Rhetorical Language In Letter From Birmingham Jail

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail, he argues that segregation is inhumane and is hurting the American society as a whole. All the time and energy that goes into segregation is slowing down the American society’s progress to succeed as a nation. He uses several rhetoric strategies that help adopt a tone that is both personal and logical. King was able to incorporate the rhetoric triangle into his letter and still managed to address his arguments. While using pathos, ethos, and logos, Martin Luther King Jr. was able use the clergymen’s accusations to successfully promote his own views and opinions instead.

King appeals to the emotions of all audiences multiple times throughout the letter. One instance in particular is a perfect example of pathos, in that it strikes fear into the heart of God-fearing church goers. “But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. . . If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century” (“A Letter from Birmingham Jail” 7). Dr. King is trying to elicit a sense of urgency and fear from the audience. If they do not change their ways now, the sanctity of the church could be lost forever and would inevitably face the judgment of God. Another effective use of pathos is the use of the 2nd person throughout the letter. Through this, he is able to challenge the beliefs and values help by audience by writing phrases like, “if you were to see..”, “I doubt you…”, “If, then…”. The entire tone of the last three paragraphs are an urgent plea to “commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage”, as they will be the ones “standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian

How does one effectively convince another person from a radically contradictory viewpoint? Exemplified by Martin Luther King, Jr., one must be concise, calm, and aware. In August 1963, King composed the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to bring awareness to the severe injustices acted towards his fellow African American people. King kept a collected and professional tone, always reverent to his oppressor’s opinion. His letter addressed and responded to the statement made by a collection of eight, white, male religious leaders of the South. These men verbally attacked King, his credibility, and his intentions, only fueling the fire. The issues these men provoked included, intense racism, segregation, inequality, injustice, and further demeaning factors. The men felt threatened by King and his organization. As a result, King publicized the nonviolent approach he and his organization would take. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King composed a response to the white religious leaders regarding injustice, by utilizing the rhetorical persuasive techniques of ethos, logos, and pathos.

In this specific section of “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King was speaking to the whole suppressed black population. He tried to connect to his audience by describing their typical life-style and the different ways how they were being segregated from the white people. For example, in the letter, he talked about how a normal black person will find it hard to sleep in a comfortable motel after a cross country drive because no motel will accept him only due to his skin color. He used rhetorical appeals specifically pathos as he was describing the horrible treatments that was enforced to black community. It was appealing to his intended audiences because it matched exactly to what was happening to them. Those of which included, “seen vicious

Pathos is used by authors to invoke sympathy from the audience. While talking about the urge to act, King says, “As weeks and months went by we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise” (7). King also mentions his understanding as of why whites don't understand the need to act as soon as possible. He claims white moderates don’t understand because they haven’t felt, “the sting of segregation” (14). He then includes vivid images of racial injustice to bring about animosity for those who deny African Americans equal rights. In paragraph fourteen, he gives an abundance of examples where mothers, brothers, children, and all Negroes must live through the everyday harsh conditions of this country. It has an enormous emotional appeal to almost anyone who has children or family. Due to children being perceived as innocent, most people have sympathy when children are brought into a situation. Next, King says the problem of racial injustice won’t just disappear with time, “It comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God”(26). In this remark, King is attempting to reach deep down into the hearts of the clergymen, who claim to be living every moment honoring God. King implies that segregation separates God’s children and does not live up to the standards of the gospel. In addition, he continues addressing the clergymen by saying, “In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of cause with deep moral concern”

During the 1960s, black people are terrorized, beaten, thrown in jail, and humiliated, all while religious leaders who preach “doing the right thing,” stand by and watch. Reverend and civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, describes why he is being held in Birmingham Jail and how civil disobedience is used to bring light upon the social injustice of segregation. King’s purpose is to defend himself and his movement, address the problems of clergymen, and to call for a change. He adopts a righteous and direct tone and uses rhetorical appeals in order to express the problems that he, and other people involved in the civil rights movement, are facing to white, male, religious leaders.

