Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr. 's Letter From Birmingham Jail

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

:"Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a powerful piece of writing that graces the writings by Martin Luther. Part of the power lies in the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos, and pathos in the letter. Luther used these stylistic devices and literary approaches to express his message, intention and express the mood of the letter making a masterpiece like no other letters before.

Martin Luther King Jr, an civil rights activist, fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their distress and opposition to King and his followers actions. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. Although King’s reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the “white moderate”. King understood that if he gained support from the average, indifferent white American that the civil rights movement would reach it’s goals much faster. In his

African American have been under slavery throughout 17th to 18th centuries. African American were deprived of the rights and equality. They were not free to do work on their own. They had to follow the order of white majority of the United States of America. Segregation was worst in southern part of the USA. Condition of African American in Birmingham was agonizing. To gain equal rights for African American Dr. King led a major protest, which was criticized by eight fellow clergymen, who criticized King’s act as “unwise and untimely”. In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, by Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. King present Counter argument against the eight fellow clergymen of Birmingham to persuade them to believe his argument is morally right. In response to clergymen’s statement “outsiders coming in” Dr. King argues them by saying that he has been invited to Birmingham, he is in Birmingham to eradicate injustice amongst African American; King argues against clergymen who examined King’s protest to be “untimely” by saying that they waited so long for the equal rights of African American but nothing happened, so he needed to take actions; clergymen has expressed a great deal of anxiety over King’s willingness to break law, King argues against this by saying that the law he has broken are unjust law and are meant to be broken, he differentiate just law and unjust law and says that he always obey just law and disobey unjust law. In order to persuade clergymen, Dr. King

Letters to Birmingham Jail is written by Martin Luther King Jr as a response to eight clergymen who criticize his public protests. They argue that his actions are counter-productive to his movement and pose a potential threat to law and order. This letter expresses King’s feelings towards injustice that has occurred and also explains the unjust events happening in both Birmingham and the rest of America. King defends his legitimacy of breaking the law through nonviolent protests in an act against segregation and racism and insists that these protests were necessary for progression. He also alludes to many notable thinkers such as Jesus and Socrates to aid in the reasonings of his actions. King states that these demonstrations were bound to

Fighting for freedom is fighting a war where there are no treaties or compromises. Yet the bloody truth is that in the end there is only one victor. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently brings to the forefront of the readers mind that not only is it time for this particular war, but it is long pass due. The brutal truth of this letter written in the margins of a newspaper spun from a web of lies shows the need for action in the aspect of freedom and prosperity. Not only does King rally together a group of people with the many allusions to how past always repeats itself but the indispensable references to authorities that effect everyone and the heart wrenching use of pathos keep the reader enticed to go onto

Do you have what it takes to make the morally correct choice? An even better Question is: What are you willing to give up to save another? Martin Luther King gave up his freedom in an attempt and to gain civil rights for the people of Birmingham. Peter Singer explains if you give up just $200 you can save the life of someone with nothing. King and Peter Singer both used honesty to convey their message of what is right and what is wrong, but they both describe very different situations that hold their case and point. King wrote his letter from Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963. Dr. King wrote this letter to his fellow clergymen who defamed the action of Dr. King and the Southern Christian leadership Conference. In King’s response he honestly told his fellow brothers of the church that he was angered by their criticism and explained his actions in Birmingham. Peter Singer wrote “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” on September 5, 1999 for the “New York Time”. It is an honest piece that describes the difference between morally right and wrong. Singer talks about two people who both make the morally choice in the eyes of society and explains to the audience how we as America choose to do nothing to help but they can still buy expensive cars.

During the course of living human being are subjected to many controversial arguments and ethical stations. Education in concept of ethical reasoning and in the fundamentals of the principles are important for one to be skilled in ethical reasoning. Ethical reasoning is a very important element in human nature of living either professionally or individually. Ethical reasoning offers critics with the capability to represent viewpoints, ideas and make judgement. Moreover ethical reasoning enable critics’ to consciously give examination for them to reach a solution that does not harm anybody else. Ethical reasoning can be defined as arguing the wrong and the right of human behavior.

In Martin Luther King’s Jr essay “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” he uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his argument. First, let’s establish what all these means to the reader. Ethos gives the writer credibility, Logos is establish to the reader at what is logical, and Pathos is established with sympathy. When you think of Justice for all, we tend to think of your constitutional rights for all walks of life. But King is saying that this is not the case for the African American race back in early history. Some may think that King was only fighting the rights of the African American people, but the truth of the matter, he was fighting for all walks of life.

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

Topic: Read Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (in your Nexus book) and Brent Staples’s “Black Men and Public Space.” What do these works say about racism, prejudice, and bias? Have we made any progress in these areas since their publication? What problems do you still see and what solutions can you offer?

In this letter Martin Luther King responds to the criticism he received from several Clergymen which basically articulated that Mr. King should withhold from any further acts of demonstration for the Negro community. Mr. King goes on to explain how although the clergymen feel his actions were “unwise and untimely”, he has taken the proper steps in trying to provide peace among the Negro and white communities. However, he states how the empty promises and absence of change that the Negro community was assured would never actually ensue, leading to Martin Luther King pursuing further and more extreme actions.

Martin Luther King’s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is the justification of the fact that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. In other words, justice is not truly represented if there is a sign of no justice of somewhere in the world. King’s letter serves as a peaceful resistance which stood as a powerful symbol to show others that "An unjust law is no law at all." powerful words were engraved into the minds of people who read the letter and showed them that peaceful resistance positively impacts a free society bringing people together.

Throughout history, there have been many significant documents and speeches that enlighten and inform us on what is and was happening during those times. Abraham Lincoln’s speech, The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail are two important pieces of history. In Lincoln’s speech he speaks about the dangers of slavery in the United States and warned everybody that people who disrespected American laws could destroy the United States. On the other hand, Martin Luther King Jr. defended the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, and argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws. Based on these facts, Martin Luther King Jr does not agree with Lincoln’s counsel.

Martin Luther King signed the message from a Birmingham jail after being arrested for leading demonstrations in the city. Birmingham was the biggest city in Alabama was segregation was openly practiced. In the famous open letter, Martin Luther King was defending his constitutional and moral right to organize nonviolent protests in the city to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans. Martin Luther King famously stated that breaking laws was justified as long as such laws were deemed inhumane or unjust.