Analysis Of Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

Rhetorical Analysis: Letter from Birmingham City Jail “I think I should give my reason for being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of outsider’s coming in (King,1963).” Dr. King was the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and he was one of the most visible spokesperson. Dr. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” for the purpose of explaining why he was in a Birmingham, Alabama, jail and also talking about segregation and how hard it was on people. Dr. King’s letter shows how hard he was fighting for freedom, and how horrendous segregation was.

King lectured in all parts of the country and discussed race-related issues with religious and civil rights leaders at home and around the country. King became increasingly convinced that nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and the fight for equality. In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963 King’s campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned their dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators and protesters. King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, including hundreds of schoolchildren and hard working citizens. Although behind bars king refused to be silenced, while he was in the Birmingham jail he wrote a letter of eloquence in which spoke his reasoning of nonviolence:

We all know Martin Luther King Jr. ,right? We know him as the man who gave the “I Have a Dream” speech. Which was a step in the civil rights movement to fight for African American rights. Well, besides that monumental speech, he also wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail”.

From 1955-1968, African Americans in the south and other parts of the country begin to start a movement, called the Civil Rights Movement. This movement was to ensure that every African American and other minorities in the United States gained equality. Martin Luther King, Jr a popular civil rights leader wrote a letter during his time in jail which addressed the clergymen who criticized his actions with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Birmingham. In the letter Dr.King addresses the wrongdoings that African Americans suffer from and how he plans on attaining equality. Letter from Birmingham City Jail is a very important document which depicts information from post-slavery times in America, and birthed the Civil Rights Movement in the southern region of the United States.

In the “letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he uses pathos, logos and rhetorical devices such as imagery, sarcasm and biblical allusions to show how his work of nonviolent protests are smart and how Birmingham has violated their civil rights. He expresses himself in his letter by explaining why he can not wait any longer because of the countless murders, the unsolved bombing, lynching, and violence towards the black community. MLK Jr. came across a statement which was a call for unity by eight Clergymen while being in the Birmingham city jail because of him not having a license to protest. In response to the eight Clergymen, Dr. king decided to write a historical letter letting them know that freedom was not an option because of the false promise and the continued violence. The letter is written to inform the people who are against, neutral and with segregation that it is time to take action and prove to the clergymen why he will stand up for what is right.

JoAnna Guzman AP English Period 4 Mrs. Solis 5 February 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. letter “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a response to eight Alabama clergymen of 1963. The clergymen had accused King of being an “outsider” and interfering with the racial issues of the community of Birmingham. When writing in response to the eight clergymen from Alabama Martin Luther King Jr. uses the rhetorical device of historical and biblical allusions.

While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.

Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. It was during this time that Dr. King, refusing to sit idly by, wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” one of the most inspiring documents in history. With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, “A Call for Unity.” Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. Throughout the letter, Dr. King does a tremendous job of supporting his argument with the three elements of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeal.

Influencing the decision to be an activist against segregation, a black women refused to give up her seat to a white person and was later arrested and charged. After the bus incident, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a bus boycott and stated that the colored people have put up with the racism for too long leading to the famous speech, "I Have a Dream." In August of 1963, thousands and thousands of people stood at the Lincoln Memorial to listen to King's

One of many people who peacefully fought for civil rights was Martin Luther King Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” was a speech given on April 3, 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. gave this very grand, powerful speech to a church of people in Memphis, Tennessee. During the 1960’s the rights of African Americans were extremely limited and unfair.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses racial segregation and all the injustices to the black American society. He writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen, but it also became one of the most influential letters in defense of nonviolent movement ever written. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the country and the most violent. Even after segregation was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954. In Birmingham, white and black Americans were very much separate with “white only” hotels, restaurants, and even bathrooms.

On April 16th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. writes one of the most powerful and influential pieces in the nation’s history. King writes his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being sentenced to jail for protesting the mistreatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. King passionately writes to defend fighting against racism to his fellow clergymen and responds to their concerns about taking direct action. To make his argument, King utilizes a series of literary nonfiction forms to provide a realistic image to his audience. Through doing this, King makes his argument stronger and more appealing to his audience.