Rhetorical Analysis Of A Letter 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. In the end, Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died, to bring people of all color equal rights; his words with stylistic influence made a big impact on the United State’s society issues.

He reveals his hope that the church will make changes to its current attitude, while at the same time expressing his disappointment. Furthermore, King prefaces this section with a statement that he is a man “who loves the church,” (34) and “was nurtured in its bosom” (34) in order to establish his credibility and appeal to ethos. He suggests that he knows the church

Parables of Jesus Name: Institutional Affiliation Parables of Jesus Martin Luther King was an American Baptist who was also the leader of the African American movement. In 1967, Martin Luther King preached about why Messiah called a man a fool. In his sermon, Martin elaborated the need for human beings to live a life that pleases God, by loving God first, the family comes second and then every person should be beneficial to the community (Gowler, 2015). Martin Luther King was preaching this message about the blockedure found in the book of Luke 12:13-21. In this blockedure, Jesus was teaching His followers the parable of the Rich Fool (Crossan, 2002).

This makes him equal to them and sending across his message becomes easier. 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.

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).

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.

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.

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. King uses biblical allusions to appeal to the eight white clergymen and their religious affiliation when he states his duty to carry the “gospel of freedom beyond his home town... Like Paul.” His final point of this section is the clergymen’s failure to recognize the underlying causes of the demonstrations they so harshly condemn, a failure causing further ignorance and confusion on racial

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