However, that being said, King also does a great job of establishing pathos. Introducing his letter, King states that he is responding to claims made about his actions, showing that his letter has a direct action causing this response. He continually refers to himself as a religious man with a strong reputation in the church. King also shares an anecdote about his daughter, in which she questions why she cannot go to Funtown. Anyone reading this letter is immediately aware of the tension negroes face in their day-to-day life. A parent can’t imagine their child asking them this question, and those without children cannot imagine themselves asking it. King apologizes for the length of his letter, but also states that there’s not much else he can do from a jail cell. King’s letter portrays him as a hard-working man for justice in America, as well as a family man fighting for his individual rights. This extraordinary man appeals to all Americans, asking them to join him in the fight against injustice.

As King notices that the clergymen are “holy” and “religious” men, he uses that to his advantage by pointing out that segregation is immoral. He shows this to the Clergymen as he writes, “Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?” (King, paragraph 16) Through pathos, King shows the clergymen that segregation is something that is completely apprehensive in a way that provokes emotion. In addition to proving that segregation is sinful, King uses the style of pathos to prove that even if he is labeled an extremist, he is not evil. This is shown as King compares his actions to Christ when he writes, “The other Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, or goodness.” (King, paragraph 27) It is intended for the clergymen to be emotionally affected by the mention of their savior, who had ideas that are similar to King’s philanthropy. Despite the fact that ethos and logos are used throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the application of Pathos is clearly the most important and

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a text by Martin Luther King Jr. that explains his rationale for holding nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. As an ardent leader of the civil rights movement, King led multiple peaceful protests against segregation, many of which sparked conflicts with local governments. In 1963, the city of Birmingham, Alabama imprisoned King for his role in a demonstration there. While in jail, King received news that eight local clergymen had published a statement criticizing his part in the protest and arguing that it only served to interfere with the efforts to improve racial relationships in the city. In response, he wrote an impassioned letter countering the clergymen’s arguments and clarifying his own views.

Martin Luther King Junior has many well know words from his “I Have a Dream” speech and from his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He uses the literary devices logos and pathos to support his evidence in his speeches and writings. In Martin Luther King Jr’s writings and speeches he uses more pathos throughout. MLK mainly got to your emotions and made you think if what you were doing or thinking was right.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an astonishing writer and speaker. In every piece of work done by King, he is able to effectively use all kinds of appeals in a number of ways to gain the favor of every audience he is trying to reach, whether it be in his speech “I Had a Dream” or his Letter from Birmingham Jail, but even more so he is able to use hyperboles that strengthen his speech and is able to compare the black struggles to every aspect of life. King is able to establish his credibility through his words in which he personalizes every piece to reflect his credibility. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, King is able to establish his credibility through his use of ethos, theme, and imagery.

King describes the hardships black people have endured, both emotionally and physically at the hands of racial segregation. He does this by using lines such as “unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches”, “…hate filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity”, “…long years of oppression”, as well as “blemished and scarred [the body of Christ] through social neglect and fear”. By using words such as “kick,” “brutalize” and “kill”

Dr. King blends pathos and practical reasoning to emphasize his argument. His argument on racism was straightforward and direct he uses his heart. Take as an example when he mentions in the letter “I had hoped that the white moderate would understand…. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.” (24-26) He uses this and makes the audience feel emotional intensity and to present his frustration on lies that he’s been given by the people who have said they will help him and do nothing about it. King later in the letter mentions “dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress,” failures to “lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.” (24-26) This quote is an example of how he connects his feelings to persuade the clergymen to act upon the sizzling situation before it worsens and corrupts all the nation. Accordingly, he is letting the audience know his community has been unquestionably patient for a long period of time and therefore he is writing his letter.

To begin with the first part of the speech shows pathos when King talks about how after 100 years the Negro is still not free and how it is sorrowful. Kings sole purpose is for the blacks to be free and how they still are not free. In the passage it states, “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is sadly crippled.” The point of this speech is to show the depressing the lives of the Negros are. With knowing their awful conditions are, Kings speech shows the help that is needed to end racism.

Martin Luther King makes compelling arguments in his letter termed “A letter from a Birmingham jail.” In the letter, King addresses various claims made about his arrest by the eight clergymen. In his response letter, King provides very compelling reasons why he is where he was and the purpose of his actions. He directs the letter to his audience who are the white middle-class citizens whom he terms the “white moderates.” The letter is very persuasive as his use of pathos drives the audience to think about the about the situation and imagine themselves in the same situation. It is without any doubt that King writes his letter in a persuasive form simply because he wants his audience to imagine themselves in the same situation. He is also in touch with the views of his audience thus making his letter even more compelling and persuasive. This also makes a greater impact on his audience.