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Dr King Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

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What would you do if it was considered an illicit crime to speak out against laws that prohibit freedom for a specific race? How would you react to this? In Dr, King's letter, he advocates for change while refuting an article's claim that he is "untimely and unwise." King uses literary devices to establish his purpose of changing and abolishing injustice in the streets of Birmingham. After being filled with broken promises, he had no choice but to start doing things through his new ideas that consist of: tension, his 4-step plan, and non-violence. While writing this letter, King uses various rhetorical devices and appeals to argue that his activities are not "unwise and untimely". In his letter, King establishes credibility and claims that …show more content…

Conclusively, with the use of rhetorical concepts, King supports the claim that civil disobedience has consistently been used for unjust laws. King uses pathos and imagery to leave the reader feeling a call to action about the injustices in Birmingham. King states that they should “...lift [their] national policy...the quicksand of racial injustice...” This metaphor means that racial inequality is spreading rapidly, and one needs to stop it. On top of that, this is a call to action. This is critical because it gives a sense of urgency. The description of the “...quicksand of racial injustice” and the “...solid rock of human dignity...” paints a picture of the real-life issues of society. Moreover, King also uses pathos and emotional language to get the reader's attention. In addition, it pulls at the reader’s heartstrings. Dr. King uses words such as “destructively” and “appalling silence” to help us understand what King is trying to convey. Emotional language helps to get the reader to understand what is truly happening. Furthermore, this helps us feel what Dr. King feels. Overall, with emotional language and imagery, King demonstrates that the need to protest for justice is necessary and

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“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Analyzing Paragraphs 15 - 22 African-Americans’ rights and liberties were suppressed heavily at the time Dr. King wrote this letter and he played an essential part in facilitating equality and the riddance of unjust laws. Through various speeches, demonstrations, letters, and gatherings he managed to peacefully stand for what he believed what was to be morally right. Throughout Dr. King’s letter from jail, he uses many rhetorical devices in order to highlight the moral duty he and his constituents have to act against injustice. Dr. King employs various logos arguments, rhetorical questions, , and a carefully constructed tone to create his peaceful argument to the clergymen and show them that he actually need

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696 Words | 3 Pages

King’s efficient writing. Dark, visual metaphors were strewn across his letter such as, “Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue,” and “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.” Descriptive visuals such as these, express Dr. King’s own perception of the horrendous despair the negroes experienced. Thus, in parts of his letter, King would allow his desperation to spiral out in long anaphoric sentences such as, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers […]; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse […]; when you see the vast majority […]; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted […]”

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1074 Words | 5 Pages

King's careful choice of words are used to sway the reader's sympathy for blacks and to increase the morale of the discriminated. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. He writes of his own problems that may apply to the daily struggles of the abused African

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691 Words | 3 Pages

King symbolizes pathos and juxtaposition to help the reader better understand the effects of unjust laws. The author states "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. In other words, King expresses how the citizens of Birmingham might be affected by unjust laws. In paragraph 26, the text states "Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity." To put it differently, King says it’s a good time to lift the national policy of unjust laws moving quickly like quicksand, to racial injustice being solid like a

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815 Words | 4 Pages

King uses pathos to trigger the emotions of his readers to understand the emotional trauma he and his people are going through. In his letter King expresses how he and his people go through tragic events, as he states how “[one’s] first name becomes “nigger,” [and one’s] middle name becomes “boy” (however old [he is],)” or how the police force let “its dogs [sink] their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes.” This shows traumatic emotional trauma in the reader as the reader realizes how horrible people like King have it in their segregated society. This also persuades the reader in believing in what he is saying due to the realization to how disturbing a colored life may be. Yet, King also uses pathos to inspire the people reading.

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845 Words | 4 Pages

King uses imagery, metaphors, and emotional language to intensify his idea that the African Americans would obtain justice overtime. King says "Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity." He says this to express that there is no time to waste and that now is the time to change before it is too late. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses emotional language to make his audience feel a certain way. In this paragraph he uses words like "brotherhood", "solid rock of human dignity", and "co workers with god".

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244 Words | 1 Pages

In his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses vivid imagery to argue that due to racial inequality, King’s demonstrations are justified. King brings up the harsh truth of the violence experienced by African Americans by saying that daily, "vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will... drown your sisters and brothers at whim." and that "hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters;" (King 14). King vividly describes racial inequality with terms such as "vicious mobs" and "hate-filled policemen. " King uses pathos to show that, due to the racial violence, African Americans are justified in the demonstrations and their fight for social justice.

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820 Words | 4 Pages

King uses pathos in his works to describe the brutality of fighting for the civil rights movement. In the text, it says “Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.” This quote means that America failed the African American community, they were promised rights in the Constitution, but America never upheld their promise and never gave them rights. Dr. King uses charged language to relate to the audience by giving the analogy of a bad check and giving listeners an idea or similar experience of someone not keeping their promise or lying. On another account, King says “And if America is to be a great nation, this must be true.

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530 Words | 3 Pages

After establishing creditability, King shifts to explaining the grievances of African American through pathos. He gives examples of personal experience to bring forth the real truth of racism in Birmingham. He pushes for acceptance, oppression, and change for African Americans. If he did not push for those things, racism will still be an unsolved problem today. King stated, “Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts”.(IN TEXT CITATION)

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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

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1546 Words | 7 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.

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1522 Words | 7 Pages

King believed that if he could just go to Birmingham, and protest non-violently, that he could make a difference. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned, in Birmingham, for protesting the civil rights of Black Americans. While in jail, he began writing a letter addressing the clergymen. His main audience in writing this letter was to the eight clergymen who criticized his actions and also the majority of the population as well. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, argues that injustice

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933 Words | 4 Pages

Then, to emphasize the importance of the issue, he juxtaposing two metaphors- the “quicksands of racial injustice” and the “solid rock of brotherhood”- to describe the effects that come about from the two ways of existing together, Dr. King ultimately favoring

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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.

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1229 Words | 5 Pages

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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