Heaney Vs King

In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 16, 1963, Dr. King is answering criticism from white clergy men. King stumbled upon a statement in a newspaper while in jail and felt the need to write on it. He did it to explain why he was in jail. After all Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a nonviolent protestor. Kings says “I am in Birmingham because in justice is here.” Dr. King wants to see a change. This paper will examine King’s uses of rhetorical devices to appeal to his audience. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter “Letter from Birmingham Jail” reveals all three rhetorical appeals. It appeals to ethos, logos and pathos.

Possibly the three most important components a writer must understand are audience, genre, and rhetorical situation. When reading critically we become acquainted with these concepts therefore become better writers ourselves. While learning about rhetorical writing and composition we have analyzed Billy Collins “ Commencement Address at Choate- Rosemary Hall” , Martin Luther King Jr’s “letter from Birmingham Jail” and Lloyd Bitzer’s essay on “Rhetorical Situation”. In this paper I will analyze and make connections between the concepts of audience, genre and rhetorical situation in connection to the fore-mentioned readings. In doing so I will focus on how each used these concepts as means to communicate their main ideas and purpose.

King’s use of many rhetorical devices in these three paragraphs of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” solidify his conviction that segregation needs to be quelled immediately. Dr. King’s explanations justify the demonstrations and protests that he is participating in. Although this was a letter meant for clergymen, Dr. King simultaneously taught all of America a very important lesson: justice is a universal natural right, and when it is denied, it needs to be demanded. Racial equality is the form of justice in this case, as segregation was the culprit that divided society into two racial groups. Thus, Dr. King successfully advocated civil rights through this letter with powerful, clever

In 1963, the rights and the equality for African Americans was a cause constantly fought for. Protests and marches took place in order to push for a change in the society, to make a world where equality is achieved. In a Birmingham jail, sat a civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr.. Placed in this cell due to a protest held in Birmingham, Alabama when there was a court order stating it was not allowed, King wrote a letter that has become an influential and infamous piece of writing. This letter became known as, “The letter from a Birmingham Jail”. This letter calls out to the criticisms placed on King and confronts them all. In this letter, through rhetorical devices such as pathos, logos and ethos, and other rhetorical devices.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who seldom cared what other people thought about him, lived in the moment. In doing so, He became furious over the amount of injustice. This essay shows King’s fury over injustice through the use of rhetorical appeals through ethos, logos, and pathos.

The articles “Letter to Birmingham jail” and “Civil Obedience” both address the injustices that are being done to people of color. Martin Luther king Jr and Henry David Thoreau speak on the act of civil disobedience being necessary and both believed that the government needs to address the issue and make a change if they truly believe their laws should protect and affect everyone equally. Martin Luther King uses a first person narrative and several types of rhetoric such as Simile, Allusion, Appeal to authority, imagery, personification, and metaphor. He also uses logos Ethos and Pathos from the rhetorical analysis triangle. Henry David Thoreau also uses first person narrative and similar rhetoric such as Appeal to authority, Simile, Imagery, Allusion, Metaphor, Ethos and Pathos from the rhetorical Analysis triangle. They both has similar ideas but had a different target when arguing for equal rights. Dr. King wants to ultimately raise awareness and provide equal rights for black people and Thoreau wanted equal rights for each individual person.

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.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he responds to a public statement made by eight Alabama clergymen that criticized his presence and strategies used for peaceful protest in Birmingham. He wrote his response while imprisoned in Birmingham City Jail for demonstrating; therefore, he had neither proper writing materials nor an editor to revise it before its publication which exhibits his natural skill and intelligence. In the letter, he addresses each claim made by the clergyman and successfully invalidates each one. King employs both impressive and effective rhetorical strategies in his letter such as allusions, a theme of darkness and light throughout, and syntax.

Obviously, again my primary motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is that this is a requirement for my English Composition Class. My heartfelt motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis is the respect I have for Martin Luther King’s intelligence and commitment that he displayed for the equality of the African American population. In analyzing “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I developed an even stronger understanding of the dedication Mr. King had for the disadvantaged poor black population and the injustice that victimized them on a daily basis.

The 1960s was a time when skin color was crucial, hate was inevitable, and where actions and words were uniform. Although accused of being an outsider, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to demonstrate his strengths and powerful influence even while confined in the walls of the Birmingham jail. The racial issues were addressed through his compelling and impassioned letter in reply to the eight prominent Alabama clergymen. Even during a time of racial injustice, King was able to establish many rhetorical strategies throughout his piece, specifically throughout paragraphs 45-50. Establishing logos and utilizing diction and syntax, are the three essential aspects that Martin Luther King Jr. used in order to portray the true message to the reader.

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.

In both works, Dr. King Jr. adopted techniques of series rhetoric, repetitions, effective use of metaphors and similes in protesting against social injustice and assuring his audience of a hope for a better tomorrow. In the letter to the clergy Dr. King Jr. invoked their thinking of what a just and unjust law was. He explained that the just law is a moral act of God’s will and the unjust law is such act instituted by men. When in conflict, he admonished society to accept the laws of God over those of men and cited instances where society had an obligation to reject unjust laws of segregation. Dr. King Jr. draws inspiration from men of historical significance to ascertain his claim and quotes

Henry David Thoreau writes in 1849, which adds its own set of situations. During Thoreau’s time period, slavery was an enormous controversy which he addressed in his essay. King’s letter, in 1963, was revolved around the segregation between whites and colored peoples. In both the essay and the letter, one can sense the urgency of these issues within the tonality of each author. Thoreau is fighting the majority during the Mexican war; While King is fighting the ‘war’ against segregation, unjust laws, and injustice across America.

Langston Hughes is a famous poet known mostly for his contribution to the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many inspirational poems that are still read and used for educational purposes. Many of his poems were inspired by his life and his story. One of his many poems entitled “Theme for English B” talks about how his teacher instructed him to write a page about himself and it will be true. In a “Theme for English B”, Hughes uses tone, and characterization to display a relationship between race and writing.