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Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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One Friday in 1953, 53 African Americans marched down the streets of Birmingham to peacefully protest against discrimination; however, only for all of them to be arrested. Nonetheless, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. reciprocated a response that was a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement. In Dr. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he justifies the nonviolent actions of the black community using the rhetorical methods of pathos, ethos, and logos to demonstrate their diplomatic push towards desegregation. Veering towards not only the eight clergymen who wrote a proposal for blacks to stop their futile actions but as well as the people of America, Dr. King uses ethos to establish his credibility to fight injustice. Even before he states …show more content…

In the beginning, King states, “the Southern lands have been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue” (720). This is setting the reader up for his declaration that unjust laws should not be followed unerringly. A voice speaks out in question of segregation, but no voice answers to address its concerns-the picture that King paints portrays a land of injustice and unequal opinion. Saying "the Southern lands," instead of specifying that it is the black populace who is experiencing the hardships, aims to make the audience realize that these problems are not only affecting a single race, but it encompasses the entire South. This is building up a logical appeal: if the entire South is in a stalemate of injustice where a person's opinion is not given any weight, then there is a good possibility that the laws of the land are unjust and need amending. King then claims, “Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful” (722). All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality by giving people a false sense of inferiority. King supports this by using examples on how discrimination has effected everyone and the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court. He claims that there is no need to support these laws because they are morally wrong, and their reason to fight for better rights is the more morally right action. He clarifies all of

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Martin Luther King’s utilization of pathos and rhetorical questions in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” allows him to adequately advocate for civil rights for African Americans. MLK’s convincing use of pathos is shown in paragraph 23, where he wrote, “If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.” This quote was intended to make the white bishops who he was responding to feel guilty, as slavery was perpetrated by some of their ancestors. Furthermore, this quote shows the general enthusiasm of African Americans and affiliates to push for the repealing of unfair laws of segregation. This is shown by African Americans being able to persevere through slavery and that segregationist laws

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Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. MLK obtained his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Morehouse College. MLK’s occupation was a Baptist minister and social activist. MLK was African American, a target for racial segregation in those times. MLK wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” to be released April 16th, 1963.

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” has an amazing and also very extensive use of rhetorical devices in order to make the reader relate. Martin Luther King Jr. was very good with his words and as a preacher, he knew how to get to people's hearts. There were plenty of rhetorical devices that he could have used. Martin Luther King Jr. knew exactly which ones were gonna get to the people. Martin Luther King Jr. used ethos pathos and logos.

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On page 285 King says, “Supreme Court 's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws” King’s allusion reinforces the facts of his argument by directing the critical event of the decision made in 1954. It shows that the decisions that are being made are not helping the problem that Birmingham has, it is only making the segregation problems worse. It’s efficient because it shows that the courts have been making laws that are what the called just but, in reality, they are anything, but just they are unjust laws that shouldn’t be

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The passages I chose from Dr. Kings “Letter from Birmingham Jail” do not contain any overt ethos, yet his authority is implied. He is a Negro, held in a southern jail, for simply attempting to gain civil rights for a group of marginalized people, a group of marginalized people that he is, himself, a member. Were it not for his skin color, he would not be where he is. Were it not for his personal experiences as a Negro, participating in and leading lawful actions, guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution, he would not be where he is. He is where he is, at the time he writes this letter, because he has experienced the things he is fighting against, giving him credibility through his skin color, his experiences and his personal actions in combatting

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In the excerpt “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., King utilized ethos and logos to express his belief for a country without judgment of character based solely on one's skin color and discrimination towards the Negro community. The ongoing crisis of racism greatly existed in Birmingham, where King used ethos to persuade his peers that the “white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative” but to revolt (5). After a promise over riddance of all supremacist signs hung up in establishments, Negroes were later faced with even more signs that only continued the inadequate treatment. After learning of the new signs, King decided that there was no other option but to take action for the promise that was

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This description shows that he and fellow persons of colour have had enough with segregation and they will not stand for the depression that comes with oppression. Words like “abyss” and “despair” naturally comes with the connotations of sadness and hopelessness and it does just that with King’s description of racial persecution. An excellent example of the appeal to pathos occurs on paragraph 14 in which King goes on a long diatribe on his racial unrest, he says “But when you… then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” The entirety of his diatribe provides examples of how civil change is needed.

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When reading "Letter from Birmingham Jail" one may notice that Martin Luther King Jr. Used many instances of logos, ethos, pathos, and even Kairos. Martin Luther explains using these methods how black people are treated and why their cause needs to be supported. "When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see the tears welling up in her little eyes. " This sentence, which is in the 5th paragraph of the 2nd page, uses pathos.

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The letter from Birmingham jail by Dr. Marin Luther King was written as a response of King to nine criticisms made against the Southern Christian leaders and King’s participation in demonstration in Birmingham. King handled many rhetorical devices to convince his opponents such as the white clergymen with his rights to protest, create tension for direct action and to achieve the racial justice. The devices fluctuate between Logos and Ethos in a clever way to appeal to his audience and criticize them at the same time. King provided logical supports such as biblical figures, historical and philosophical references In addition, he used verities of metaphors ,allergy and poetic language . In my essay, I will point out some of the rhetorical

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Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at it’s peak in the South. When King was making his mark in American history, the United States was experiencing great social unrest due to the injustice towards their colored citizens, which would lead to social rights rallies and unnecessary violence. In response to King’s peaceful protesting, the white community viewed “[his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist,” and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive.

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1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

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During the era of the civil rights movements in the 60s, among the segregation, racism, and injustice against the blacks, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial to deliver one of the greatest public speeches for freedom in that decade. In Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech he effectively uses ethos, diction and powerful metaphors to express the brutality endured by African American people. Yet his most important method of reaching his audience, and conveying his enduring message of equality and freedom for the whole nation was his appeal to pathos. With these devices, King was able to move thousands of hearts and inspire the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Opening his speech Martin Luther King Jr. sets up his credibility with his use of ethos, referring to the Declaration of Independence saying, “This note was a promise that all men… would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life.”

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the author of “A Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” wrote his remarkable letter sitting in jail, on the sides of a newspaper! With the year being 1963, Martin Luther King was a revolutionist of civil injustice (segregation). He peacefully rebelled against the government`s inequality, but was later arrested and detained in the Birmingham City Jail. Despite his jurisdiction, King continued to show his natural leadership skills by expressing his points even in his most desperate times by writing the famous piece “A Letter from Birmingham City Jail.” With his words that “Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber,” King not only brings unity through parallelism, but also allows for the development of an arguable point.

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In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in gaining civil rights throughout the 1960’s and he’s very deserving of that title as seen in both his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience.

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