Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail.. 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'"' is a clearly written essay that explains the reasons behind, and the methods of nonviolent civil disobedience, and gently expresses King's disappointment with those who are generally supportive of equal rights for African-Americans. Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail. On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a famous speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and freedom, this speech was called I have a dream. This speech was focused on ending racism and equal rights for African Americans during the civil rights movement. King defends his primary thesis all throughout the length of his letter, and the arguments that he has made to prove that his thesis is true and valid will be the focus of this rhetorical analysis. King is saying that if we allow injustice to happen in some places, we risk it happening to everyone. In his letter King effectively manipulates language and tone to strengthen his argument against the complaints of the clergyman and successfully address the white people. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. Therefore, these other literary devices and figures of speech are specific types of parallelism.. One of the most well-known examples of . An Unjust Law Is No Law At All: Excerpts from "Letter from Birmingham Jail" January 18, 2021 By The Editors In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're sharing excerpts from King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," one of the most important moral treatises of the twentieth century. Wiki User 2013-03-13 02:55:46 Study now See answer (1) Copy "One has not only legal but moral responsibility to obey just. Choose one type of reason and cite an example from these lines. These "parallel" elements can be used to intensify the rhythm of language, or to draw a comparison, emphasize, or elaborate on an idea. Letter from Birmingham Jail: Repetition BACK NEXT This guy knew how to write a speech. 100% plagiarism free, Orders: 11 Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. What type/s of rhetorical device is used in this statement? " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." King gives a singular, eloquent voice to a massive, jumbled movement. Through the masterful use of analogies and undeniable examples of injustice, Kings disgruntled response to the clergies proves the justification for direct action taking place to establish equality for African Americans., Martin Luther Kings letter from Birmingham Jail was written to respond to white religious leaders who criticized his organizations actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black society in Birmingham. He opens with an explanation to his response, stating, Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideasBut since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms(King 1). Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. His masterful delivery of these metaphors and the frequent repetition makes the speech much like a poem or a part of a song. He is placing hope among the Negro community and assuring the white superiority that one day, they will share the same rights as their nation distinctively promised a hundred years earlier. Finally, King uses antithesis one more time at the end of his speech, when he writes when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands. The pairs he mentions are all the direct opposites of each other, yet he says that they will all join hands together and be friends. Lloyd Bitzer describes rhetorical situation as, a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action to bring about the significant modification of the exigence (6). Ultimately, he effectively tackles societal constraints, whether it be audience bias, historical racism, or how he is viewed by using the power of his rhetoric to his advantage. That sentence magnifies the fact that good people doing nothing is the same as bad people purposely hindering civil rights. Dr. King goes on to say that laws that do not match what the Bible says are unjust. Find step-by-step Literature solutions and your answer to the following textbook question: Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. Lastly he shows ethos by using authority in his speech by using quotes from two very famous documents. In this essay, King also brings up why he is justified in his preaching about the separation of African-Americans and white people. SophAbs. MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience. He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. Glenn Eskew, Bombingham: Black Protest in Postwar Birmingham, Alabama, 1997. You can order a custom paper by our expert writers. Dr. King responded to criticism that was made by clergymen about calling Dr. King activities as "Unwise and Untimely". With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, A Call for Unity. Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. IvyMoose is the largest stock of essay samples on lots of topics and for any discipline. Its important to note that his initial readers/supporters greatly impacted the scope of his audience, spreading the letter through handouts, flyers, and press, in the hopes that others would be impacted for the better by the weight of the exigence at hand. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. Martin Luther found himself arrested on the twelfth of April 1963 after leading a peaceful protest throughout Birmingham, Alabama after he defied a state courts injunction and led a march of black protesters without a permit, urging an Easter boycott of white-owned stores (Jr., Martin Luther King). parallelism really etches into the audience's mind the seemingly never-ending hardships blacks face and the repetition makes it seem like a regular routine they endure. His writing is respectful and educated, if not naturally, to invalidate the use of his race against him by the largely prejudiced audience. Ralph Abernathy (center) and the Rev. Analysing a rhetorical situation clarifies why a text was created, the purpose in which it was written, and why the author made specific choices while writing it. The problem is that this kind of thinking can spread and infect other people to believe this is acceptable. He also wants the readers to realize that negroes are not to be mistreated and that the mistreatment of negroes could have severe implications as in a violent protest against the laws made by the court. Example: Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? The letter was written April third, 1963, it was published for the public in June of the same year, a slower spread than a nationwide address on television or radio. Because of his skill in creating such pieces of writing, as well as his influential role within the Civil Rights Movement, and the reminder that Letter from Birmingham Jail provides of these trying times, his letter should continue to be included within A World of Ideas. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. It elucidated the exigence behind his letter as his presented rationale behind his arrest only made unjust laws appear more asinine and questionable by relation. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their concern and opposition to King and his non-violent actions. Lastly, King is constrained by his medium. This letter is a prime example of Kings expertise in constructing persuasive rhetoric that appealed to the masses at large. Some clergymen, mostly white American men, believe the nonviolent protest Dr. King and African Americans were during was "unwise" and "untimely". While in his cell, he composed the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. With the use of King's rhetorical devices, he described the ways of the Birmingham community and their beliefs, connected to the reader on an emotional level, and brought to light the overall issues dealing with segregation., The letter was ostensibly conceived in response to a letter that had recently run in a local newspaper which had claimed that the protest were "unwise and untimely." Dr. King fought against segregation between Black Americans and White Americans. There are people in the white community that are already standing hand-in-hand with them and their dreams. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. From the very beginning of it , King brings his crowd back to the origin of America when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, that freed all slaves and gave hope to the former slaves. Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Here, King concedes that the clergy acts with the virtuous goal of justice in mind, which allows him to establish his argument against the manner in which they seek equality. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. He said that one day we won 't have to worry about our skin color and segregation and that we 'll all come together as one. Analysing a rhetorical situation clarifies why a text was created, the purpose in which it was written, and why the author made specific choices while writing it. The audience of Letter From Birmingham Jail was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. The use of pathos is effective because it appeals to emotions and the issue of civil rights and civil disobedience. Not only was this a social division, but those who opposed King were reinforced by the respective legislature that sought to burden him. He goes on to add; I am in Birmingham because injustice is here (King 1). He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws Any law that uplifts human personality is just. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. Just as well, King uses his aspirations to create ideas within the listeners. Being nearly symbolic, King being held prisoner in Birmingham, the most polar racial arena of the United States, made his rhetoric more effective. Early in his speech, King writes riches of freedom and security of justice and then justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. In these two examples, King is using parallelism to express that the African American wants justice and freedom by repeating them next to each other and mentally connecting them in the readers mind, which is also connected with pathos as the terms King uses subtly emphasize those words and create good feelings in the reader. Required fields are marked *. As the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s unfolded, Martin Luther King Jr. had, perhaps, the most encompassing and personal rhetorical situation to face in American history.