Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most powerful speaker of his time, spoke out against segregation to millions, making history for many years to come. The speech “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. King was spoken to millions of nonviolent protesters on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That same year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” to eight white clergymen that criticized his actions. The letter was written in the margins of a newspaper at the Birmingham, Alabama jail. In the two selections Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, he used logos and pathos to explain his views on segregation. In his speech, Dr. King presents to millions that the nations needs to blend together and unite with all races. He uses logos
King's fundamental argument in the Birmingham letter is that racial injustice toward the black community in America is a result of ongoing support from the white community, notably from influential communities in politics and church. Dr. King uses Ethos most effectively, through the use of this statement where he says “I have the honor of serving as president of the southern christian leadership conference.” (King, 1963, Letter from Birmingham Jail) this is significant because he is attempting to show that he has the capabilities to run as a president and stop all the discrimination. This quote is extremely effective in persuasion in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Not only do we see an example of this here, we also see it when he says “the political leaders consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.
Martin Luther King Jr. has written many inspirational pieces during his lifetime while fighting for African American civil rights. Two of his most inspirational writings are his I Have A Dream speech and the Letter From Birmingham Jail. The only question that remains is “which one takes the cake,” meaning, which one conveys the deepest, most meaningful message about the fight for equal rights? It is clear, however, that the Letter From Birmingham Jail shows itself to be the true winner because of its powerful message and great detail involving the issues of segregation and the unequal rights that African Americans faced everyday, which stirred and appealed to the emotions of his audience.
In King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” addressed to the Clergymen from Birmingham Prison, he uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the letter and language that invokes a sense to the clergymen's hypocrisy. Once he points out the gesture of hypocrisy, the argument for the protests becomes wide as he shifts the tone in the letter and starts to include a larger audience that would be known to agree with him directly. Richard P. Fulkerson, an Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of Composition in East Texas State University explains more clearly in one of his quarterly journal speeches that King's “letter was designed apparently as a refutative response to the clergymen.” Furthermore, Fulkerson states that
This quote is an example of logos, because it compares the African American people’s experience to cashing a bad check, which is a logical comparison. In addition,"We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote”(King page 263 paragraph 13). This is another example of logos, because he uses facts to appeal to the reader and to convince them to join the Civil Right Movement. His usage of logos in these quotes are written to rally the reader and let them know of their
Early on in paragraph eleven, Martin Luther King is able to use logos
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolent confrontation of segregation, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a response to the clergymen who interrogated his techniques of protest in “Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen”. The eight Alabama clergymen, who wanted to humiliate King in his efforts to peacefully demonstrate against discrimination, describe their concerns and cautions for the demonstrations controlled by an outsider, King, in the city of Birmingham. Although the clergymen state that they support King’s ultimate aims, they cannot accept the imprudent demonstrations. King, hoping to publicize and persuade the public to take action against segregation, cunningly refutes the clergymen’s concerns with the use of rhetorical strategies and devices to support his argument.
In Dr. Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King justifies his use of achieving negotiations through direct action. He solidifies his arguments by alluding to the clergymen’s inability to address the daily injustices suffered by African Americans. King’s use of powerful imagery and word choice of the daily plights endured by African Americans invokes an emotional response that challenges the clergymen to see the topic from his perspective. King’s persuasive style of writing includes logical arguments and allusions to respected historical figures. His ability individualize stories of injustice and segregation present the larger issue of civil rights in a way that the clergymen can relate to.
The purpose of Martin Luther King Jr.’s (MLK) words were to gain support from the white clergymen by tugging at their heartstrings, while knowing that at heart they were righteous men who understood the word of God like no other. While held captive in Birmingham County Jail, MLK was criticized for his actions, which were deemed “untimely” and “unwise.” Dr.King was a patient man who knew that reacting with anger would only upset the clergy further. So he sat down and wrote a letter to any man who would listen and explained why he was standing up for the oppressed. In Letters from a Birmingham Jail, Dr.King explained the hardships a black person faces everyday to a white man who will never experience the prejudice and heartbreak of racial discrimination.
Martin Luther King Junior was the leader of several peaceful protests against the segregation of African American people in the American South. In his Letter form a Birmingham Jail, King responds to the eight clergymen who published an open letter in the local newspaper entitled A call to Unity that ultimately criticized King’s antics directly. King’s powerful yet eloquent use of different literary techniques, especially Aristotle’s persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, clearly delivers a potent message to his audience. The persuasive appeal logos, according to Aristotle, appeals to a reader’s sense of reason.
Upon being imprisoned for marching Dr Martin Luther King wrote a letter to the fellow clergymen of Birmingham, addressing his reasons as to why he committed his “crime”, This letter was widely known as “The Letter of Birmingham”. This letter was very influential and paramount to the cause of civil rights as it spurred up future events that would play essential roles in ending racial segregation in America. Throughout his whole letter, King used Ethos, logos, and pathos to firmly get his message across while adding rhetorical devices such as repetition, metaphors, and biblical references.
King was logos because he used logic to support him and with that logic he was able to contradict the clergymen's arguments. The logos used in Dr. King’s letter fulfilled their purpose by stopping the clergymen right in their tracks. “Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action could be delayed no longer” (09) Here he talks about how him and the other protesters are accused of not being patient but they actually had postponed the non-violent protests for quite a while, waiting for any new changes but everything was still the same. This helped Dr. King convince the clergymen to support him because it contradicts the claim that the clergymen had made which clearly stated that Dr. King and his supporting protesters were not patient enough to wait and see if there were any new changes.
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.
The Civil Rights Movement was a big thing for the United states and we as Americans will always remember Martin Luther King Jr. for helping lead the people and inspire change and bring hope. The speech “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important gathering of people at the Lincoln Memorial. A huge crowd gathered to listen to his powerful speech which helped to inspire change. Martin Luther King also wrote a letter to eight white clergymen named “Letter From Birmingham Jail” the letter was written in in his jail cell which he was in for marching and protests. In both of these texts Dr. King used pathos and logos to inspire change and reach out to the people during the civil rights movements.
Dr. Kings “I Have a Dream” speech shows powerful examples of logos and pathos. His effectiveness relies heavily on his usage of these two ways to explain the pain and suffering of segregation. By him capturing his true life’s reality through pity and credible sources allows him to become successful in attempting to end the racism crisis. King states that, “when our republic was writing the Declaration of Independence, they were making a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Logos is the prime example of King using this event of writing the Declaration of Independence.
Because of his skill in creating such pieces of writing, as well as his influential role within the Civil Rights Movement, and the reminder that Letter from Birmingham Jail provides of these trying times, his letter should continue to be included within A World of Ideas. Persuasion within writing is an important tool to be utilized in order to garner support for one’s position. During the 1960s, equality between different races was a very controversial issue which required a certain finesse when being discussed. Martin Luther King demonstrated precisely this sort of finesse when writing about the racial injustices faced by black Americans, as well as when refuting the criticisms he faced from white clergymen.