My Evidence In My Writing

This is a piece of history with the Harvard and Wiley college debate from the movie “The Great Debaters” with James Farmer Jr and Samantha Booke. This document takes place during the time period where discrimination had a huge effect on the lives of blacks. The purpose of this debate is to convince the audience whether or not civil disobedience is a moral weapon. Ms. Booke and Mr. Farmer believe that justice isn’t divided equally, and that civil disobedience is a moral weapon in the fight of justice. The three modes of persuasion used are ethos, pathos and logos.

The ability to write a powerful persuasive piece results from total awareness of available rhetorical devices as well as inspiration and determination. Over the course of “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, the author Martin Luther King Jr., demonstrates that he can effectively employ the use of rhetoric elements. The rhetorical strategy and context are two vital literary elements within a piece of writing that can be used to make a strong argument while appealing to the audience. King uses a combination of rhetorical techniques to rebut the criticisms of his fellow Clergymen about the nature of the Birmingham protests. King uses quotes from past civil rights leaders and vivid metaphors/similes to make a persuasive argument. He also uses

In brief, chapter 4 of The Longman Writer by Judith Nadell and John Lang taught the reader how to support the thesis using evidence. As an addition to chapter 3 “Identifying a Thesis”, chapter 4 emphasizes the importance of supporting the central idea by using enough evidence to convince the reader. Forms of evidence include “examples, facts, details, statistics, personal observation” (41) or anything that furthers the reader’s understanding. The evidence used should achieve three task, which are to justify how you (as the writer) feel, interest the reader, and paint a clear picture. By the same token, all evidence should follow certain characteristics, being: relevant, specific, an adequate amount of support, dramatic enough to alter reader’s feelings to your own, accurate, representative (or relatable), and genuine documentation (articles, encyclopedias, etc.) (45). For the most part, Chapter 4 conduces effective writing with evidence.

One of the two most prominent figures in literature, Henry David Thoreau and Doctor Martin Luther King Jr., have very similar but yet vastly different writing styles. Their writing styles can be shown through their most well known pieces of writing, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King. A way to compare and contrast their styles is through their use of rhetorical devices in order to persuade their readers into viewing a particular opinion and central argument, in this case they both use pathos, the appeal through conveying emotion, in seperate ways in order to persuade readers into the similar idea of promoting civil disobedience.

The fight for civil rights and freedom is a reoccurring subject that has appeared throughout American history. Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” were written over one hundred years apart. Although they are set in different time periods, they discuss the rights the American people should have, while also criticizing the people with superior power in the government. Thoreau’s aggressive writing style and King’s peaceful, calm style help to deliver their messages. Not only their writing style but also their emotional appeals, tone, and other rhetorical strategies help to give their audience a sense of the social issues they are disagreeing strongly with.

Persuasive writing is most effective when all three rhetorical appeals, Logos, Pathos, and Ethos, come together to form an indisputable argument. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X are two of the most influential figures of the past few decades; similarly, their work is summarized as some of the most persuasive and controversial of all time. The audience of both of their pieces, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and “The Ballot or the Bullet” include oppressed African Americans and the white oppressors themselves. Each man takes full advantage of the three rhetorical appeals to influence their audiences to support their radical theories about racial inequality in the 1960’s. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is the most effective because of its hopeful emotions, irrefutable facts and, of course, the respected author.

Throughout the history of America, there have been thousands of essays and arguments for more freedoms for citizens. These articles were influential during their time because of their evolving ideas. In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King and “Resistance to Civil Government” by Henry David Thoreau, persuasive techniques are used to convince a reader to share their point of view. These articles have shared insights about how to write persuasive essays and arguments.

1. I wrote arguments in my persuasive and literary analysis to fulfill standard one. I used my research as evidence and combined that with my prior knowledge to make educated arguments to support my claims. I spent time going through information and analyzing the information to find sufficient evidence.

Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” is persuading because of his authoritative language, political opinions, and an outreach to his readers. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is also persuading with his use of an analytical language, repetition, and criticisms. Not only are the authors using the same techniques, but also using them differently for their desired result.

Rhetorical Essay Rough Draft. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. MLK was arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march on the grounds that he did not possess a parade permit. This letter is a response to 8 white clergy men who did not agree with his peaceful protests against racial inequality in America. The purpose of this letter was to convince his critics (the clergymen) that his actions were right and argue that the time for change is now.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. was thrown into jail due to participating in non-violent protests against racism and segregation in the city of Birmingham. There, he wrote the famous “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” which became one of the most important letters in history of the American civil rights movement (Colaiaco 1). The open letter covered many points to King’s arguments for why the marches, protests, and other non-violent actions were necessary and justifiable. James Colaiaco analyzes the key components to the letter and the different ways Martin Luther King, Jr. used literary devices to form a well written argument.

During a period of high racial tension and civil disorder, a hero emerged to lead the fight to equal right. That hero was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the writer of the iconic “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In the letter, Dr. King responds to concerns about his leading nonviolent protest to create civil disobedience and spark litigation for equality. However, this was not an easy task. While writing the letter in jail, Dr. King knew that not only did he have to just answer the concerns of the officials that questioned him, but he also had to use various appeals to establish credibility, show his reasoning, and raise an emotional response. While Dr. King already has a large amount of credibility, he cunningly convinces readers that he is an intelligent force to be reckoned with, using clear logic and emotional wording in order to form his argument and sway opposing viewpoints. An analysis of his essay will reveal the intelligence and ability of Dr. King as a writer and speaker.

I did not have a firm writing philosophy before this semester, but I to some degree I understood the importance writing can have on a situation. Now I understand that writing has two outcomes: gaining support or losing support. When writing an essay it is best if the writing is as specific as possible. This way the audience is hopefully not left with a confused opinion about the topic. Since the beginning of the semester I have put a conscious effort to change my writing style. Instead of the box format that is learned in high school I try to use a more graceful approach while still being organized. Also, I evaluate the credibility of a source before I use the information to support my thesis and understand the roles of using ethos,

My essay is based on the political movement of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom brought together the nation’s most prominent civil rights leaders, along with tens of thousands of marchers, to press the United States government for equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (August 28, 1963).”

Strong writing has strong support. In academic writing, a claim is my evidence did not introduce the relevant context, making it hard to understand if the evi supported by countless pieces of evidence. Having evidence is not enough though. The evidence must be comprehensively analyzed and connected to the claim. In essence, each piece of evidence acts like a pillar that supports a building. One weak pillar can cause a fatal flaw that could destroy the whole building. During Writ 1, I have felt that my writing was weak from not truly understanding how to use evidence. In my essays about “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges, I have witnessed this misunderstanding from Professor Esin's comments that I did not explain my evidence sufficiently. In my earlier essays, I thought evidence could explain itself, so I did not give an in-depth analysis of my evidence. That, however, is incorrect. Each piece of evidence needs a complete introduction, analysis, and conclusion to create a strong base for an argument. For example, In