Pathos In A Letter To Birmingham Jail

Mariah Mofford Professor Fetters English 1001 26 January 2015 Fighting For Segregation Martin Luther King,Jr was a civil rights leader , who was in the Birmingham jail for being apart of the campaign, King was asked to come to Birmingham to join in the non-violent direct action program. He was put in the jail in 1963, eight white clergymen wrote a letter in the newspaper and Martin Luther King,Jr wrote in the cell on anything he could find, for his attempt to explain the movement and himself. Through Kings rhetoric, and his language, he turns the white clergymen words back on themselves.

Escaping Injustice On January 15, 1929, a leader was born. While sitting in a Birmingham city jail, civil rights activist and leader Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an enlightening “Letter from Birmingham,” a response to eight white clergymen that criticized the civil rights movement. Dr. King writes back to these men to show he is not “unwise and untimely” as they stated. King responds to these critical clergymen respectfully and well educated while using rhetorical appeals such as Ethos, Logos and Pathos to respond to the clergymen's criticism. Dr. King.

In Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King (MLK), King utilizes several rhetorical elements in order to accomplish his purpose of ending segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout the text he utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos in order to establish his credibility for speaking on the topic, demonstrate the humanity that is needed when addressing segregation, and establish his reasoning for his claims that segregation is immoral and plain wrong. By using these three rhetorical elements in conjunction with each other, he provides a clear, strong, and convincing line of reasoning for the end of segregation. In short, King provides an argument that is logical, honest, and human. In the section where MLK establishes his credibility

In “letter from Birmingham jail” Martin Luther King uses pathos and allusion to affectively persuade the audience on the value of civil disobedience. Martin Luther king uses pathos when he states “Its ugly record of police brutally is known in every section of this country. There have been more unsolved bombings of negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any city in this country”. This persuades pathos, because it gets the reader’s attention over what’s going on, it’s the sad truth it makes readers feel bad and ashamed over what’s going on in this country. Martin Luther King uses allusion when he says “Just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their thus said the lord far beyond the boundaries of their

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King strongly advocates for an immediate change in segregation laws. Give his audience of clergymen oblivious what life is like for black people, King uses pathos to enlighten the men of the urgency for change. He creates a very deep and passionate tone to convey the severe necessity for a reform. He also uses different kinds of figurative language like anaphora, to build the intensity of the paragraphs.

Late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, in his detrimental letter to the eight religious leaders, “The Birmingham Jail” , conveys and expresses his feelings of religious and civil injustice of segregation against not just African Americans but also the general public. King primarily aimed his letter at the eight religious leaders of the Southern Church but also extended it to encompass the president down to those of ordinary citizens. To persuade his readers King prominently exercising the three basic appeals of ethos, logos and pathos, by not only appealing to his own insight but invoking feelings of morality, sympathy , and justice in the readers. Finally we see him appeal to logic, but supporting his assertions with evidence

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a powerful speaker and a major contributor in the Civil Rights movement. One would think that because of the type of person he was, he would never end up in jail. Unfortunately that is exactly where he ended up due to the injustice that he faced in Birmingham, Alabama. He wrote a persuasive, straight to the point letter directed towards the white church and to those who sit idly by doing nothing about the racial injustice that engulfs the community of Birmingham. Kings argument in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was so coercive and successful at piquing the readers’ emotions by his use of pathos in a way that typifies inactions and hypocrisy.

The Letter from Birmingham Jail is a letter that explains the events that occurred when clergymen criticized Martin Luther King Jr.’s entrancing the Birmingham. Mr. King writes this letter to the clergymen who says racial discrimination was in control by the law administrators and should not be changed by Mr. King or any other outsider that are not white race. Mr. King’s statement letter addresses that he wants to form and restore an organize community where all human race can fight and have equal rights. I will explain how Mr. King used the literal tools as ethos, logos, pathos and others to clearly show the content, mood and situation of writing the letter and to respond to the clergymen’s enquiries.

For instance, King explains, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” Introducing himself as “president of the Southern Leadership Conference” gives King the credibility to take action before negotiation. After establishing his authority, King argues, “To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience. We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’" King illustrates that throughout history, man has used civil disobedience against injustices like the ones happening now. Providing justifications for his actions, King compares himself to Socrates and the Hungarian freedom fighters as the same moral issue occurs. King’s establishment of ethos furthers his argument that they must act

Throughout his letter Martin Luther King makes many ethical appeals by relating it to god. For example in the beginning of his letter Dr. king addresses his readers as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen,” this shows that he is letting the reader know his role as a religious leader. When someone thinks of someone with that role they automatically presume he or she is honest, trustworthy, and credible. He then compares his extremist attitude to those of Jesus Christ, Amos, and Paul. He uses is history within the church and says “I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and great grandson of preachers,” by Dr. King stating that it automatically gives him credibility it gives the reader knowledge of his postition. He uses his knowledge of important public figures and their ideals on justice, love and equality to support his claim. In his letter he writes “Jesus an extremist in love? -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you" Was not Amos an extremist for justice?..Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ? -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist? -- "Here I stand; I can do no other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist? -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a mockery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist? -- "This nation cannot survive

Martin Luther King Jr. was a renowned civil rights activist who worked tirelessly to gain equal rights for all African-Americans. He was known throughout the world and his speeches continue to gain attention because of their quality. King was a gifted speaker and knew how to build a proper argument. He built up his credibility and targeted the logic and emotions of his audience. Without Martin Luther King Jr. the civil rights movement may not have seen as much success, and segregation may still have affected us today. By studying King’s work, people can learn much about rhetoric and argument. One of his most persuasive pieces was his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This piece was written on just one of the occasions King was thrown in jail for protesting segregation and the Jim Crow Laws. It was written to eight clergymen who condemned his actions. However, King realized the letter was likely to get attention from more than just the clergymen, and he tailored the letter to include more than one audience. Paragraph 31 found on pages twelve and thirteen of the letter contains the most effective argument in regards to the eight clergymen. It provides emotional and logical arguments for justice and are fully credible because of the sourcing they use.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” after an unjust proposal made by eight white clergymen. Their claims were to be that no Negro “outsider” should be allowed to establish or lead any protest and should leave them to their local neighborhoods. King replied directly to the clergymen, but used religious ties to also have his voice heard in the public. In his counter argument, King strategically used logical evidence, emotional aspects and good motives to present his perspective to the clergymen.

Martin Luther King Jr. appeals to ethics throughout his letter to the public as supportive evidence for campaigning. He says, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters

Martin Luther King Jr. is renowned as the leader of the great Civil Rights Movement. Throughout his letter from Birmingham Jail, King employs pathos, ethos, and logos to persuade his audience to join forces in order to overcome the physical and mental barriers of segregation.

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. explains his reasoning for coming to Birmingham. His hope was to have the religious leadership in the white community realize the “justice” of their “cause.” In order to convey his main idea, Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical strategies like pathos, ethos, and logos, as well as strong diction and examples.