Rhetorical Techniques In 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'

As stated in one of his speeches, “There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression,” revealing the evolving mindset of the black community that they have the right to equality. However, they faced difficulty in attaining this goal of equality due to retaliation and violence. This resistance to desegregation was instrumental in revealing racial tensions and the irrational ideology of white supremacists. After analyzing how the Montgomery bus boycott has had significant political and cultural effects on American history, it is safe to conclude that this event should be included within the new textbook. The political and cultural changes that arose from this event acted as a catalyst for the civil rights movement and resulted in national and international attention to the civil rights struggles going on in the United States during this

When the Civil Rights Movement circulated into southern United States in the 1960s, many white southerners felt threatened by the social change of dismantling Jim Crow—state and local laws imposing racial segregation. The 1960s Birmingham, Alabama was one of America’s most racially discriminatory and segregated cities in the nation, in which the slight notion of racial integration of any form was met with violent resistance. In the midst of racial havoc, a unanimous decision was made to brand Birmingham as the focal point to aid the civil rights movement because the city was fueled on hatred and impulsive public officials including George Wallace (Alabama Governor), Eugene Connors (Director of Public Safety), and deputy sheriff (James Hancock).

Some of the two most distinguished pieces of work about racism and inequality include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech and Atticus Finch’s ending argument in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. King’s speech addresses the issue of racism and what he and many others believe should change in the future. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus’s ending argument focuses on the hardships and the inequality of the different races and the corrupt justice given with them. King and Atticus’s ideals and beliefs can be justified in both of their speeches as they both talk about how things are wrong, how they’ve been this way for such long time, and how things need to change. Atticus and King came from very different backgrounds.

Both of them used rhetoric and persuasive speaking and writing skills to make their cases bolder. Martin Luther King Jr. heavily used anaphora, emphasizing on how him and the people of America “cannot be satisfied” until racism is brought to an end. Atticus uses analogy when he says, “This case is as simple as black and white.” (Lee, 224). Whenever Atticus is presenting a point, he often went about it with a question. He uses this to flow through his speech, such as when he stated: “What did her father do?

In “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X uses rhetorical analysis to argue how African Americans continued to struggle in gaining education due to racism. He informs people that through our history books, there have been modifications that restrain the truth about the struggles black people faced. Malcolm X encouraged his audience to strive to get the rights that they deserved. He demonstrates that knowledge is very important because the truth empowers us. In his interview he persuades his audience with diction, tone, pathos, ethos, and appeal to emotion to make his point.

Letter from Birmingham Jail – Analysis Questions 1.) Audience: The audience the clergymen were trying to reach was Martin Luther King Junior; they were trying to explain why they feel like the segregation movements are, as the letter describes it, a bother to the people of Alabama. The Clergyman’s letter was discussing the people who feel as though they are having to “deal with racial problems in Alabama.” Martin Luther King Junior’s speech was trying to explain to the clergymen why black people feel the need to cause a movement, and why he feels the need to lead such a big event, like ending racism. MLK’s speech was discussing the people who feel as though they are being segregated against, and people who are participating in the movement

In the memoir “Letter from Birmingham,” by Martin Luther King Junior, he vilifies white oppressors who abuse African-Americans and the government who authorizes the maltreatment. Dr. King Jr. uses factual arguments as an effective appeal to the public’s conscience, a plea to fight against racism and injustice, and a punishment to those complacent people who simply watch and do nothing to help. He vocalizes the undeserved punishment African-Americans who live in the south are given, physical and mental, and emphasizes the unfairness to pull at the reader’s heartstrings and make the complacent regret not doing anything to prevent the cruel injustice. African-Americans have been unreasonably hurt for generations without sympathy or vengeance.

Which is very visible in his speech announcing, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” This reaches to the audience by the way that he implies that the African American people have to allow the race as a whole to find that light despite this pain the they had to withhold. In this next quote, he says, “ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” Many of these people has lost family members, friends, co workers due to police brutality and with Martin Luther King Jr speaking upon this topic to make the crowd feel that emotion and he’s appealing to. Martin Luther King Jr successfully appealed to this audience by using metaphors, logos and pathos. This is very famous speech and a big part of history that this speech will still

Martin Luther claims that segregation is a horrible thing for African Americans and how him fighting for equality is hard but can be done peacefully and legally. He gives many examples to these claims. Martin Luther starts off his letter by talking about all the criticism he receives as a civil rights activist. He says that his secretaries would have little time to focus on other things because of all the criticism letters he gets. Then he talks about some of the associations he is affiliated with and addresses the plans to peacefully protest segregation.

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. is about the unfair, brutal, and racist treatment the black community has been receiving from white people. This letter was written when he was arrested after peacefully protesting about segregation and how the black people didn’t agree with the law. In the letter, Martin Luther King Jr.’s feelings are being expressed toward the unfair events and it is an example of a well-written argument. In the letter are three claims pointed from King, it states he has a valid reason for being in Birmingham, the black community has no alternative, but to demonstrate and the need for justice is urgent. Also, it discusses king’s intentions during the civil rights movements.