One of the most important pieces of literature to exist in the Civil Rights era has helped future generations to come to understand the struggles of activists of the time period. This piece of history is “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written by Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 16th 1963. He was jailed because he was protesting the treatments of Blacks. In the letter he uses different types of modes of persuasions. King uses authority, logic, and emotion in a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to convince white clergy during the Civil Rights Movement that his nonviolent actions are both timely and wise. First, King appeals to his audience by using ethos which is an appeal to ethics by convincing everyone that they are worthy of being heard. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. writes, “I have the honor of …show more content…
2). By using his credentials of being affiliated with a religious organization it shows the clergyman that they have something in common and that since they are all followers of God, King’s perspective on situations should be heard. Another example of ethos is when King writes “ Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfretted realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal (...)”(par. 10). By creating tension it forces things to change. In order to get rid of that tension, which in King’s case is to get equal rights by protesting, African Americans must be granted the rights given to all citizens. One last example of