colored men, women, and children are treated by policemen to show that they’re not what they make themselves out to be. They get mistreated by the same people that get commended by others for having everything in
Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", was written to answer a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in Birmingham. The clergymen were critical of King for "interloping" in the activities of their city. Dr. King said that he had every right to fight unfairness in the country that he lived in. The letter he wrote, in response to the "Call for Unity", and a statement that he would battle racial inequality wherever it was. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was the main point in his life. In this letter, he perfectly described his reasons why he felt this way, appealing to logic, emotion, and ethics.
King proceeds to the latter part of his speech by declaring the need for peaceful resistance. His analogies of man “carving highways of death in the stratosphere” (3) and how non peaceful defiance will contribute to “a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation” (3) soundly depicts his ideals of how African Americans should reach true freedom and equality only through pacifism. He mandates this passiveness in order to bring about change insightfully because his goal is not to wage war against their oppressors but to defeat the evil sentiment held by the nation. King’s remarkable aptitude and brilliant intuition in his dialogue enables the reader to appreciate and concede to his ideals.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. uses a catalogue of personal experiences in order to appeal to the emotions of the reader, also called pathos, by utilizing concrete language, semicolons, and lengthy sentences. He not only entices the emotions of the fellow clergymen he is addressing, but also society in general, attempting to reveal the true situation of the oppressed Negroes during this time in the Civil Rights Movement.
The letter from Birmingham jail by Dr. Marin Luther King was written as a response of King to nine criticisms made against the Southern Christian leaders and King’s participation in demonstration in Birmingham. King handled many rhetorical devices to convince his opponents such as the white clergymen with his rights to protest, create tension for direct action and to achieve the racial justice. The devices fluctuate between Logos, Pathos and Ethos in a clever way to appeal to his audience and criticize them at the same time. King provided logical supports such as biblical figures, historical and philosophical references. In addition, he used verities of metaphors, allergy and poetic language. In my essay, I will point out some of the rhetorical devices and
In the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds to an article by eight clergymen, in which he explains the racial injustice in Birmingham, and reasons why King's organization is protesting for Civil Rights. He introduces himself and his actions at the beginning of his letter. He states that the purpose of his direct action protest is to open the door for negotiation on the Civil Rights. He tries to convince his audience by providing evidence in order to gain his audience to be involved in his movement and support him. He also highlights police actions against nonviolent Negros and crimes against humanity in Birmingham city jail.
To prove his point of what he is mentioning he used Categorical Syllogism for example all people have rights. All African Americans are people; therefore, all African Americans have rights. Thus King wanted to change how people look at African American not as slaves, but just human beings just like the Caucasian people. Injustice laws and justice laws are two different laws how King was mentioning how their laws were injustice because they were treating the colored people without respect, and like if they are
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
With this intention in mind, he brings up the notion that unjust laws are meant to be broken if the person breaking them has accepted the consequences or if breaking the law is for the bettering of society. King believed that if you break a law that your conscience deemed unjust and accept the punishment in order to make people think about the injustice that the law set in place, you have the highest respect for the law. As stated in the prior paragraph, King refers to the voting system in the state of Alabama and how it is corrupt. The way laws are being voted upon make them unjust, and, therefore, set a baseline for them to be broken. Towards the end of the passage, King brings to light how the police officers were commended for their actions of keeping the protesters in “order and preventing violence”. The white community believed that all laws were just because they did not negatively affect their lives. The black community speaking out and protesting against laws they viewed as unjust were perceived as obscene by the white community. This point of view demonstrates Kings beliefs that unjust laws are breakable, because while the white community in Alabama saw such protests as obscene and unneeded, the rest of the country tuned in to watch everything unfold.
... questioning the virtue of vapid judgment, and the merit and efficaciousness of abeyance. This paper has specifically examined his reaction to accusations of civil disobedience, extremism, and admonitions favoring quietism, and the impact his retaliations had on the goal of equality in America. While misrepresentation turns out to be the opposition’s most formidable tool, history, logic and rhetoric serve as King’s strongest allies, allowing him to turn the tenuous arguments of his critics into a formidable bulwark. The letter’s greatest impact on the audience is King’s disambiguation of fact and myth. The fact that his letter was widely publicized proved invaluable to the cause as well. But beyond this, King’s rhetoric allows no room for opposition, only for defense, leaving those in disharmony with his words on the side of immorality, injustice, and villainy.
In 1963, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the South, so civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. brought his campaign of nonviolent resistance to Birmingham. After leading a demonstration on April 12, 1963, King was arrested for violating demonstration ordinances. Shortly after, eight white clergymen in Birmingham sent out a public statement claiming that although they support desegregation, they advise against anymore protests advocated by King, stating that the “demonstrations are unwise and untimely” (Carpenter et al,). While in jail, King took an opportunity to continue his campaign by responding to these eight white clergymen. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King uses religious and philosophical allusions to
This letter was primarily written towards the clergymen, but is viewed by the the entire nation. King was sent to jail for parading around town without a permit. The eight days spent in jail allowed him to develop this letter to refute the clergymen. In his letter, King’s heart and soul was poured into this letter which can be seen through the length and the way he articulated himself towards the issue of segregation and racial injustice.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King is able to effectively argue against criticisms through the use of passionate and calm tones, vivid metaphors, and biblical and historical allusions. King uses numerous biblical allusions to resonate with his clergymen audience and to make them realize that they were condemning a righteous movement. The vivid language in metaphors captures emotion and expands understanding. Mr. King was able to do anything to end the injustice in Birmingham and his commitment was shown in his tone.
More specifically, he contrasts moral and immoral words in the twenty fifth paragraph as he rebuts the statement that the protesters should be punished for precipitating violence to show that this is clearly not right. The moral words “peaceful” and “truth” describe the protestors moral and legal actions, while characterizing the allegation as absurd and incorrect with words like “misguided” and “wrong.” This makes it clear that it is in no way logical that a group of people should be punished for agitating another, leading to violence. Finding and promoting truth and justice is one of King’s predominant goals in this letter and this is epitomized in the
King said, “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”.” I thought this was a great analogy because after he talked about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence related to equality for everyone it helped explain further just how bad the segregation was and he compared it to something anyone could experience. This really made me think about how bad things were but not only that, how it can still be related to today. It also made me upset that they felt like they were “given a bad check” by America especially since it is stated in the Constitution that all men are created equal.
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this