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Letter From Birmingham Jail And Remarks On The Death Of Dr. King

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“Doing anything with dedication impacts life positively.” Ashish Vidyarthi. This quote by Ashish Vidyarthi heavily relates to Dr. King's cause as his cause is to dedicate his life to changing people for everyone in America. How were first-time readers changed by Dr. King and others with similar intentions? These texts in this unit are intended to promote positive change, love, and compassion. Dr. King and Senator Kennedy changed those charges through language, appeals, and parallelism. The texts that will be used to show Dr. King's impact on people are “I Have a Dream” by Dr. King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. King, and “Remarks on the Death of Dr. King” by Senator Kennedy. In August twenty-eighth-nineteen-sixty-three, Martin Luther …show more content…

Dr. King wrote, “Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.” He followed with “Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California." This parallelism impacts first-time readers as the reader knows that back in the day not everyone had freedom; this enacts emotions of gratitude. The connotation of Dr. King's parallelism is his wanting freedom everywhere in America and all over the world. He wants this when freedom and equal rights are everywhere, that is when people can truly feel love and compassion for others. In April of that year, from behind the bars of a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, wrote a message to inspire countless others. King was arrested for breaking the public protest law. His famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Writes “In deep disappointment, I have wept over the laxity of the church.” Laxity means a lack of strictness or care. Dr. King uses charged language that impacts first-time readers as they feel what he …show more content…

King's charged language directly states are his great displeasure and tears he has cried with the clergy, and the church’s lack of care for Dr. King's cause despite this cause being important in the bible and overall religion. On April 4th, nineteen-sixty-eight, a statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Indianapolis, Indiana was made by Senator Robert, F, Kennedy. He made a message to the people from a flatbed truck. In the flatbed truck he stated, “Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.” When RFK says “stain of bloodshed,” these impacts listeners as they are filled with rage but with Dr. King in mind, they know that King would not want violence so they shall continue fighting peacefully. The connotation of this message is an appeal to emotion to get people to speak out about the problems in their community. To conclude, Dr. King and others like Senator Kennedy are working to promote positive change, love, and compassion through parallelism, charged language, and

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On April 16th 1963, while in jail in Birmingham, Martin Luther King Jr. writes a letter to the clergymen responding to their criticism of his actions. The clergymen of Birmingham were criticizing Dr. King for leading peaceful protests against Jim Crow laws. Throughout the letter, Marin Luther King Jr. responds to a newspaper article, argues for change, justifies his action, and answers the statement that activities are "unwise and untimely". While writing his letter, Dr. King uses rhetorical devices and appeals to develop his argument that he is not an outsider, and that change is needed for things to become better.

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Pathos is a very key ingredient in the process of persuading people, and while everybody tugs at people’s heartstrings, King used it to change the opinion of all that remain on the fence between inequality and equality. “Let us not wallow in the valley of of despair.” That sounds like torture, and that's why many fought for black rights, it sounded like a life of pure pain and suffering, causing many to hate the idea of blacks being forced to endure such discriminative horrors. He of course doesn’t use all negative words, but words of hope and positive thoughts, “An oasis of freedom and justice… a beautiful symphony of brotherhood... we will be free one day.”

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Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" is an inquisitive piece of writing, written while MLK was imprisoned in Birmingham in 1963 for his peaceful protests against racial segregation. A response to a critical newspaper article published by local Clergymen, it challenges priorly accepted doctrines and makes many compelling arguments. King's most compelling statement is "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" because it the denounces toleration of injustice and those who allow it (King). When King says "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", he is implying that if even the smallest act of unfairness is tolerated, it will take root and spread (King).

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Dr. King uses these impactful words to tell the clergymen that freedom for African-Americans will happen and that this is what needs to happen to pull it off. Wrapped up in grandness of this paragraph, King infuses these words with a great amount of emotion designed to pull at the clergymen's sense of duty to his fellow man and convey the simple fact that his actions have not been "unwise and untimely," it has just been a long time

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(King, 1963). It is noticeable that the consumer of King’s work effects his words, while both works are moving and confident, critical clergymen cause his work to have a stern voice and factual evidence, while hopeful people waiting for inspiration cause his work to be relaxed and more relatable for his audience. The audience in both Dr. Kings letter and speech greatly impact the way he articulates his words and the appeals he

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The writer’s initial reaction to the letter from Dr. King was how relevant it is to today, 55 years later. It’s connection to the social justice movement happening today in America is remarkable. Social injustice is still present today and there is are nonviolent direct actions in place to bring awareness to the “problem” that still exist in America. Dr. King mentions that people are striving for a superficial peace that ignores the problems and only deals with the symptoms (King, 1963). People have to realize for change to take place, it has to be addressed and there has to be a common ground for change.

