Rhetorical Devices In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements.

Dr. Martin Luther King uses ethos, pathos and logos throughout his whole letter to clergy men. When Dr. King says “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in ever Southern state with headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. We have some 85 affiliate organizations across the South… Several months ago our local affiliate here in Birmingham invited us to be on call to in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary,” he is using ethos. He is saying that he is credible for his leadership and his authority. In this letter, he also uses the appeal of pathos. He is using pathos when he says “Daddy why do white people treat colored

Dr. King was arrested in 1963 in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans. “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”, written a few days after King’s arrest, defended Dr. King’s argument about the civil rights movement. He uses the pathos, ethos, and logos modes of persuasion and uses several rhetorical strategies such as metaphors, citing authority, parallelism, Rogerian strategy, and anaphora to defend his argument against racism and segregation.

The use of these facts gave context to the situation while showing the measures that African Americans suffered through to seek change. Reverend King did not only use logos to justify why they protested, but also why they could not wait for the government.

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.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who genuinely knew how to capture his audiences with his words. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” makes an appeal to his reader about the injustices that have been set in place by the oppressor. In the letter he talks about numerous things, mortal authority in Christian communities, American ideas, and the suffering of the African American community. Dr. King uses logos to persuade the reader why he s protesting in the first place because the oppressor has broken the negotiation between the whites and the African American. His logical argument to why the ideal way to proceed with non-violent protests is because of the political decisions that have been made. An example he brings up is the idea of there being just and unjust laws in America and as citizens those unjust should be deliberately disobeyed. Dr. King says, “Conversely, one has a mortal responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all” he soon starts to define what both type of laws means…”A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law…An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the mortal law.” In order to persuade his reader about the idea he has do more than engage with the readers emotions. By Dr. King defining what the difference between the two laws sets a more conceiving idea of the treatment towards African American. Martin Luther King basic point is unjust laws do not just hurt the one being oppressed but also the one doing the oppressing. This is more of logos appeal for the reason he is not trying to connect with the reader emotionally but rather make sure the reader understands his cause for the protests.

During the 1960’s, racism was still a prominent problem in America. The Civil Rights Movement was under way. African Americans were fighting for their basic human rights. One of the most notable figures of the Civil Rights Movement was Martin Luther King Jr. He fought for African American’s rights using nonviolent resistance; however, during a protest in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was thrown into jail. While in his jail cell, Dr. King wrote a letter to clergymen from the Birmingham jail claiming his stance on peaceful confrontation on defending African American’s human rights. In his letter, Dr. King uses rhetorical devices to strengthen his argument in his letter to the clergymen. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham

In paragraph 6 Martin Luther King Jr uses logos by stating facts about “There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any city in this nation.” Martin Luther King Jr uses this quote to show that Birmingham was attacking African Americans more than any other city in the nation; showing how segregation was strongly shown in Birmingham. Also in paragraph 11 Martin Luther King Jr uses pathos by showing the reader how he feels trying to persuade us to feel the same, in the quote “you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking in agonizing pathos: ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’” Martin Luther King Jr talks about having to explain to his

The beginning of King’s speech starts with his address to “[his] fellow clergymen” (1). Throughout and with multiple examples, King attempts to back up his argument with the appeal of logos. One of King’s main arguments in his letter

First Martin Luther King effectively makes use of logos throughout his letter. He clarifies all of the reasons for his arguments and supports them

Once Dr. King arrived to Birmingham jail, he was faced with difficult conditions. An ally of his sneaked in a newspaper that was published on April 12th. There was a statement written by eight clergymen called “A Call for Unity,” which went against what King and his campaign were implementing on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. The statement enraged Dr. King to write a response. Dr. King used logos in the letter to help support his counter argument against the clergymen. “In spite of my shattered dreams..” King wrote, “... I came to Birmingham with the hope that the religious leadership... Would see the justice.” By stating this, he showed pathos. King put into words that through the process to end segregation, there was hardship along the way, and dreams were destroyed by other people's actions who did not display care towards the black community.

Returning to the “ Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King uses a variety of Logos as an appeal throughout his letter. Logos is an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason. With this in mind , the first example of logos king used in the letter was, “ In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action” (King 245). In this sentence, Martin Luther King Jr. provided a reasonable step analysis of what any social activist organization

"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radian stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty." (King Jr., p. 812) Throughout "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King Jr. Exploits phrases and ideals similar to the quote above to address the eight clergymen who questioned his radical methods. In his letter, King utilizes his credibility as a minister and a Doctor of theology, the emotions of his audiences and the (LOGOS) in an attempt to convince the clergymen

King Jr while sitting in jail with thoughts of a better solution running through his mind created a letter that was able to win over his reader using the rhetoric strategy tools. The first corner of the Rhetorical Triangle that King uses throughout the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is the appeal to Ethos. Ethos is a humans sense of right vs. wrong, it’s our morals and values. Ethos is the thought of the God in the sky vs. the god of the land. When King writes “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”….. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (King 295). This quote is important because it is the purpose of the entirety of the letter. We are all affected by these laws and we all must follow these set laws. No individual should get a pass due to the color of their skin or how wealthy they are. Another example of Ethos that King uses is “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (King 299). We are all responsible for our actions and reactions. If something or someone wrongs us, it’s in our human nature to defend ourselves and to fight back whether it is words or physical violence. Because King didn’t use violence but the power of words he was able to convince his readers of his stance of positive

King combines the use of ethos and pathos as he compares himself and the rights of men to religious backgrounds. His first comparison is with the Apostle Paul, where Paul had “carried the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as to Kings carrying of “the gospel of freedom.” King addresses this similarity to show why he felt committed to go to Birmingham, because like Paul, he needed to respond as an aid to his people. Towards the end of Kings letter; he exemplifies courageousness in the Negro demonstrations by relating them to the actions of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they refused to follow what they believed to be unjust laws. Saying that if they are supposed heroes by going against unjust laws, why shouldn't the people see Negro demonstrators the same way? They are also God's children and by those disobedience’s, they were really showing the grace of God. These connections to religion supports their fighting against unjust laws as a divine cause.