ipl-logo

Did Martin Luther King Use Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

493 Words2 Pages

Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail and Henry Davis Thoreau's Civil Disobedience share similar views on the moral and political corruptness of the nation. However, a plethora of circumstances differentiate the two activist in their styles and purposes. Kings indigent tone and his attention grabbing use of pathos created a more relatable atmosphere between himself and his audience. While Thoreau's text remains more detached from the situation; this caused a failure to engage his audience with as much success as Martin Luther King . While both texts clearly share views relation toward the need for just laws paired with equal rights to all who live in America, Dr. King demonstrates greater accomplishment in persuading his audience than Thoreau. …show more content…

While Thoreau certainly uses pathos to influence the reader, his use of it was far less personal and, moreover, less effective than King’s “Letter to a Birmingham Jail”. In paragraph seven, King explains the reason why people who say "wait" do not understand why such a request is unobtainable and impractical. He uses hypothetical and true, personal, anecdotes to strengthen and support his clause. His examples strive to successfully penetrate through the dubiety of his most skeptical readers. In comparison to Thoreau, King also uses loaded words in a more frequent manner throughout his text. For example, "abyss of despair", "appalling science", "frightening radical nightmare", and "psalm of brotherhood". While the use of strong words like "innocent blood" "revelation" and "abused and perverted" undeniably gave Thoreau's writing a more urgent tone, King’s writing created a very personal atmosphere in which his reader unconsciously becomes more apt to being open minded about his ideas or

Show More
Related
424 Words | 2 Pages

"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. And "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau both portray the same idea but were told in but different ways. "Civil Disobedience" was written in the 1830's while "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written about one hundred years later. Both letters illustrated civil disobedience in the same way by two different views. The two differ from each other due to the tone and occasion found.

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Lither King Jr. Both had the same idea but they were shared in different ways. "Civil Disobedience" was written in the 1830's where as "The Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written nearly 100 years letter. Both pieces of writing showed civil disobedience, and they were shared in the same way, but they both had different views. In both pieces of work the authors have different views of the injustice in the government. Both men, Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, targeted larger groups rather than smaller ones.

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

Do you ever think what Martin Luther King Jr. has expressed in his writings? The speech “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. attracted a huge crowd of people at The Lincoln Memorial for the march on Washington. In addition to his speech Martin Luther King Jr. also wrote “ The Letter from Birmingham Jail” because he was in jail and he wrote it to 8 white clergymen. King uses logos and pathos in his letter and his speech to appeal his audiences.

Read More
268 Words | 2 Pages

In my opinion Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. have very similar purposes in their writings. Both author 's are writing to protest unfair laws. But they also have very different audiences. In Civil Disobediance, Thoreau writes how those who break unjust laws should suffer the consequences as a protest to the laws.

Read More
554 Words | 3 Pages

Intelligent people use vocabulary that represents what is in their mind and physically connects our hearts to their message. Martin Luther King Jr the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was arrested Friday April 12, 1963 for demonstrating in Birmingham, Alabama. Where he commenced to write a letter called Letter From Birmingham Jail, to a white clergymen, who wrote about the King’s arrest saying it was “unwise and untimely.” Which lead to John F. Kennedy’s first time publicly speaking upon civil rights to the country. We, being human, utilize words to impact or even rouse change in individual-lives.

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

6). He wants things to be taken slowly and thinks that reality and progression are not important. 2. Using similes and extended metaphors gives an image to Thoreau’s opinion. It gives the text pathos because the imagery gives the reader a certain feeling as they read it.

Read More
518 Words | 3 Pages

Thoreau also related to the world, imprisoning him when he said: “I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one but having caged myself near them”. That makes me think about how Thoreau was given a life to be free or to be caged, just as well as any person does too. You can be the puppet of society and live, how the government tells you to live as or not be the puppet and defy what society has to tell you about life and live as you would want to. A rhetorical device Thoreau used to be logos mixed with pathos to convey the reader to see as he sees such as “live free and uncommitted” that would move a person to think living free is what I want and if it 's uncommitted then I’ll take it in my opinion.

Read More
977 Words | 4 Pages

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr., had an immense amount of faith. Martin was born January 15th, 1929 to Alberta King, who was a teacher to her three children, and Martin Luther King Sr., who was the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. King was a smart kid growing up and aspired to be a doctor. He skipped the grades of 9 and 12 and eventually graduated from Morehouse College.

Read More
1408 Words | 6 Pages

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” it can easily be argued that King used many rhetorical devices such as anaphora and tone in order to further persuade his audience to take action on behalf of the Civil Rights movement. Through copious examples, the reader is presented with King’s effort to use repetition in order to drive his point as well as being presented with the changing tone of his writing which allows the reader to experience a shift in emotions and urgency throughout the

Read More
1845 Words | 8 Pages

Civil Disobedience Compare and Contrast Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King both wrote persuasive discussions that oppose many ideals and make a justification of their cause, being both central to their argument. While the similarity is obvious, the two essays, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. do have some similarities. King tries persuading white, southern clergymen that segregation is an evil, unfair law that ought to defeat by use of agitation of direct protesting. Thoreau, on the other hand, writes to a broader, non-addressed audience, and focuses more on the state itself. He further accepts it at its current state, in regard to the battle with Mexico and the institution of slavery.

Read More
678 Words | 3 Pages

By analyzing both of these writings it’s almost obvious that Martin Luther King was influenced by Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” because they both use very similar writing techniques. King also described a four step to a non-violent protest, and the first one is to collect facts to determine whether an injustice law exists. This relates to Thoreau’s critique of an unjust government because Thoreau believed that every machine had

Read More
895 Words | 4 Pages

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s essay, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau essay “Civil Disobedience,” both share their opinions on social injustice and civil disobedience. They both believe that people can protest unfair and unjust laws imposed on them in a civil way. In addition, King and Thoreau are challenging the government with their essays, which they wrote after they got sent to jail. For protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama, King spent eleven days in jail; Thoreau spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. Both King and Thoreau’s essays present similar plans for a resolution.

Read More
715 Words | 3 Pages

Henry David Thoreau wrote the famous letter “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” while doing his time in jail for not paying his poll tax in protest against slavery and the Mexican War. Thoreau was an outspoken critic against social issues he didn’t believe in. His letter has made a big influence on many other civil rights activists. In his letter, Thoreau used many different rhetorical strategies including pathos, as well as usages of logos and diction in order to achieve his purpose in persuading his audience that the government shouldn’t intervene. Thoreau’s use of pathos was seen greatly throughout his writing.

Read More
1836 Words | 8 Pages

The scholarly diction conveys the education of the author and slightly detaches the idea from the author to make the thoughts less personal. Detaching the idea from the author builds a silent understanding that ideas are simply ideas. When this is combined with the intellectual vocabulary Thoreau exhibits, the detachment that is a byproduct of the formality becomes a reason to listen and attempt to understand the ideas that he presents. Thoreau’s writing style additionally emits a particular tone that exudes confidence and contemplation. In his essay, he declares, “I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

“...when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” (MLK, 276). King uses this strong sense of appeal to emotion to engross his readers and let them know how hard it is for them.

Read More

More about Did Martin Luther King Use Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

Related Topics

Open Document