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Martin Luther King Jr. inexplicably opened the eyes of Americans across the nation with his role in the movement and his use of resonating imagery, excellent emotional appeal, powerful voice, and evocation of logic in his “I Have a Dream” speech. With such an enthralling rhetoric he gained a vast amount of support and exponentially increased the pride in standing up for what’s righteous and just. Exemplifying the throes of being a colored person, King evoked sympathy whilst simultaneously applying the valid logic that no human should be subjected to lesser standards. His rhetoric wholly changed American history that day and thus conveyed his ability to maintain equanimity throughout all of the

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He explained why the protesters were civilly infringing racist laws and city ordinances; why the protesters had truth and justice; and how he was thwarted with the clergyman and white moderates in the South who said they supported his cause. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King incorporates biblical and historical allusions to give him credibility with his target audience, the clergymen. Additionally, Dr. King subtly asks rhetorical questions and makes logical conclusions to force his audience to consider his strategy of nonviolent resistance to cease racism and oppression. Throughout his piece, Dr. King uses many strong connections to biblical theologians and philosophers that strengthen his appeal and credibility.

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In 1963, he was asked to bring his group to Birmingham, Alabama for a peaceful protest against the segregation and racism that existed in Birmingham. Dr. King was determined to speak out and speak up and ignored the orders to stop the demonstration by police. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is significant in our history because Dr. King explains why he stood by his principles,

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King uses pathos to tap into his audience’s mind to think about the importance of promoting action now rather than waiting for others to promote it first. He ends his letter by stating that he “hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation”. (King Jr., p. 658) Dr. King is a man of great integrity and love. He wanted to bring his fellow brother and sister together as a nation strong and not divided.

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uses high vocabulary diction, so that his audience will respect him and not disregard what he says. He uses words like “anesthetizing” and “astronomically” and “infanticide” and “gladiatorial” (King Jr. 11). Also, he writes intelligent, moving phrases, like “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King Jr. 2). Along with diction he uses powerful syntax. He structures his sentences in a way to grab the audience’s attention.

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King follows the rest of the letter with more emotional cries, which included the split that had formed within the black community, on the argument of civil rights; Some had begun to settle for segregation, including some of the clergymen who had criticized King. Near the end, he opposes the clergymen's praise toward the Birmingham Police Department, by providing a vivid description of the attack on himself and his fellow protesters, leading up to his arrest. MLK closes his letter by stating his current situation, apologizing for the letter's length, and portraying a deep sense of pity, as he wishes for all to find faith for a better future. Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham City Jail makes heavy use of ethos and logos to clarify issues and concerns from his criticizers, but relies even more on the emotional connection that it portrays on the reader.

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On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.

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“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character”. Dr King had a vision of a society in which race was not an issue in how people were treated or in how they were allowed to to live their lives. The efforts of King and those who liked him have, in fact , changed the country and the world for the better in noticeable ways . His vision has made the world a more equal place , if not an equal one, and it helped to ensure that minorities have a voice. A second impact Martin luther King did to change the country was in 1955 he became heavily notice in Montgomery and the Alabama boycott of the city buses.

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This reference in particular evokes the strongest emotional response from black people because many African Americans revered Lincoln for his decision to sign the revolutionary Emancipation Proclamation, and how the document symbolized a free future for slaves--the ancestors of the blacks in the crowd. But the next few lines following this allusion also persuades those ignorant of how little things have changed by highlighting the “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” that blacks still suffer from despite the hundred year gap. Here, he uses the connotations of “manacles” and “chains” to evoke a negative emotional response from the audience, especially from those unaware of the need to change, causing their opinion to match the speaker’s: against segregation. Additionally, King weaves biblical allusions into his speech to appeal to the Christians within the crowd. He uses the “dark and desolate valley of segregation” to illustrate the injustice African Americans have endured for centuries and juxtapositions it with the “sunlit path of racial justice” to exemplify a future where true freedom exists for

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