Rhetorical Devices Used In Letter From Birmingham Jail

In 1963, King was arrested and sent to jail after protesting blacks’ rights in Birmingham, Alabama. In jail, King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which was towards the clergymen that believed that blacks should not be allowed to protest for their rights. This letter was filled with reasons why the blacks should not be told to wait for their change, which is why the strongest paragraph in King’s letter would be on page 6 when King mentioned that the blacks are always told by white leaders that if they wait, they will finally gain their rights. The blacks had believed them when they said this and yet, nothing happened after waiting. They tried their best to keep it professional by not bringing any violence which led them to protesting, however,

The blacks were being punished just for sitting in spot that says “White only” or drinking from a water fountain that is not for blacks, which is something that nobody should be getting punished for. It is not fair for policemen to treat blacks’ badly just because of their color. Policemen are supposed to set a good example for other citizens since they work for the government. King uses pathos by telling others about what happens to the blacks every single day. After reading “The letter from Birmingham Jail,” the audience gets to feel what King feels by placing themselves in King’s shoes to get a better understanding of why they need their rights as soon as possible. If others had to go through what the Negroes go through, they would be doing the same thing as they are, which is trying to gain their rights as soon as they

If he had not explained to his daughter about why she could not go to the park, his daughter could have been harmed which could’ve caused more emotional stress on King. King includes logos in his speech by saying “Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws” (6). This is a decision made by the Supreme Court! How could the Supreme Court not follow their own rules? They do not set a good example for others because they cannot even follow their own rules, yet they still managed to complain about the Negroes. King used ethos in “The Letter from Birmingham” many times throughout the letter. One example of how King used ethos was on page 3, King said:

I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (King