Martin Luther King Jr was serving in jail for his strategies and ideas of the perfect justice in an injustice era, Martin Luther King Jr. responded to a critical public statement by eight disgruntled Alabama Clergymen with a letter called, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” He wanted to change and make a difference by expressing his ideas and strategies in a letter to the clergymen. Martin Luther responds to the clergymen using analogy and juxtaposition to depict that there was injustice in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. asserts the injustice in Birmingham with the use of analogy. Martin Luther KIng Jr. uses injustice in Birmingham by comparing a covered boil versus an uncovered injury. “ like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines or air and light” (240-244). This educated man, compares a covered injury with a un covered injury. The covered injury is when people try to cover and hide the …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. describes his visit to Alabama, Mississippi and detects the outer beauty of churches to contradict the church’s inside. “churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward” (line), “Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest” (line)? Martin Luther King Jr. feels discomfort from the beautiful churches that are pointing towards heaven with the church inside. Martin Luther supports this device by asking questions. One of the questions were, “ Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here” (line)? The series of questions produces discomfort to the clergymen and the guiltiness of the white churches. Martin Luther compares ideas in order to express his disappointment, guiltiness, lachrymose feeling, and injustice in
Confront Injustice Martin Luther King Jr. was an ordained minister and one of the best known civil rights leaders. He worked very hard to end segregation and injustices in the south. While participating in a program of sit-ins at luncheon counters, the famous theologist was arrested. In consequence King wrote, “a Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which he addressed to a group of white clergymen in an attempt to demonstrate the justices of his views. Within the letter King describes an unjust law as, “a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself” (259).
Academically prestigious pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., writes a letter response, from Birmingham Jail, addressing the criticisms pegged on him for nonviolent protesting from a public caution statement released by eight white religious leader from the south. Dr. King’s purpose is to inform the eight religious leaders and fellow Americans, as to why African Americans cannot “just wait” for the injustices occurring to their black community to pass on with time. In his letter, Dr. King uses biblical allusions, rhetorical devices, and precise diction to effectively establish his message and inform his audience. In the opening paragraph, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., makes it clear that he is not writing a response to insult or degrade the religious
Picture this. On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, protester against inequality, Martin Luther King Jr., was arrested for parading without a permit. It is now April 16, 1963 and he sits alone in a Birmingham City Jail cell with nothing but a pen, some paper, and a solemn look on his face. In scraggly, but intent words, he writes a letter. He was writing to the church clergymen, determined to make them change their ways.
In his letter Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. sought to elaborate on the criticism that eight fellow clergymen had about his work and ideas. The letter was written when King was imprisoned in a Birmingham city jail cell for parading without permit. King was a prominent leader of the African-American civil rights movement, “Nobel Peace Prize” recipient(Fairclough, 1995, p.1), and served as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A close analysis of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail revealed that clarifying the criticism of African-American civil rights movement was not the only purpose of King.
The letter from Birmingham jail by Dr. Marin Luther King was written as a response of King to ten criticisms made against the Southern Christian leaders and King’s participation in demonstration in Birmingham. King handled many rhetorical devices to convince his opponents such as white clergymen with his rights to protest and create tension for direct action to achieve the racial justice. The devices fluctuate between logos and ethos in clever way to appeal to his audience and criticize them at the same time. King provided logical supports such as biblical figures historical and philosophical references. In my essay, I will point out some of the rhetorical devices and the colorful words used by King.
Martin Luther King’s utilization of pathos and rhetorical questions in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” allows him to adequately advocate for civil rights for African Americans. MLK’s convincing use of pathos is shown in paragraph 23, where he wrote, “If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.” This quote was intended to make the white bishops who he was responding to feel guilty, as slavery was perpetrated by some of their ancestors. Furthermore, this quote shows the general enthusiasm of African Americans and affiliates to push for the repealing of unfair laws of segregation. This is shown by African Americans being able to persevere through slavery and that segregationist laws
How he wrote his argument and how well. Analyze his use of ethos/emotion Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written during 1963, when African Americans were fighting for black and white equality. We can see this by the vocabulary that he uses, like “Negro”, which was used around that time period and no longer used anymore. We can also see this through the context of the letter; that King wants freedom for African Americans.
Issues of Injustice Not every law is designed around justice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of many who acknowledges this type of corruption among our system. Dated back in 1963, King had composed a document called Letter From Birmingham Jail. This letter was written from a prison cell after being arrested for participating in a nonviolent demonstration against segregation.
Rhetorical Analysis: Letter from Birmingham City Jail “I think I should give my reason for being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of outsider’s coming in (King,1963).” Dr. King was the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and he was one of the most visible spokesperson. Dr. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” for the purpose of explaining why he was in a Birmingham, Alabama, jail and also talking about segregation and how hard it was on people. Dr. King’s letter shows how hard he was fighting for freedom, and how horrendous segregation was.
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.
In this quote, Martin Luther stated that his critics disagreed with his decision to hold demonstrations in Birmingham but managed to weaken these claims by exposing the hypocrisy within them. He does this numerous times within the letter, using a persuasive structure to dismantle the opposition’s arguments. Throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King also used metaphors and comparisons to bring attention to
Martin Luther King uses allusion in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to add greater meaning to the cause he is defending. Dr. King includes many biblical references in his writing to compare the similarities between actions in the bible and his. For instance, Martin Luther King says “like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Since Martin Luther King King is writing his letter to clergymen, his religious allusions are used to appeal to them; specifically, Dr. King brings up the point that certain tension is caused by people who have been subjected to grievances and believe “...that the white man is an incurable ‘devil.’” In saying this, Martin Luther King tells the clergymen that their sanctimonious acts and racial
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.
In the year 1963 Martin Luther King was imprisoned for peacefully marching in a parade as a non-violent campaign against segregation. When Martin Luther King was arrested by police and sent to Birmingham Jail, a letter written by the clergymen that was directed towards him about why his march was wrong. In response to the letter by the clergymen, Martin Luther King wrote his own letter in response to the Clergymen’s to persuade them into believing that their reasons for putting him in jail were wrong by successfully using Parallelism, deductive reasoning, and alliteration. King uses his rhetorical devices to appeal to the ethos, logos, and pathos of the clergymen to further strengthen his claim. Martin Luther King effectively appeals to the emotion of the clergymen with his usage of parallelism, which repeats the structure and adds great emphasis.
Jenil Patel Mr. Harper English 1102 29 August 2017 Summary and Analysis of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. writes to Clergymen in response to their open letter criticizing him and his Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. In this letter, King tells the clergymen that he is upset about what they said and wishes to address them one by one.