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Martin luther king ideas and philosophy
Comparing and contrastig the philosphies of martin luther king jr
Comparing and contrastig the philosphies of martin luther king jr
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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1954. He had a great impact on race relations in the U.S. and he made a great impact on many lives. He died in 1968. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, “Dream” and “Birmingham” and each had a different audience and purpose. Both works utilizes the persuasive techniques of pathos in “Dream” and logos in “Birmingham.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. uses metaphors to make his argument in “The Letter To Birmingham Jail” by saying things such as “I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say wait.” He refers this quote to when the people were being perilously brutalized by police officers. They were kicked, cursed at, and treated awfully, however. I believe one reason Martin Luther King uses metaphors in his writing to show you more detail and give you a visual of what he is saying in his pious mind. Martin Luther King, for example, uses metaphors to show detail when he talks about little girls not being able to go and play on the playground with other white children.
In the letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr addresses his audience by defining what qualifies an action or law to be just and unjust. He describes a just law as a “code that squares away with the moral law or the law of God” (King). Then he describes the unjust law as being “a code that is out of the harmony with the moral law” (King). Kings definitions compare well with the dictionary definitions because both agree that just laws are based on a moral code. He uses the strategy of examples and counter examples in order to define both of the words and give his audience a clear understanding of their meaning.
A "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" (1963), by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in response to a letter published by Alabama clerics. This time he will respond with all his heart to this cynical oppression. In the course of the letter King makes extensive allusions to multiple philosophers, including Aquinas and Socrates. King's work has only one objective: the protection of civil disobedience as a form of protest that the Civil Rights Movement could continue in an unencumbered way despite this singularity of purpose, the complexity of the situation meant that it was "A Call for Unity" published by the eight clergymen. Immoral and immoral mentions drew the attention of the Minister through the letter, and were expressed by different points
According to "letter from Birmingham jail" Martin Luther King States in lines 82-84 "we began a series of workshop on nonviolence & we repeatedly asked ourselves , are you able to accept blacks without retaliating. " This reveals, that African Americans obtain true freedom they must practice the essence of non violence, they must be able to endure
Martin King 's “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” is a sophisticated argument that gets to the point, but also gets deep and emotional. Unlike Swift, King uses ethos, pathos, and logos to get into the personal level of his audience. While pointing out his valid ideas and arguments with reason. With getting on the personal level King explained to the peoples on his view of what was right and unjust. I believe King’s letter had a stronger argument than Swifts because King knew what his ultimate goal was.
Martin Luther King Jr has stated, “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” This means that people can make a difference without harming anyone and can make a difference without being hurt. Also that nonviolence is more powerful than just brute force, people can stop or “cut” injustice easier. Martin Luther King Jr’s words inspired a generation and allowed these groups and people to use this metaphor as their own strategy of change.
While contained at Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter encouraging and defending a nonviolent approach to dealing with racism. Martin Luther King Jr. being known as a public figure who has impacted the way America as a whole treats African-Americans. Having lived through a time when his rights, as well as every person of color didn’t match to their fellow Americans, he felt the need to advocate. The letter has been considered as one of the best argument pieces, persuading and convincing many, due to diction and usage of rhetorical strategies.
1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Throughout Dr. Martin Luther King’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he argues that nonviolent efforts by the people is the best way to attain equality. This is emphasized through the use of diction. In his speech, Martin Luther King discusses how the people need to fight violence and oppression. This is seen when he states “the crucial political and moral question of our time - the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.”
In Martin Luther King Jr.’s piece, “The Ways of Meeting Oppression”, he tries to inform and persuade the reader about the most effective way of dealing with oppression by listing and and describing three characteristic ways people approach and deal with their oppression: acquiescence, physical violence, and nonviolent resistance. King states that by giving in and submitting to their oppressors, one is “cooperating with that system”, a system which is unjust; therefore, the oppressed does not become any better than their oppressor and proves their inferiority. By resorting to physical violence, they often create more complicated problem instead of solving solving them, leading to more destruction. Instead, King advocates nonviolent resistance.
He believed that chance could occur through non- violation, and so affirmed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s motto: “To save the soul of America”. This affirmation gave clear evidence that many other people were putting effort to make changes. On top of that, Martin Luther King also represents the importance of non-violence by giving his personal experience. His claim of understanding the others’ feelings was inspiring, and therefore gave a strong impact to the audience. “For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence.”
Martin Luther King Jr illustrates the things they have gone through to be able to get into that point. For example, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: 1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2 ) negotiation; 3) self-purification; 4) direct action. We have gone through all of these steps in Birmingham”. Martin Luther King uses this in a way to be able to get remorse from the Clergymen and show the
In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.
When I first read Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter I knew that it would stay with me as long as I live. His way of dealing with injustices in this world compels me to never allow a person to deny someone’s rights. While reading this letter my admiration for Dr. King grew, I was impressed about this man couldn’t bear to see injustices in this world and nonviolently took on his oppressors. Lines like “Injustice anywhere is a threat justice everywhere” and Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” ignited a feeling of right in me. Reading this letter made think of the current state of civil rights in the U.S. today.
