Martin Luther King Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Essay

       Martin Luther King Jr's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written during his 8 day sentence in jail in 1963. He chose to travel and protest in Birmingham due to the fact that it was widely known as one of the most segregated city in the U.S. The letter not only addresses the issues of unjustly being arrested for being an "extremist" of his approach to the protest, and of the incompetence of the church but its also an appeal for things to be seen from his point of view.

In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King uses the rhetoric devices of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the whole letter. While each component of his letter is an important key part of the process of persuasion, I believe that paragraph twenty-one is the strongest within his letter. Within this paragraph King uses multiple examples of mainly logos, but also pathos and egos in harmony in order to further prove his point of persuasion to his audience. These rhetoric devices were used in a way that I believe gave Martin Luther King Jr. the upper hand in approaching his audience. His audience throughout the paper was broad, but I believe that this paragraph addressed an important audience: The Clergymen. Not only does King use these rhetoric devices, he uses them in way that bring about the most benefits in terms of persuading his audience to agree

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is a response to a public statement of caution that was issued by several religious leaders of the South. During the midst of the nonviolent demonstrations against segregation in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested and felt compelled to respond to their statement as he saw these fellow religious men as sincere and of good nature. In this letter he defends the use of nonviolent resistance to the racism occurring. He states that there is a moral responsibility to break unjust laws when taking direct action, in order to further the cause for justice which does not occur on its own.

In his "Letter," Martin Luther King Jr.'s ability to effectively use pathos, or to appeal to the emotions of his audiences, is evident in a variety of places. More particularly in paragraph fourteen, King demonstrates his ability to inspire his fellow civil rights activists, invoke empathy in the hearts of white moderates, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergyman to which the "Letter" is directed.

Some varieties of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice as did Martin Luther King in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” 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. After stating the general purpose of his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. specifically addressed the clergymen to set up for his logical counterargument.

On April 16th, Martin Luther Kind Jr., Minister and Civil Rights Leader, his letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”, angers and informs that civil disobedience is not just. He supports this claim by first saying that we will obtain our rights because of heritage and god, then protesting and breaking the law is the correct thing to do, and finally, everyday heroic people are disobedient to find justice. Through King’s use of tone, rhetorical appeal, and rhetorical analysis, he effectively persuades the people of America, to bring justice to this society and to stop the violence.

In King’s essay, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King brilliantly employs the use of several rhetorical strategies that are pivotal in successfully influencing critics of his philosophical views on civil disobedience. King’s eloquent appeal to the logical, emotional, and most notably, moral and spiritual side of his audience, serves to make “Letter From Birmingham Jail” one of the most moving and persuasive literary pieces of the 20th century.

Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and essay writer who lived from 1817-1862. His essay “Civil Disobedience” was written when the Mexican American war was happening and slavery was still being allowed. Thoreau made his essay trying to convince the people of that current United States to rebel against the government when the government is being unfair. His purpose was to create a community which was aware of the government and fight for others not just care for themselves. He did this to get people to care for the mexicans and the slaves who were being mistreated. Throughout the essay Thoreau sounds concerned for the people of his time who do not care for the mexicans or slaves. To convince his audience that we need revolution audience he appeals to their logic by using rhetorical strategies, like extended metaphors, rhetorical questions, and oxymorons.

Throughout our country’s history, important figures have questioned how to play a role in confrontations and have practiced freedom of speech rights for justice. In the two articles, “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.; both speakers focused on challenging social and political complications for the better of the future, country, and the government. “Civil Disobedience” by Thoreau, Henry David follows the author detaching himself from the government due to it favoring the majority based on the powers the certain group possesses and its stance on slavery. It, also, declares that the government is most optimal when it has the least amount of power over its people. The article, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by King, Jr., Martin Luther, writes to defend his visit to Birmingham based on racial discrimination, segregation, church affiliations, and past conflicts. While both articles had a different approaches to challenging society and politics, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was more effective in being presented than “Civil Disobedience” due to its diction, syntax, and tone.

Martin Luther King started his letter right off placing himself on an equal playing field as the white clergy that was criticizing him when he wrote his salutation “My dear Fellow Clergymen” (King, 2017, p. 1). From those beginning words it is evident that Mr. King was using Rhetorical appeal of ethos, pathos and logos to establish ethical

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key figure in the civil rights movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an open letter written by King defending nonviolent resistance against racism. The letter argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust and unethical laws. The letter also stresses themes of unity among brothers in order to overcome racism. I will argue in support of King’s stance that citizens are morally justified in breaking unjust laws and that openly and responsibly opposing unjust laws is itself a duty of every citizen.

Martin Luther King Jr., a peaceful advocate for civil rights, was jailed for his non-violent protest against segregation. During his stay at the Birmingham Jail, a group of religious leaders publically attacked him with criticisms for his peaceful protest. As a counter attack, King wrote 'The Letter From Birmingham Jail'. This counter was successful for King was able to analyze and address his audience, refer to historical and religious figures and utilize anaphoras, making this letter, one of the most impressive argumentative essays.

Not only were many laws changed and created, but even more were broken in an attempt to better our once unjust society. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most influential leader of this movement, was an avid supporter of civil disobedience during this era. He participated in countless sit-ins and protests, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956, in which he and almost one hundred other activists were arrested for peacefully protesting discrimination in the Montgomery public transit system. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written in 1963 after he was arrested for partaking in a nonviolent protest, King offers explanation as to why he practices civil disobedience and what he hopes to achieve in doing so. In this letter, King admits, “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law…that would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty”. However, he also stated that in this fight, it is necessary to “[stand] up for what is best in the American…thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence”. In his words, civil disobedience is more than ignorance of law; it is just one of the necessary measures that must be taken to restore equality in a

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham jail”, King talks about his imprisonment for his involvement in a nonviolent protest and defends his rights and moral grounds for organizing nonviolent protest activities. In this essay, I will look at his views on nonviolent protest and how they differ from todays violent protests.

While leading a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Alabama in the 60’s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was arrested and put in jail for eight days. While inside, he wrote a letter that was later published in The Atlantic Newspaper sin rebuttal to eight religious leaders in the South who voiced caution and concern for his movement. In this letter, he voiced two main points; the push for civil rights requires great haste, and that unjust laws are can be broken in their chase for equality. As Dr. King quotes St. Augustine, “an unjust law is no law at all.”