Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail

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.

Including this example, “now is the time to make real the promise of democracy, and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.” Moving on, when King used convincing examples, he made the church and every reader in the following years acknowledge that something had to be done. King describes negative effects that segregation still has with usage of convincing examples. Additionally, Martin Luther King also uses many examples of figurative language to persuade viewer’s opinions of his cause. His metaphors and similes bring importance to his letter because they describe an inside look and feel on the effects of unequal rights that the church and readers have not ever seen before.

The author extends his gratitude toward them through the use of figurative language, particularly imagery. For instance, he claims that these religious leaders have “carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment” (43). This image of light in the midst of darkness appeals to emotion. By creating this sense of hope, King inspires the audience to join him in his fight for desegregation. Though it is undoubtedly disappointing that there is a lack of support from the majority of clergymen, King conveys his faith in them through this image and shifts his focus from disappointment to

Martin King 's “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” is a sophisticated argument that gets to the point, but also gets deep and emotional. Unlike Swift, King uses ethos, pathos, and logos to get into the personal level of his audience. While pointing out his valid ideas and arguments with reason. With getting on the personal level King explained to the peoples on his view of what was right and unjust. I believe King’s letter had a stronger argument than Swifts because King knew what his ultimate goal was.

Rhetorical devices are a use of language that is intended to have an effect on its audience. Either to persuade them or to make them see something from their own view, like metaphors, or rhetorical questions. In Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” he uses several rhetorical questions and metaphors. That was used to help people understand how he feels about the resistance to racism but in a  nonviolent way. Furthermore he was trying to express his thoughts about what had happened but he was doing it in a civilized non violent or forced manner.

By saying that “I am here because I have organizational ties here but more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here”, he assures the reader that he had researched on the topic. After then he talks about his association with Southern Christian Leadership Conference which helps the readers to make up their mind that the author is not an ordinary man and is credible. Then he appeals to pathos by talking about the trials of black men. He then talks about the discrimination of black men by police as well as people. He used powerful words like “vicious mobs” and also employed parallelism by saying “lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim”.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s overall tone in his speech is determination; determination to gain equality for all races and colors and for the nation to unite in fighting the injustices of inequality in America in the 1950’s. I Have A Dream, is all about his dream that one day all the injustices in the world will one day disappear. The use of diction brings the reader towards his tone of determination , contributing to his overall feelings towards his mission of wanting freedom and equality, which he portrays throughout the entire speech. King uses bold words repetitively such as "freedom" "dream" and “justice” to open his argument that equality will bring freedom to the black community.

While imprisoned, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, ‘A letter from Birmingham Jail’ as a response to eight clergymen who published a statement that emphatically disagreed with King’s methods of protest towards racism. Dr. King’s reply is demonstrated in a writing style that could be described as ‘efficient’ as he balanced different aspects of organization of his thoughts and passion through use of rhetorical devices to achieve an effective argument. Dr. King, possibly from his pastoral background, wrote his letter in an eloquent, sermon-like matter, yet it was his use of rhetorical devices that effectively stitched his argument together and gave it an interesting flow, either by reminding the reader of his purpose in writing, or to progress through his reasons in an impactful way.

When responding to the eight white clergymen, he states, “Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas,” giving the reader the notion that a plethora of criticism must come across his desk. But, he has chosen to write a response and explain himself simply because King feels they are “men of genuine good will” and their criticism is “sincerely set forth.” After the introduction of his letter, he feels he must next explain his location at the time: Birmingham Jail. “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here,” says King. This quote lets the reader know there is a reason behind King’s arrest, a very good reason, too.

In his letter he is mainly reaching out to the entire country to try and get them to put a stop to racial injustice. The way that he addressed and refuted the clergymen's letter is one of the things that made this letter most effective. Another thing that made this letter so effective, is the way that he used the appeal to emotion, or pathos, to pull the readers in and make them think about if it were them that were being discriminated against. Martin Luther King Jr. is very successful in explaining how injustice anywhere is a threat to justice

The letter from Birmingham jail is a strong persuasive letter, especially for its audience, clergymen. King used all kinds of methods, logos, ethos, pathos. He is very insightful about his audience. King, as a clergyman himself, understand what other clergymen’s perspective and what they believe in. To start this letter, King addresses the recipient as “dear fellow clergymen”.

“One trait that helped black ministers win support was their charismatic style of debating, which was used both to convey meaning and to inspire people involved in the struggle for racial equality” (Clarence). Christian Churches played a major role as agents of social justice, most visibly in the Civil Rights Movement. During the bus boycott the church helped create a system where they would carpool, put together the time and place on when there would be a protest, and would volunteer and

2.4 Rhetorical Analysis In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march, although several local religious groups counted on King for support. Since King’s arrest, he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King.

In the Letter from Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses these three persuasive elements (Ethos, Logos, Pathos) to reach the goal of argumentative writing, which is to persuade the audience that your ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else 's. The first appeal that uses ethos in the greeting of the letter, which reads 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen. ' This illustrates that Dr. King is letting the reader understand him in his role of a religious leader. This is known to be a position in which the individual is seen as generally good, upright, truthful and trustworthy. The point is that Dr. King was ethos to remind the reader about his role as a religious leader, rather than another role that would have been equally valid.

For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. uses several instances of ethos throughout his letter from Birmingham Jail. He particularly references biblical figures and events, comparing them to similar actions that the civil rights movement took. “Civil disobedience… was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar”, Dr. King writes, “on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake” (King 179). Dr. King’s