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Compare And Contrast Letter From Birmingham Jail And The Ballot Or The Bullet

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” were written to address civil rights. These men use bold, confident tones to prove their points, yet express them differently. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King advocates for peace and nonviolent action. He states, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. This means that if injustice is everywhere, it can hurt places where justice currently stands. He believed he could create peace and bring us together without violent disagreements. Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” is the opposite. He mentions that if African Americans don't earn freedom by peacefully protesting (the ballot), they will resort to violence
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677 Words | 3 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr.’s primary purpose in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is to justify his presence and involvement in the peaceful protests taking place in Birmingham as well as to condemn the world of unjust segregation and racism. By employing logos continuously in his writing, King develops and contributes to his position in support of peaceful protests and direct action programs that are meant to bring to African Americans the “unalienable rights” that they are being denied. He writes the letter in 1936 from his prison cell in Birmingham jail, replying to a public letter written by several clergymen. His well-thought written logic appeals to the intended audience but also indirectly addresses the divided nation.

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428 Words | 2 Pages

The article “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King Jr, was the great example of hope for equality in the future. He believed in nonviolent protests and civil negotiations. As he spent eight days in jail, he wrote the letter for a national audience in order to express his vision. Dr. King wanted both white and black individuals to stop criticizing one another and become united. But his view of the future also consisted of replacing injustice and oppression, to rebuilding freedom and justice.

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392 Words | 2 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr. strived for justice. It was his main focus, and he was willing to go great lengths to achieve justice. In the “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he focuses on addressing criticism of his work and actions. He acknowledged that he had many people who didn’t agree with what he did or believed in, but that never stopped him from doing what he believed was right. He stated that what brought him to Birmingham in the first place, was injustice.

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1157 Words | 5 Pages

6477043 In Martin Luther King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he discusses the reasoning behind his movement to end segregation using non-violent strategies that were often questioned by those around him. These non-violent actions often took him to places all across the southern United States where discrimination and segregation was rampant. In this letter, King used many literary strategies that helped him convey his ideas.

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., stands up against the racial inequalities that plague not just the state of Alabama but the United States as a whole at the time. He claims the solution to racial inequality and the next step in furthing the civil rights movement is through nonviolent action. King’s passionate tone creates a sense of pride and confidence in his cause; as well as his use of ethos, logos, and pathos give the letter a sense of structure and unity. The purpose of Martin Luther King Jr. writing “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was to address the article published by eight local clergymen “A Call for Unity”.

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1688 Words | 7 Pages

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on April 16th, 1963 after King had been arrested for leading a peaceful and nonviolent demonstration that was held in order to bring attention to the cruel racist treatment of blacks Americans. Despite being written in a jail cell, the beautifully crafted letter effectively used ethos, pathos, and logos; three powerful rhetorical devices that work to clearly convey his message to the target audience. His viewpoint was that of a frustrated African American man who had seen various forms of racial discrimination and segregation throughout the course of his lifetime. Nevertheless, he was also a devout follower of Christ who had a great deal of patience and was knowledgeable about the principles and practices of civil disobedience.

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749 Words | 3 Pages

The United States of America was not always as free as it claimed to be. For instance, black people were once subject to segregation and discrimination. As the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to respond to his fellow clergymen and their statements that criticized the demonstrations that put him in the jail cell he was writing from. All in all, King’s letter sheds light on the struggles against racial inequality through the persuasive styles of ethos, pathos, and logos. Judging from his letter from Birmingham jail, it is obvious that Martin Luther King Jr. is living in a time of racial inequality and discrimination.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

The writer, Martin Luther King Jr., was a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was in favor to equality. Moreover, he believed in nonviolence protest to obtain discrimination in America. On April 16, 1963, when King was in jail, he wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to justify his actions and to response the eight clergymen who called him “unwise, untimely and extreme” in the article, “A Call for Unity.” In his letter, he declares that he is in Birmingham because there is injustice. King’s appeal to pathos and his use of evidence combine to create an argument that achieves its purpose of providing that his nonviolence actions are just, and that the laws are unjust.

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1626 Words | 7 Pages

King’s letter served as almost like a cry for justice and for immediate change. Analyzing both of their texts and realizing who they were during this era shows how Washington’s pathway to racial uplift and King’s demand for civil disobedience gives insight into their approach to the fight for equality. Their words were not only a reflection of their times and the era they were in, but their voices and words were also a tool for a giant leap to the progress of transformative change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail was a defining moment in the civil rights movement. Crafted in the midst of intense struggle, it was a rebuttal to critics and a broader call to address injustice.

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883 Words | 4 Pages

Similar to Thoreau, Martin Luther King Jr was an activist who wrote a famous letter titled, “A letter from Birmingham Jail”. The writings have similar aspects when it comes

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996 Words | 4 Pages

While incarcerated within the Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to his fellow Clergymen, explaining the non violent steps to his campaign and the reason he sought out justice in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King inspired others with his unimpaired integrity when he advocated the following within his the Birmingham letter “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King Jr. 151-163). Which indicated injustice racial crime against others would not be tolerated, and a threat towards justice

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451 Words | 2 Pages

Martin Luther King, Jr. is a well known individual in the civil rights movement. He’s commonly known for the “I Have a Dream” speech; another memorable writing of King’s is his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Both written during 1963, “I Have a Dream” spoken in front of 200,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial, “Letter From Birmingham Jail” written to clergymen as a response to criticism. The letter has a stronger argument than the dream speech because of King's use of biblical allusions, negatively charged language, and his appeals to the audience. “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” was sent to clergymen who had criticized King for what he’s done for the civil rights movement.

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251 Words | 2 Pages

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King defends the protestors’ thirst for justice by demonstrating the unjust society they live in. Over fifty years after the letter was written, it is still read today. Often times it gives people a sense of identity. However this letter gives me more than an identity. This letter gives me reason and motivation to always fight for a just society.

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

The entire letter of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” presents an African American view of cultural and political issues -- everything needs to take action. As King informs the reader, when he was participating in the parade, nonviolently as ever, he would end up arrested for not providing a “permit” while he knew that was not the truth. King was the person to acknowledge what needs to be done, it shows in the letter what motivated him to write one of the outstanding archives in civil rights verbalization. Ultimately this is coming from the man who defends injustice for African Americans. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

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167 Words | 1 Pages

The question of “the bullet or the ballot” is a central component of the Civil Rights movement because it demonstrated how African Americans needed to take actions, whether it be through voting in the 1964 election or taking up arms, to defend and express their equality against those who are oppressing them. In The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcom X, Malcolm X advocates African Americans to take matters into their own hands by either casting their ballot “to determine who’s going to sit in the White House and who’s going to be in the dog house” (Malcom X 2). By contrast, Martin Luther King Jr. advocates for an engagement of Civil Disobedience by calling for nonviolent direct action which allows for African Americans to be heard by forcing their

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