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Ethos Pathos Logos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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The clergymen doubted the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but in his candid letter, he explained that what the clergymen have heard is only a facet of this argument and that there is a legitimate reason which caused Dr. King and his people to begin protesting and boycotting. In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King explains the reasons that led him to support the peaceful, nonviolent protests. To be able to accomplish his goal of telling the clergymen the true story that had happened, Dr. King used three main methods. Out the three main methods, ethos, pathos, and logos, only one had truly succeeded, logos. Logos was the only technique which was not subtle; this strategy told the cause of the problem in a straightforward …show more content…

King was logos because he used logic to support him and with that logic he was able to contradict the clergymen's arguments. The logos used in Dr. King’s letter fulfilled their purpose by stopping the clergymen right in their tracks. “Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct action could be delayed no longer” (09) Here he talks about how him and the other protesters are accused of not being patient but they actually had postponed the non-violent protests for quite a while, waiting for any new changes but everything was still the same. This helped Dr. King convince the clergymen to support him because it contradicts the claim that the clergymen had made which clearly stated that Dr. King and his supporting protesters were not patient enough to wait and see if there were any new changes. Logos had also succeeded in unmasking the truth behind the mayhem in Birmingham. “We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive” (12). This portion of the letter had explained that African Americans are not causing the problems, they are only responsible for showing the people of Birmingham what the problems are. This helped Dr. King because using this evidence, he opposes the clergymen’s arguments which had stated that the African Americans are causing the chaos around the city. With the help of logic and truth shown with logos, Dr. King had proven the innocence of the hundreds of African Americans who had protested for what they believed

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In paragraph 15, Dr. King's rhetoric helped to advance his purpose in writing the letter. Dr. King uses logos in paragraph 15 to show his reasoning on the matter of justice, in order to move people to act on this important matter. This paragraph helps the reader to see the importance of "acting quickly" in regards to justice because in that time, justice was hard to achieve. As Dr. king states "for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights". Several people have expressed a sense of inessential thinking towards the matter. For people who have "never felt the stinging darts of segregation" it is easy for them "to say, "Wait", and this is why Dr. King has to stress his point to another level in order for them to understand.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister, spokesperson, activist, and civil rights leader, wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail” specifically to the eight clergymen who addressed his unlawful acts, but the message is also intended for Christians and the people of the whole nation. Martin Luther King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail uses parallelism to emphasize the extent that discriminatory actions happened in Birmingham and in the U.S, allusion to justify his actions, and antithesis to contrast two ideas and eventually persuade the clergymen and all others that nonviolent protest will help end racial segregation. He also uses the rhetoric to defend his actions. Dr. King uses a list of rhetorical devices in his letter. One device that stood

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s primary purpose in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is to justify his presence and involvement in the peaceful protests taking place in Birmingham as well as to condemn the world of unjust segregation and racism. By employing logos continuously in his writing, King develops and contributes to his position in support of peaceful protests and direct action programs that are meant to bring to African Americans the “unalienable rights” that they are being denied. He writes the letter in 1936 from his prison cell in Birmingham jail, replying to a public letter written by several clergymen. His well-thought written logic appeals to the intended audience but also indirectly addresses the divided nation.

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428 Words | 2 Pages

King has to respond to the clergymen but instead of using logos he uses pathos/ethos to appeal through their emotions. For example in paragraph (39) he has to respond through the statements. “I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, (39)?” Regarding to this statement Dr.King responds with: ‘in deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love.

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1049 Words | 5 Pages

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was released on April 16th 1963 in response to 8 prominent clergymen in Alabama. These clergymen had criticized Doctor Martin Luther Jr. about being a radical extremist for the civil rights movement. Also, the clergymen tried to leverage the black community to disassociate themselves with the protest MLK was having. They claimed his protest were untimely and meant to incite violence amongst the patrons of Alabama and further polarize whites and blacks. In response, Dr. King devises a writing masterpiece with this letter from the Birmingham Jail by utilizing ethos, logos, and pathos to express his frustration with the white moderates.

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1028 Words | 5 Pages

King uses many examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in his letter as a way to persuade the audience he is writing to. In the letter, King reveals his point of view, explains his actions, and must prove to the clergymen that

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755 Words | 4 Pages

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr., he explains to the eight clergy men, whom had previously criticized him, and to the rest of America about why he is in Birmingham. King wrote this letter to persuade and answer the criticism of why his present activities were NOT “unwise and untimely.” While writing this, King uses the three Aristotelian Appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos to fully explain his points. Throughout the second paragraph, Martin Luther King began to build his credibility.

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403 Words | 2 Pages

In the letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr. Martin Luther King used imagery, rhetorical devices, and metaphors to help print images, emotions and help persuade the clergymen to see from his and other African American’s point of view, and also persuade them to take action to justify the unjust going on. King uses imagery to help appeal to the clergy and connect with them. In paragraph 6 King says “... the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community.” This imagery uses engulf to an image of the injustice in the community. King uses imagery to explain how Birmingham is unjust towards blacks.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Dr. Kings “I Have a Dream” speech shows powerful examples of logos and pathos. His effectiveness relies heavily on his usage of these two ways to explain the pain and suffering of segregation. By him capturing his true life’s reality through pity and credible sources allows him to become successful in attempting to end the racism crisis. King states that, “when our republic was writing the Declaration of Independence, they were making a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Logos is the prime example of King using this event of writing the Declaration of Independence.

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496 Words | 2 Pages

Dr. Luther King used logos and pathos in both of his speech and the Letter to help persuade his audience and to highlight what he was trying to deliver to the clergymen. In both of Dr. King writings he uses lots of examples of logos to prove to his audience and give them hard evidence that what he is saying is true. In the speech

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392 Words | 2 Pages

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes this letter as a response to the clergymen, explaining his reasons for coming to Birmingham, in which they deemed “unwise and untimely”. The clergymen are against segregation, but they wanted to solve the issue of injustice with patience. While Birmingham is the most segregated city at the time, African Americans grew tired of waiting, and King wanted to help the people of Birmingham. S, he came to Birmingham to lead nonviolent demonstrations to fight for justice. King explains the four steps to a nonviolent campaign: collection of facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.

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452 Words | 2 Pages

King’s presentation of Logos is amazing, he shows his fellow clergymen two opposite sides to the community, one that is pure satisfaction and the other that is full of hate. King is telling his audience that he could have stayed neutral in the situation and allowed the Black Nationalist groups to take charge, but he didn’t. Logos isn’t just present in King’s letter, it is expected since King is writing a letter justifying his

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95 Words | 1 Pages

Upon being imprisoned for marching Dr Martin Luther King wrote a letter to the fellow clergymen of Birmingham, addressing his reasons as to why he committed his “crime”, This letter was widely known as “The Letter of Birmingham”. This letter was very influential and paramount to the cause of civil rights as it spurred up future events that would play essential roles in ending racial segregation in America. Throughout his whole letter, King used Ethos, logos, and pathos to firmly get his message across while adding rhetorical devices such as repetition, metaphors, and biblical references.

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709 Words | 3 Pages

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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961 Words | 4 Pages

The Civil Rights Movement was a big thing for the United states and we as Americans will always remember Martin Luther King Jr. for helping lead the people and inspire change and bring hope. The speech “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important gathering of people at the Lincoln Memorial. A huge crowd gathered to listen to his powerful speech which helped to inspire change. Martin Luther King also wrote a letter to eight white clergymen named “Letter From Birmingham Jail” the letter was written in in his jail cell which he was in for marching and protests. In both of these texts Dr. King used pathos and logos to inspire change and reach out to the people during the civil rights movements.

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