Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail
On April 16th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. writes one of the most powerful and influential pieces in the nation’s history. King writes his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being sentenced to jail for protesting the mistreatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. King passionately writes to defend fighting against racism to his fellow clergymen and responds to their concerns about taking direct action. To make his argument, King utilizes a series of literary nonfiction forms to provide a realistic image to his audience. Through doing this, King makes his argument stronger and more appealing to his audience.
The year of 1963 was a hard time for Martin Luther King Jr. and the black community, as they faced brutal violence and heavy segregation.
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Martin Luther King Jr. provides much factual evidence in his letter, “There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation” (King). Through this factual statement, the audience can feel justified in supporting King’s argument because they know his argument is truthful. Hearing that Birmingham is more violent towards blacks than any other city in the nation, his audience might feel guilty or saddened to be a part of such a community. King is forcing the community to see the truth of their wrongdoings and encourage them to make a change and support his movement towards equality for all members of society.
Each piece of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” aims to make his writing more influential to his audience. King desires to prove his actions towards protesting racism justified and necessary to his fellow clergymen. Martin Luther King Jr. felt very passionately about changing the fate of racism and eliminating segregation from society. Therefore, he used various writing techniques to persuade his audience towards understanding his abrupt and direct
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