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Letter From Birmingham Jail Pathos

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Two of the most famous writings by the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. are I Have a Dream and Letter from Birmingham Jail. King employed a variety of strategies in these two pieces to convey his message and argue for the equality and justice of African Americans. This essay will analyze the goals of each piece, King's use of pathos and logos as well as the parallels and contrasts between the two. On August 28, 1963 King gave a speech titled I Have a Dream while standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The speech's goals were to increase public awareness of the civil rights movement and racial segregation in America while also rallying support for the cause. In his address, King combined logos and pathos …show more content…

By depicting a future in which everyone is treated equally regardless of race. He appeals to the emotions of his audience. In order to foster a sense of solidarity and shared suffering. He also discusses his own experiences as well as those of other African Americans. King made a strong speech and his rhyming passionate delivery helped make the gravity of his message clear. King responded to a group of eight local clergymen who had attacked the civil rights movement and King's involvement in the Letter From Birmingham Jail. The letter's objectives were to defend King's actions in the face of criticism and to outline the motivations for the civil rights struggle. King makes his point in the letter by combining logos and pathos just like he did in I Have a Dream. King uses legal and historical justifications to back up his views in the letter which demonstrates his use of logos. He makes the case that segregation is not only unfair but also against the law and he bases this claim on a number of legal precedents and statutes. In order to make the case that the civil rights movement is a moral requirement he also references the teachings of Jesus and the concepts of

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177 Words | 1 Pages

In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King’s proposes plenty of arguments and claims using Pathos, which is practiced by using emotions or values of a certain group. Dr. Kings letter is written as a response to those who are doubting him and naming his cause “unwise and Untimely”. Immediately in the first sentence Martin Luther King says “While confined here in the Birmingham city jail”, using an emotional appeal for sympathy to shame them for naming his work “unwise and Untimely”, in terms where he is meaning to say “how dare you say that”. A stronger example of the pathological way of engaging King’s reader is paragraphs twelve and thirteen as he explains the feeling of being oppressed and being segregated due to their skin

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Angelina Holmes March 7, 2023 3rd Unit 3 writing task In” Letter From Birmingham Jail” and “I have a dream” Martin Luther King Jr., utilizes logos, sympathy, and ethos to help his debates. Although he gets his point across fairly he also uses different techniques as well. This is mainly because in “I have a dream” he was making statements to get his point across While in “Letter to Birmingham” he was defending himself and his organization. Dr.King basically is directing both passages at different people.

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477 Words | 2 Pages

Dr martin Luther king jr is an influential figure in civil rights. While in jail for peacefully protesting he received a letter telling him that protests are "unwise and untimely. " In response to this, he wrote a letter from jail. He uses ethos pathos and allusion to establish himself as a credible leader.

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397 Words | 2 Pages

In both the speech and the letter, Dr. King was very inspirational. His use of pathos helped push his point across to everyone. His use of pathos inspired people that weren't stuck in their ways or that weren't ready for change. The overall message Dr. King tried to spread was segregation needs to stop, and he tried to do this by arousing strong feelings and emotions in people through his use of charged language.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

was sent to jail, following that he should express his feelings and he decided to write a letter. He used his opportunity to bring everyone up and fight writing about segregation, racism, law, truth and justice. He reminded us that we need to end segregation because everyone deserves the same happiness. In Martin Luther 's letter he uses logos to demonstrate his ability to inspire his fellow Civil Rights Activist, show empathy in the heart of white people and create compassion in the minds of the clergymen. Dr. King says “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”

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163 Words | 1 Pages

In the letter, Dr.King defends peaceful protests using ethos, diction, and pathos, which strengthens his case. He wants to win the clergymen's support in his struggle against racial injustice. He establishes credibility by utilizing ethos. ¨I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership conference¨(pg 272), he says, demonstrating his professionalism and dependability . In the Letter an example of diction is when he repeats the words ¨just¨ and ¨unjust.

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285 Words | 2 Pages

The two main purposes of writing the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" were to respond to the criticism of the moderate white clergy who opposed the nonviolent direct action and to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance as the most powerful weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice. In the letter, Martin Luther King Jr. uses various strategies to convey his ideas effectively. One of the strategies is the use of ethos. He establishes himself as a credible and knowledgeable authority on issues of race, religion, and justice.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or a system of laws. In the documents written by Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr they clearly state their terms of just and unjust laws through a majority of appeals to emphasize the efficiency of their main idea on what civil disobedience is. Thoreau highlights his advocacy on civil disobedience in sufficient literal detail while King’s letter to the clergymen uses more examples of ethos and pathos to illuminate his main idea ultimately making his appeal more effective in my opinion. Henry Thoreau believed that the government was being unjust and he proposed the means of justice by using a more dry ethical and emotional appeal to prevail his main idea. In Civil Disobedience,

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804 Words | 4 Pages

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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He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of

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835 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential figures of the American civil rights movement. Famous for his prowess with words, King was known for writing powerful texts throughout his life. Two of his most famous compositions were his “I Have A Dream” speech and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. Although King uses many styles of writing effectively, his writings with pathos are the most prominent. Since “I Have A Dream” uses more pathos than “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, “I Have A Dream” was more effective at inspiring change.

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719 Words | 3 Pages

The main idea of his speech is that all people were created equal and, although this is no longer the case nowadays, King felt it must be the case for the future. He argued peacefully, yet passionately and powerfully. In preparation for the speech, he studied the Bible, The Gettysburg Address and the US Declaration of Independence and he alludes to all three in his address. The intensity of King’s speech is built through parallelism, metaphors, bold statements and rhythmic repetitions:

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792 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest speakers for black civil rights movement, had written many great works in his time. Two of his pieces stand out as his greatest works. Letter from Birmingham Jail; a pieces written from a jail cell in birmingham where he was arrested for peacefully protesting, the letter was attended to the white clergymen who didn 't agree with his views and I Have a Dream Speech; was a speech king gave in front of the washington memorial. Both works convey similarities and differences in their tone, structure, appeal and figurative language. There are many similarities between “I Have a Dream” and the letter from birmingham jail.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

Although, King's speech which took place on August 28th, 1963, motivated many to stand up for who they are and fight for their rights as people living in America. Dr. King's words were eye openers to many because it gave them the realization of how cruel this discrimination was. His demonstration affirmed the nation that everyone does not need to tolerate the dreadful wave of racial injustice. The final result was a peaceful demonstration of how change positive change is frequent in American history. This I Have a Dream speech will always be recognized due to the power it had on the nation as a whole and its immortal notion of the horrors of racism.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is very historical and influential. Dr. King gave his speech on August 28, 1963. He gave this speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It was a part of the March on Washington, where 250,000 people gathered. It was one of the biggest demonstrations the nation’s capital has ever seen.

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