Comparison Of I Have A Dream And Letter From Birmingham Jail

Both the famous “I Have a Dream” speech—which demonstrates the nation’s failure in conserving democratic ideals for Black Americans—and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which refutes eight clergymen’s claims on the nonviolent civil rights movement, was written by activist Martin Luther King Jr. Though both pieces of work encourage the fight for social justice, there is heavy contrast of the style and content with regards to the form of medium, the audience, the rhetorical choices, and the purpose.
With the form of medium, one literary piece is delivered to live spectators by MLK himself and one is read by clergymen and similar audiences. Essentially, a verbal form considers the short-term memory of observers to engrain main ideas and keywords,

MLK utilizes an immense amount of highly specific references to Western leaders and also to the Bible because he is speaking to clergymen and possibly a class of white moderates/ church-goers. The specific biblical allusions paint MLK’s mission to God’s authority by identifying with popular figures and also to compare the “supposed evil” that the clergy considers his movement, to moral causes of the past. With these terms, he creates a strong argument refuting their claims of him being an extremist for not tolerating injustice, specifically comparing his attitude to Jesus, because he was “an extremist of love” or Paul for being “an extremist for Justice” (MLK 4). These references and jargon are familiar to the clergymen, so utilizing them deepens the understanding of the racial injustice issue in terms that they can identify. Explicitly, calling out their pacifist attitudes that contribute to the persistence of brutal crimes against African Americans and their continued disparity in society. MLK paints them as hypocrites that supposedly follow the ideals of love, equality, and justice in the Bible, but fail to demonstrate such ideals with their actions. Additionally, these references provide credibility to MLK’s education and roots in the church. Knowing the context of the letter—MLK being criticized for his civil rights movement and his residing in jail—he has to prove that he is in a position where his decisions and initiatives are calculated and not reckless. MLK is not a heretic. On the contrary, the use of ethos appeal in the “I have a dream speech” is through speaking strongly without conviction. MLK knows that people can sense doubt, so he demonstrates himself as a blazing leader that is certainly on the podium. In his speech, MLK used vivid language often paired with imagery to build his cause and define the problem, and pronouns such as “we” and “us” invoke