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Comparing The Bigger Picture, By Martin Luther King Jr.

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Following the Emancipation Proclamation in which all slaves were legally set free came the multitude of underlying ways to continue discrimination and oppression of minority groups like the Jim Crow laws. This discrimination and oppression many groups faced went on for years without seeing the slightest change, that was until the Civil Rights Movement of 1965 in which the first major stance to bring equality had caught fire. Even today, we see protests that aim to bring about the equality everyone deserves, like the BLM. Both “The Bigger Picture” by Dominique Jones and “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr make use of the widely known oppression minority groups face; while both texts push their audience to understand the cruel and unfair …show more content…

King’s use of applicable scenarios is powerful, for instance “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.” (King 5) and “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight;” (King 24). Both of these display a thoughtful process in which the cruelties of oppression are put into simple terms that anyone can understand, it makes the hard to grasp easier and allows the people to truly understand how wrong oppression is King’s technique doesn’t end there as his use of methodical language is possibly even more effective claiming “the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (King 3) as well as “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. "” (King 17) Such formal language brings a merit to his words in doing so, gaining large amounts of support and even takes the foundation of the country and makes it a tool for persuasion for

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King didn’t just use an emotional approach during his “I Have a Dream” speech, but he also uses a logical approach. He uses a lot of emphasize about how after a century, the negro is still not free. Also, it might be a long time before the negro can be freed. King talks about how he has a lot of dreams for the world, and although not all of them will become true, at least some might. He wants everyone to be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

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He does this to inspire action upon people to create change by using nonviolent resistance. King uses rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to support his argument. One of the ways he shows how people deal with oppression is acquiescence. He does that by using ethos, specifically he uses allusions like when he uses the allusions to the Bible and Shakespeare.

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Firstly, King opens up his letter to a great amount of ethos. Credibility in a speaker is a huge step of rhetoric to have, since an audience needs to notice that the speaker knows what they are talking about. If a speaker can not prove to

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Pathos is a very key ingredient in the process of persuading people, and while everybody tugs at people’s heartstrings, King used it to change the opinion of all that remain on the fence between inequality and equality. “Let us not wallow in the valley of of despair.” That sounds like torture, and that's why many fought for black rights, it sounded like a life of pure pain and suffering, causing many to hate the idea of blacks being forced to endure such discriminative horrors. He of course doesn’t use all negative words, but words of hope and positive thoughts, “An oasis of freedom and justice… a beautiful symphony of brotherhood... we will be free one day.”

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He demonstrates this by applying Abraham Lincoln ’s quote, “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free” (31) and that of Thomas Jefferson’s “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” (31). King specifically used these to his advantages in order to not only remind the clergymen how and who helped this country came to be, but the explicit connotation of those words. The effect will be significant enough for the audience to relate and reflect how a nation can be capable of great damage from this foreseen

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King compels his audience to either compromise between their indifference and their patriotism for the nation or to conflict with the values and morals that they live by. He makes a straightforward connection to how ending segregation will be for the benefit of the country by indicating that if they do not solve the problems segregation brings as soon as possible, then the United States will eventually be caught and surpassed by countries that are supposedly far behind them. King also introduces the thought that the people accusing his actions of being untimely are not highly knowledgeable or fully aware of the severity of what they are fighting for. Through this, the audience easily comprehends that he is not just acting upon his personal goals, rather he is acting upon what he feels will be for the betterment of the nation. On top of this, the audience can also understand or infer that segregation may be worse than previously imagined.

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One way that he conveyed this idea was by using personification. In his letter King wrote, “As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us (King 2).” King used personification to exemplify their struggles and disappointment that appeared regularly while fighting for equality. This use of figurative language exposes the audience to their struggle for freedom. Although “a shadow of deep disappointment” doesn’t directly fall upon the Black community, it let the clergymen know that their neglect towards fulfilling their promise of removing humiliating sins had deeply crushed the Black community.

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Throughout the story, he uses many rhetorical devices, mainly allusions, to emphasize and develop his claims. King stated

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Most people in this world aren’t born into this world alone, King knows this and reminds the clergymen and the white moderate that these people have families too. Even though slavery was abolished in 1865 racism has continued to dehumanize Black people. King has given these people an identity which humanizes them. Lastly King appeals to logos or the logical side of an argument.

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King also takes great length t0 distinguish between just and unjust laws. He describes “ Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality ” (par. 16). He shares all this in hopes that the clergymen and others will understand that it is morally incorrect for segregation to be practiced because everyone should be treated equally. Finally, King tells them “I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom” (par. 26).

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The ones that are effective and clear are his use of rhetoric, tone, and real-life experiences. Rhetoric describes the choice of words an author uses. An author can evoke different levels of passion, simply by what vocabulary he or she chooses. Therefore, by reading King’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” one can gather his rhetoric as evoking a strong passion for change. His word choice is stark and strong.

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I agree with him that unjust laws are giving a false idea of superiority and just laws as something that will uplift other personalities, he states, “any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King 3). This is important because he wants to informs his brothers and sisters that the government shouldn’t just focus only on themselves but think of the communities around them. For instance, King states “all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent negroes from becoming registered voters,” which in some countries African-Americans make up most of the populations yet their rights are taken away. Through the use of logos; the appeal to logic, King mentions, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit..”

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King explains, “When you find your tongue stammering as you seek to explains to your six year old daughter that she cannot go to the public amusement park advertised on TV because it is not open to African Americans.” King also recounts, “or when your five year old son asks, ‘Why do white people treat colored people so poorly.’ King emphasizes how the idea of “white superiority” means to blacks, as he say, ”your middle name becomes boy (no matter how old you are) and your wife and mother are never given the respectful title Mrs. In all instances, King it appealing to the emotional, pathos, of the nation as a whole, by including personal anecdotes that anyone can relate to. King also uses Biblical references and popular examples to connect with the audience.

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He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of

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Throughout his speech he implies a lot of metaphors to make his speech effective and influencing. For example, King constantly describes the Negroes as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation”, “Storms of Persecution,” and “chains of discrimination.” Through these metaphors King indicates the crises the Negroes face. A few of King’s strongest metaphors are his references to prejudice: “the quick sands of racial injustice”, the “heat of oppression”, “the dark and desolate valleys of segregation”, and the “chains of discrimination.” King also indicates the unbearable inequality by creating an image: “the sweltering summer of the negro’s discontent.”

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