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Rhetorical Strategies Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham

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Rhetorical Strategies: Letter from Birmingham In 1963, Birmingham Alabama was a place where African Americans struggled for equal rights. From segregation to discrimination, Birmingham consisted of all many injustice activities which involved civil rights. In 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested from protesting the treatment of African Americans. Shortly afterwards he was both criticized and applauded for his actions in the protest. During this time, King decided to write a letter to address those who questioned his actions. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King effectively used the rhetorical strategy of describing to achieve his purpose of defending his reason for protesting, a model that can be applied to the upcoming portfolio project. Rhetorical Strategy In his letter, King uses several rhetorical strategies, however one that stood out to me if the strategy of describing. Describing is a strategy used by writers to explain the parts or features of something (McGraw-Hill, 2013). It can also be used to tell …show more content…

King explained in his letter commitment to the call of duty when asked by his fellowship to go to Birmingham and participate in a non-violent protest. King felt that injustice was the primary cause of his invitation to the city. “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here (King, 1963, p. 1). Throughout the letter, King also describes what the term law should be defined as, and the different between a good and a bad one. King believes that a good law is a designed code that should have morals and inline with the beliefs of god. An unjust law would be considered the opposite, and go against any morals while also giving people in power the ability not to obey the law. “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself” (King, 1963, p.

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