The 1960s was an extremely important time period in ending segregation, and
King played a huge part in it. Many people didn’t like his attempts, and tried to stop him; for example, the Alabama clergymen. The clergymen had made claims against him.
Through his
Letter from Birmingham Jail
King successfully refutes the accusations from the clergymen in a nice, mature manner while also turning the argument around and making it seem as if the clergymen were bad guys.
Because King is accused of being an extremist someone who is rash,
dangerous, and unreasonable he uses allusions to illustrate his credibility and to prove if done for the right reasons, extremism can be beneficial. King challenges his readers asking, “Will we be extremists for hate or love?”(par26) and classifies the example using historical figures. King makes allusions to both Hitler and Christ juxtaposing the hatred and destruction of Hitler’s extremism with the positive extremism of Christ who encouraged love, even the “love [of] enemies.”(par26) King’s question asking whether the clergymen will promote love or hate makes not only an emotional appeal, but an ethical appeal as well. The clergymen are forced to decide whether they will be like King doing the morally responsible action of accepting their brothers or if they will be like
Hitler, hating their brothers for their differences. Through his ethical appeal and
rhetorical devices, King justifies his own actions while putting the onus of action on the shoulders of the clergymen.
Given as a result of the accusation of being a lawbreaker, King explains how
breaking or following laws isn’t always bad or good, and it’s necessary in different situations. For example, King states that there are just and unjust laws. King uses the appeal of logos when he explains, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just [and] any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”(par16) He later goes on to explain when it is alright to actually break a law. King states, “An individual who breaks a law that [he believes] is unjust and who willingly accepts
we should at least have an idea. In Letter from the Birmingham Jail, King states, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” (800). As King also stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere.” (800). Basically, King is trying to say that if something is wrong in one part of America then it should be a problem in other parts of America. In Kings nonviolent campaign he tells us how it exactly works with injustice in Birmingham. Martin Luther King wanted equal opportunity between…
Letter From Birmingham Jail Dear clergy people: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your statement about our present activities calling them “untimely and unwise”. I can’t focus on all the criticism that crosses my desk. My reason for being in Birmingham is to stop change the injustice toward the black community in the streets. I couldn’t sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what is happening here. In justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever…
English 1301 September 23, 2013 Letter From a Birmingham Jail Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an open letter to his fellow clergymen in April, 1963 after bring arrested for protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. His letter was in response to statements the clergymen had made condemning and criticizing King for his “unwise and untimely”protests (King 1). In “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King used the methods of ethos, pathos, and logos not only to justify the actions…
sat at a well used desk that could fall apart at any moment from being so worn and beaten in a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama that smelled like disinfectant mixed with urine and sweat. Despite the horrible smell and the chaotic noise going on around him he sat at that beaten desk and wrote one of the most extraordinary and intellectual letters to the clergymen who challenged his beliefs. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King showed his intelligence by the use of quotes from memorization, through the use of…
According to King’s letter, the four basic steps for a nonviolent campaign are a collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist, negotiation, selfpurification, and direct action. 2. One rhetorical strategy from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is the use of a rhetorical question. King asks “Will we be extremists for hate or for love”, which has the effect of making the audience feel more involved in the essay. The use of imagery in saying "the stinging darts of segregation" shows the reader the effects of…
“Letter From Birmingham Jail” 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…
Letter from Birmingham Jail 1. In the first opening paragraph, Martin Luther King Jr. develops sarcasm and irony when he addresses the criticism against his actions. "If I sought to answer all the criticism that crossed my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day.”King does not have secretaries, but replies to the clergymen reminding them of his authority since they have criticize him. 2. The Kings patho begin when he states…
King Martin Luther Kings, ‘Letter from Birmingham City Jail” was a letter written in response to the Clergymen. Kings was incarcerated at the time he wrote the letter. In his letter King addresses the issues of racism, the hardship, and the constitutional rights of African Americans. King also discusses the horror of segregation and torture by white people. Kings’ main idea of this letter is he wants everyone to know that all should be treated equal. All should be treated with dignity and respect…
Martin Luther King Jr., a non-violent civil rights activist was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama during a peaceful protest against segregation. His “Letter from Birmingham” was a response to the eight clergymen who had published a letter “A Call for Unity”, in the Birmingham News April 12, 1963. In King’s letter to the clergy, he expresses his sense of urgency towards changing segregation laws through his use of a series of rhetorical devices, such as metaphors, similes, parallelism, irony, pathos…
“While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities ‘unwise and untimely’” (Atlantic, pg. 1). This quote is from Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, which was targeted towards the clergymen who called him an “outsider”. For ones beliefs to be accused of being “unwise and untimely” should be a crime itself. The Constitution of the United States of America says every man has the freedom of speech. For a man’s words to be…
