An Argument Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter

Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims. King strategically persuades

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from his jail cell in Birmingham after he was imprisoned during a march for civil rights. This letter was in response to one written by church leaders in Birmingham condemning the actions of Martin Luther King Jr. and his compatriots. They felt the march was “unwise and untimely” and expressed a belief that the problems he was protesting were better fought through the court system. Overall, Dr. King spoke about the necessity and process of non- violent direct action, just and unjust laws, and of his disappointment in the actions of the white moderate. He argued with the words and logic of a well-educated gentlemen to counteract the church’s argument which appealed to white moderates. Dr. King later in the document expresses disappointment in the white moderates and the church for their roundabout methods

In the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr addresses seven clergymen about a letter they wrote about King and his demonstrations with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King addresses these clergymen in a professional manner, but he also states the reasons why he and the rest of the protesters are protesting. Even though people have different views of the world, everyone has the same hopes and dreams for their country to be perfect.

King just wants to see the “immoral end of flagrant racial injustice” (paragraph 3, King) he has stated this often throughout his whole letter to his fellow clergymen. I feel that he states this as kind of a statement that he will not stop till eventually they are free of racial injustice. Throughout his letter he uses a lot of different word choice, some of this helps him create imagery to explain more in depth. He uses his imagery to compel the reader into listening. Some examples of his imagery would be when he stated: “Before the pen of Thomas Jefferson etched across the pages of history…we were here” (paragraph 1, King)

King shows Ethos in his letter by writing back to the clergy men who had objections against King’s protest in Birmingham. They basically called him an outsider but by establishing his credibility, King shows that he is in fact an

These two paragraphs show, truly, how and why segregation was an unjust law without going into segregation itself, this is another reason I think that paragraphs 6 and 7 are the strongest in this letter. These paragraphs mention segregation and talk about a situation of segregation, but they never go into great detail on segregation. They merely talk about what makes a law unjust or just and with that they prove segregation was unjust. I think that because King can prove that segregation is an unjust law without going into segregation itself is amazing and that it helped to strengthen both his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and civil rights

He was speaking out toward the clergy, by telling them he was doing nothing wrong wanting social justice. Although some may think differently, pathos and kairos are the most effective devices in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail,” because pathos triggers feelings of shame and guilt, and kairos adds a state of urgency. Pathos is used frequently in the excerpt to evoke shame and guilt in the white clergy. The clergy believes King’s present activities are “unwise and untimely.” He feels the men of the clergy, “are men of genuine good will and” their “criticisms are sincerely set forth.”

- The clergymen because they had good will. Discuss Dr. King’s use of allusions throughout the text. How do they strengthen his argument and underscore his overall message? - In what ways does the “letter” attack the clergymen even when being outwardly deferential towards them?

Essay #2: Argumentative Analysis Martin Luther King Jr. introduced a very controversial argument about why he believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(264). In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King stated that justice is never given by the oppressor and the reason why his protests were very relevant and wise was because the issues needed to be addressed right then and not later. Moving along throughout his entire letter his primary thesis seemed to be that if the people wanted to be free from racial injustice they needed to participate in nonviolent protests. Given his setting and atmosphere, MLK did an extremely impressive job of using kairos and other rhetorical techniques in his piece.

In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to “A Call for Unity,” a declaration by eight clergymen, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. Through powerful, emotionally-loaded diction, syntax, and figurative language, King adopts a disheartened tone later shifts into a determined tone in order to express and reflect on his disappointment with the church’s inaction and his goals for the future. King begins this section by bluntly stating that he is “greatly disappointed” (33) with the church, though he “will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen” (33). By appealing to ethos and informing the audience of his history with the church, he indicates that he is not criticizing the church for his own sake, but for the good of the church.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, uses the lense of social power in order to get his thoughts across. Social power is the degree of influence that an individual or organization has among their peers and within their society as a whole. This idea is illustrated throughout his letter to show the significance of the disabilities and unfair treatment the black community has faced for the entirety of their existence. African americans have never been able to gain the respect from others they deserve due to the idea that other races have more power on them simply due to the color of their skin. Martin Luther King is able to express these ideas by referencing multiple examples as to how social power has negatively affected their societal presence for many years.

A "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" (1963), by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in response to a letter published by Alabama clerics. This time he will respond with all his heart to this cynical oppression. In the course of the letter King makes extensive allusions to multiple philosophers, including Aquinas and Socrates. King's work has only one objective: the protection of civil disobedience as a form of protest that the Civil Rights Movement could continue in an unencumbered way despite this singularity of purpose, the complexity of the situation meant that it was "A Call for Unity" published by the eight clergymen. Immoral and immoral mentions drew the attention of the Minister through the letter, and were expressed by different points

King starts this by adding to his letter by challenging the claim that their actions “must be condemned because they precipitate violence” (5).King displays that the statement blames the demonstrators, which he condemns illogical due to lack of valid support. He then productively demonstrates juxtaposition and compares this claim to “condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery”, or “condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock”, or even “condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucification” (6). Providing these concrete ideas, King leaves his listeners no room for questioning his validity with his statements. He leaves the clergymen with a solid idea of what his mission for Civil Right is. By challenging the statement and proving otherwise, King adequately justifies his claim to the clergymen that he is not responsible for precipitating any

On August 28 tons of people gathered to support Martin Luther King Jrs civil rights movement(Jajoubek 82). The civil rights movement was to help African American equal rights just like everyone else. It was in a nonviolent way so it did not hurt anybody all African Americans wanted was a change in the way they were respected and the rights they were given. Both Martin Luther King Jrs grandfather and father were Baptist Preachers, they were very peaceful people and never tried to harm anyone("Martin"). Martin Luther King Jr was a respectful person and would never try to harm anyone he always tried to bring peace to the world and bring equal rights but not everyone liked that.

When a federal injunction was put into place to prevent the protest without permission of the city, Martin Luther King Jr. persevered and decided to go on with the campaign. He got arrested for heading the demonstration and was in jail for eight days. When King heard of the eight clergymen who wrote a letter criticizing the direct action campaign, he began to write his well-known Letter from a Birmingham Jail. One of the tactics he uses to get people to agree with him is he uses emotion to get people’s attention. An example of this comes from paragraph eleven in which the main focus is a lengthy sentence devoted to naming the struggles African Americans endured during that time.