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Essay On King Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Assignment 3.08 I.King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a prime example of how to construct an effective edict. II. The precise construction of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" had the intended effect of awakening his fellow clergy to become responsive to the plight of African Americans. Instead of alienating them at the beginning of the letter. A. King responds to his fellow clergy in the first paragraph of his letter with a pacifying tone, (Paraphrase) When he expresses they are also sincere in their beliefs and critiques of his protests, so he will honor them with a justifiable debate. B. In his letter directed to fellow clergy, King puts forth his dispute in a strategic fashion. Whereas, if you turn off your audience from the get-go …show more content…

To clarify, King lets fellow members of the church realize that his actions did not initiate the problem of racial segregation. Indeed, this was in fact, his calling. Moreover, he had hoped pastors would be reminded that the church, by remaining silent, became complicit in the crimes against African Americans. Thereby they should stand with him the nonviolent protests, he engaged in. III. Martin Luther King complemented the structure of his letter with specific language. Akin to an effusive eruption of a volcano; one that lava slowly oozes from the peak. A. Notably, King initiated his letter with soothing words. Such as patient, goodwill and non-violent. B.Then for instance, in his third paragraph, he added smoldering word content. Smothering, bitterness, and impunity to name a few. In detail emitting a phrase like this, "Plunged into an abyss of injustice." King was confident that if this type of rhetoric did not deliver: nothing would. C. Directing his words of molten sparks specifically to other pastors King spews out this truth: There was a time when the Church was very powerful … In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of

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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.

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King first shows the intended audience why exactly he is writing this letter then builds on his previous experiences and intentions. In very first paragraph he says that because of the criticisms that the clergyman wrote were “sincerely set forth”(214) that he decided to write the letter. He then uses his position as President of the SCLU to explain that he is in Birmingham “because injustice is here”(214). After fully explaining why he is there he builds into his support and leadership of direct action to help end discrimination. Direct action is the first step after negotiations fail to get support for a cause, mainly civil rights.

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Similarly, by implementing passages that contradict the claims of the clergyman and include complex puns, such as when he addresses there accusation that he is an extremist, he claims that the question is not whether he is an extremist or not, just what kind he will as he names “Jesus Christ as an extremist for love, truth and goodness…”, King indirectly targets the church as a secondary audience. In convincing the church of the necessity of their involvement, King is actually referring to all Christians to “rejoice at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believe(d)” and abandon the metaphoric thermometer(passively recording popular opinion) they have adopted. Moreover, he utilizes detailed descriptions of tragic situations endured by his fellow African Americans to evoke pathos from the primary and secondary audiences. In reestablishing the “psalm of brotherhood” King’s letter intent is to convince the American society of the

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In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

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In King’s letter, he states, “We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” Funny thing is he had lots of time to think about and write this letter. He wanted this letter to encourage and bring up a people that will start a revolution. He needed something, that special something, that would ignite the fire that had somehow died out. His Letter from Birmingham Jail was the match.

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Dr. King's, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is poignant in many ways in regard to a "big picture" viewpoint of our society. Overall, it speaks to the viewpoint that we all have a social responsibility to each other to work against injustice irrespective of where that injustice takes place. "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. Dr. King told the local clergy in Birmingham that he understood he was an outsider and he realized that his presence in Birmingham would cause trouble. However, he also felt that he had a moral

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