Rhetorical Devices In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King writes a impactful letter during his sentence at the Birmingham Jail. He addresses this letter to his “Fellow Clergymen”, his reason for being there because Birmingham is riddled with injustice. Martin Luther King in this letter uses strategic repetition and periodic sentences to create the same feeling of frustration that he feels by being denied the civil rights promised to all American citizens in the U.S Constitution. I will analyse how Martin uses rhetorical devices to help transit his message. An example of how he uses repetition to get hammer in his point can be found in paragraph 14. There is a run on sentence this paraphrase is technically four sentences one in the begin that is short and too and to the point that is followed by a run on sentence. The words “when you” are repeated many times, after he uses this phrase he tells the reader on of the [problems he was had to face. It builds and builds as if it were a list and this repeated use of the word really helps you focus on the key idea and assist the transition of the intended message. The second sentence uses about over 300 words and it is on purpose, at the end of the paragraph he states “Then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.”. Making reference to how long the reader had to read to

Martin is comparing what he is doing and the knowledge he is spreading to Socrates. For example at this time the tension in the mind is the belief that blacks are not humans and that they aren’t citizens privileged to live equal to whites. Mr. King is attempting to open people's mind to make to clear African Americans are citizens and Americans entitled to the same protect under the law and