Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay

Equal rights protester Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “now is the time to make real the promise of democracy, and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.” In 1963, King was arrested for protesting in Birmingham and was put in jail. During that period, he had a lot of spare time and wrote a long and powerful letter full of stylistic elements to church leaders in Birmingham who had criticized him for leading a protest. They made public statements opposing King and his methods for achieving change, but King believed that they misjudged his cause and ways of doing. Martin Luther King, Jr. uses many stylistic elements including convincing examples and keen figurative language to influence his reader to agree with his point in "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. With a tone remains polite, respectful, even almost apologetic, and friendly, this letter was written in response to a claim made by eight white clergymen criticizing the actions and ideas of Dr. King and his group as unwise and wrong. According to S. Jonathan Bass argued, “the letter served as a tangible, reproducible account of the long road to freedom in a movement that was largely centered around actions and spoken words” (Bass). Beginning the letter with a greeting sentence “My dear fellow clergymen”, Dr. King explains the reasons his presence as well as his uses of nonviolence and direct action in Birmingham. When King says: “I am here because I was invited here.

Paragraph 14: What are the subjects, and what one tone does he use? King uses examples of the effects of segregation on the African American community to explain why he is part of the protests in Birmingham and why they need to continue this kind of peaceful protest until their voices are heard. By using these pathos and ethos rich examples, he gives some insight to the white Alabama clergymen, who haven’t experienced segregation, the struggles (“when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will”) and harmful impact of black inferiority on children (“ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky”). King uses an angry tone in paragraph 14 to describe these injustices black people face daily,

Ty’ Keylah White Ms. Edwina Mosby English Composition I October 31, 2017 Rhetorical Analysis: Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary/Assessment: In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is responding to a few white religious leaders who stated that his nonviolent reveal against segregation was “unwise and untimely” (1). Dr. King had to be really upset at the clergymen because he rarely acknowledges criticism of his work. He states that since they brought up “outsiders coming in”, meaning that they went to the city of Birmingham to start a conflict. He argues his equality to be there like anyone else speaking on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia but run through every Southern state. Dr. King says “anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered outsiders” (4).

participated in civil disobedience as well: • Protested hurtful racial signs and segregation in Birmingham, Alabama • Led sit-ins, marches etc. → Didn't give up his conscience, morals or what he thought was right for legislation, but rather tried to create change Tenth slide: "As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct-action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community... We began a series of workshops on nonviolence" (King 893). Eleventh slide: Outside Connection Mohamed Bouazizi December 17, 2010 - Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia: 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi went to a local market where he intended to sell fruit. Local police confronted Bouazizi over the location of his fruit cart.

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. His argument was definitely

Martin Luther King Jr once stated, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. He was invoking the principle of civil disobedience. He wasn't justifying breaking laws just because, but instead, meant that you break the law and accept your punishment, in hopes that people will come to see that the law is unethical. Civil disobedience plays an important role in how our society has been shaped up until this point. It is out of the selfless act of heroes and heroines of civil disobedience such as Mahatma Gandhi that the society is enjoying the fruits today.

Martin Luther King wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," in response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight religious leaders of the South. The statement "A Call For Unity", implored Dr. King and his "outsiders" to obey the law and wait for integration to naturally come out of the courts. King responded with his Letter from Birmingham Jail, voicing his disappointment in the white clergy, who should be "among our strongest allies". This was the persuasive power of King’s writing, an epitome of the art of rhetoric. His letter used the three rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos, and logos, while also utilizing the literary device of kairos in an attempt to explain his actions and change the opinions of his audience.

His aim was for blacks to be completely separated from the other races so that they could develop their own homeland. His ideas proved to be controversial. Although his leadership was helpful in terms of spreading black nationalism, his ideas of “complete segregation’ wasn’t prefered by many. Why did civil rights

had only been tricked to believe this would be a permanent change. Because of this, MLK and Fred Shuttlesworth knew that a more severe approach would have to be taken in order to see a long lasting change in Birmingham,Alabama. Project -c was made to have a nonviolent protest for black rights against racial treatment in public places. This would then lead King to his imprisonment where he wrote the greatest revolutionary letter for black rights and discuss the reason why the population can't wait any

The superego is when the oppressed don’t do nothing about their situation. When they submit to injustice laws because that is what they saw their parents do and that is what is expected of them. Nonviolence resistance is the ego in the reading which tries to negotiate with the id in order to get what it wants (freedom) and also with the superego so it won’t go against what they have been thought. We see this situation described in Dr. Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail. Dr. King Jr. stated that he (his idea of nonviolent resistance - ego) stood in the middle of two opposing forces in the black community.

I think that non-violence was important to him because he wanted to show that he was not going to be a mean ruthless guy to the white people. Because he did 'nt want people to think that all blacks are mean and harmfull. All he was trying to do is talk it out and acheive the goal of getting the right for blacks to vote. Like what he said in the letter form burrmingham jail "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here" he was being treated unjust for not doing anything

In his article George Wallace Campbell mentions small details about Governor Wallace early life; origin, education, and political status. He also describes Governor Wallace actions of attacking civil rights activists and federal efforts due to his opposition to integration. In the early 1960s Campbell states the reputation Governor Wallace gained, as well as his refusal to support black enrollment in public schools. Campbell describes the impact Governor Wallace had on the white community and his support of an anti-African America stance. Campbell article is a helpful source because it helps me understand the motives behind Governor Wallace to oppose integration and understand Governor Wallace as a whole to an extent.