Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Michael Leff and Ebony A. Utley's article "Instrumental and Constitutive Rhetoric in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"" details how Martin Luther King Jr. used ethos to create two distinct messages for two different audiences in a single letter. The authors explain how the letter is more than a list of refutations aimed at the clergy of Birmingham, Alabama, it is about creating a persona that is relatable to moderate whites while also giving his African American "eavesdropping" audience an example of how to act and take action during this time of civil injustice. We will examine how Martin Luther King Jr. becomes relatable to moderate whites in America and how he uses ethos as a persuasive tool to have African Americans act like him. …show more content…

The authors explain that King “grounds his identity in the religious, intellectual, and political value of the American tribe, and it enacts a form of agency that sustains connection between author and reader even in the presence of disagreement” (47). This is a powerful tool in rhetoric because it makes the rhetor a person that is not too different from the reader. This can ease any tensions that may occur from any preconceived notions that King may have different morals, values, and mental capacities even though his skin color is different. Internal similarities can outweigh external differences, and it gives King’s words additional power and meaning by making himself relatable; creating ethos. While King was creating a relatable persona for a white audience, he was also being a mentor and leader the African American

Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
492 Words | 2 Pages
Segregationist, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his letter “Letter from Birmingham Jail” emphasizes the need for integration and racial equality. After reading text written by clergymen, King felt the responsibility to explain his cause. He adapts a diplomatic tone in order to convince society to integrate and end racial injustice. King begins his letter by introducing the reason for being in Birmingham.
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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
499 Words | 2 Pages
In 1963, eight Alabama clergymen issued a seemingly hypocritical public statement accusing outsiders of leading extreme demonstrations of protest in Birmingham, Alabama, and urging local citizens to allow racial issues to be resolved by the courts. In response, civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which outlined the reasoning and timing of the demonstrative actions. While King’s letter exhibits an effective use of all three Aristotelian rhetorical appeals, the following analysis focuses primarily on his use of logos. His inclusion of analogies along with descriptive diction assists in emphasizing his reasoning in an attempt to logically convince his readers that waiting for the courts to settle racial injustices had proved inefficient.
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177 Words | 1 Pages
Martin Luther King uses Logos and repetition to enhance his argument for civil disobedience. On the first page of Letter from Birmingham Jail King uses the logical method for nonviolent campaigns for the format of his letter saying, “1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive. 2) Negotiation. 3) Self-purification and 4) direct action.” King bases his entire letter on these four steps. In order to show that they are the steps of any nonviolent campaign. This is very logical because it is purely fact that these are the steps.
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136 Words | 1 Pages
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697 Words | 3 Pages
By the end of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King broadens his scope and its corresponding language to include his most important audience, the African-Americans themselves. While the beginning of letter addresses the white audience in white terms, his latter part presents a complete shift on the level of language and argument. As King writes with the powerful use of imagery in the letter, “you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and frown your sister and brothers at whim; you have seen hate-filled policemen kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity” (Rottenberg 815) it shows that the language obviously becomes far more simplified but portrays the strength and power of raw emotion. That is exactly what King wanted in order to make the audience feel the strong emotion and pain he felt and justify his cause of writing this letter in response to the clergymen. Henry Louis Gates, Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E.
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751 Words | 4 Pages
The most noticeable form of persuasion Dr.King uses is Logos. In the beginning of the letter Dr.King gives his reasoning for being in Birmingham to protest and why he is in jail. He states: “Just as the eight–century prophets left their little villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of the freedom beyond my particular hometown.” (14-17) Stated by Dr.King. He is trying to say that his goal isn't to cause chaos rather to spread the idea of freedom.
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539 Words | 3 Pages
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749 Words | 3 Pages
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1589 Words | 7 Pages
Dr. Martin Luther King Junior in his piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” shows that refulgent writers transcend normal writing. King needed to convince a group of white town leaders that what they fundamentally believed and stood for was immoral. Throughout the letter, King evokes his passion through rhetoric, tone, and real-life experiences. Furthermore, King developed this passion from what he saw in Birmingham and other communities, as a result of racist leaders. In response, he writes with a style and structure to respond to these abhorrent front-runners.
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1737 Words | 7 Pages
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740 Words | 3 Pages
The criticism made by the these eight clergyman epitomize the idea of whiteness and white privilege. Rather than to offer assistance and guidance for King and his efforts to diminish racial injustices prevalent in the South, they, instead, offer criticism in an attempt to depreciate King’s fight for racial equity. This rhetoric has occurred often throughout American history, where we see white individuals devaluing and hindering the progress made by individuals of color. For example, one of the critiques that King received was that The Negro community should be more patient and wait for society to move gradually toward civil rights. What white individuals fail to understand is that there is no such thing
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709 Words | 3 Pages
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935 Words | 4 Pages
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” we are able to understand the formation of integrity as King writes from his perspective and experiences. “If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work,” this line from King’s letter proposes that his power and status speak for his actions as he presents the fundamentals of ethos. His morals set the principles for his readers to understand that his standpoint and circumstances allow him to make such statements and affirmations. In “The truly awe-inspiring accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr” the writer constructs a platform of meaning towards King’s actions. This writer takes a different approach and writes from an informative perspective and introduces the life of Martin Luther king.
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623 Words | 3 Pages
King uses pathos to tap into his audience’s mind to think about the importance of promoting action now rather than waiting for others to promote it first. He ends his letter by stating that he “hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation”. (King Jr., p. 658) Dr. King is a man of great integrity and love. He wanted to bring his fellow brother and sister together as a nation strong and not divided.
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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail