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Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

1273 Words6 Pages

If Not Now, When? During the 1960s, racial segregation was an ongoing problem in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized this problem and decided to take action against it. King wanted to make a difference in the racial segregation that was going on by hosting nonviolent campaigns, but by doing so, sparked a response from the clergymen: a group of religious leaders. In response to the clergymen, King composed ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail.’ King used many techniques in his writing to boost his credibility and elicit emotion by showing respect, creating visual imagery, and relating his actions to something the clergymen were familiar with – the bible. In King’s efforts to respond to the clergymen, he prioritized respectful communication. …show more content…

King wants the clergymen to know that just as the prophets left their village to spread the word of God, he is leaving his hometown to spread the “gospel of freedom.” He writes this because the clergymen referred to King, who was not from Birmingham, as an ‘outsider.’ King wants the clergymen to understand that his spreading of the 'gospel of freedom' is no different than when the prophets were spreading the gospel of God. In the words of King: “Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?” Although the clergymen were not directly supportive of segregation itself, their response was a step towards justifying it, so King mentions that segregation, through God’s eyes, is sinful. King was hoping the clergymen, who were often put in a difficult predicament during these times due to their political involvement, would conform, not only under political aspects but also biblical aspects. King makes it known that civil disobedience is not a new problem. Christians stood their ground centuries ago, just as King and his people are; therefore why are the clergymen criticizing him? King writes: “Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion?” What King is trying to get across is that just as Jesus wasn’t condemned for God’s crucifixion through his devotion, King and his people shouldn’t be condemned for peacefully responding to segregation: “Protect the robbed & punish the robber.” The clergymen labeled King as an extremist which led King to bring up the fact that Jesus was labeled as an extremist as well, so what’s the difference between the two if both Jesus and King were extremists for good reasons? King hoped

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Rhetorical Devices In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In the book of Daniel they, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, defy the Laws of the King Nebuchadnezzar. They defied his laws because of religious beliefs. Dr. King using this reference gives the clergymen a reason to accept Kings’ civil disobedience. Another biblical reference King makes is in the 31st paragraph where he states, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. " Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness” (369).

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Ethos Pathos Logos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Dr. King uses descriptive words and metaphors to convey the emotions and things he is feeling. King is condemning the clergymen saying other religious leaders have come and joined us, then why will you not help us? He speaks of the other religious leaders helping his cause as a way to convince and urge the clergymen to join his side. King wants freedom breaking out of the metaphorical “chains” and not conforming and is thankful to everyone that has decided to join in and help him do so. “Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue” (King 354).

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He emphasizes the fact that he helps all the organizations in his church community and that they did not do the same in Birmingham where they needed it the most. King gives many specific accounts from the Bible to help tell his argument and to tell the Clergymen

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Rhetorical Devices Used In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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At the end of his letter he addresses the clergymen " I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergymen and a Christian brother" (paragraph 7). This statement makes a claim the king wants to meet these seven clergymen in person and speak about the issues he wrote in this letter. Another rhetorical tool king uses in his letter are similes. This rhetorical tool helps king compare two things and address the point as he sees it. " Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek" (paragraph 3).

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Ethos Pathos Logos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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King uses multiple analogies throughout his letter such as when he compares his own demonstrations for justice to those of early Christians who were scorned by those who saw them as different. He stated “Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.” But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were a “colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man” (186). This analogy had a major impact because the letter was directed at leaders of the Christian church who were rejecting people just as the Christians were rejected. King was also very effective at using emotional proofs in his letter such as when he states “Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States.

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Lastly, King attempts to further connect himself with the men he writes by stressing the collective responsibility they all share in the “brotherhood” to work together in the “cause for Peace” (para. 49, 50). King addresses himself as a “fellow clergymen and a Christian brother” to unite the clergymen with him in his mission for civil

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King replies to a comment made by the clergymen calling him an extremist. He even will take the idea of being an extremist and turn it into a positive for the campaign saying that he was originally “disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as [he] continued to think about the matter [he] gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you’” (King p 808). He uses his knowledge of religious passages to show that being an extremist is not always a bad thing.

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How Is The Letter From Birmingham Jail Similar To Martin Luther King

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Throughout King’s letter he influences the morals of the local clergymen in order to gain the support that is needed in order to change the city for the better. A good example of the clergymen’s ethics being questioned is when King states how the support of the white moderate is crucial to the success of his movement but, due to their lack of aid, the cause had stalled (569). The main goal of the movement was to prove that segregation was unethical and that, even if it wasn’t supported in public, ignoring the problem was even worse than accepting it. If the public remained indecisive and kept ignoring the state of affairs that was in front of them, then nothing would change and the cycle of inequality would just continue even longer. For King to succeed in his mission for equality, he needed to convince as many people as possible that his cause was just and that it would benefit everyone in the long

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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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King, who served as a minister, had a deep understanding of Christianity, which he used in his letter to the white clergy. King sought to highlight the immorality of discrimination, especially against those in powerful or religious positions who could assist him in bringing about change. In their capacities as churchmen, these individuals should be aware of the unchristian nature of allowing such bigotry. Social change was necessary regardless of if one ignored inequities or actively condoned segregation. In the absence of other options, King became more visible and vocal in his protests in a non-violent manner (King, 1963, p.5, para. 3).

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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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King disagrees with the accusations, and is at first slightly offended. He argues that as a man of God he went out of his way to ensure that his acts and the acts of his supporters were as nonviolent as possible. He then emphasizes that without his peaceful and orderly conduct chaos and havoc would emerge and the streets of the South would be “flowing with blood”. In this section of the letter king creates very strong imagery. The reader will began to visualize riots, destruction, and death from both white and African-American men in the state of Alabama.

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Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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“Letter from a Birmingham City Jail” was written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 while serving a jail sentence for participating in a civil rights demonstration. He wrote this letter in response to several clergymen who were found the civil rights demonstrations King was leading in Birmingham, Alabama to be “unwise and untimely.” In the beginning, King tells the clergymen that he is not an “outsider coming in,” like they believe him to be. He then goes on to explain how he became involved with the civil rights demonstration. He mentions his status as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and he explains that he came to came to Birmingham upon the request of the local affiliate.

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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

939 Words | 4 Pages

Equally important, King brings upon feelings of sympathy and compassion to convince the clergymen what they're going through is what no one should ever have to go through. To be specific, King states “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” and “when you … explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised… and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. These examples make the clergymen imagine the struggles and pain they are put through just because they don't have the same color of skin as others. His goal

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Letter From Birmingham Jail Sparknotes

709 Words | 3 Pages

The priest protests that the demonstrations as unwise, untimely, and a lack of respect for the Negro community as their message to the powers that be. King believed it was essential to let the public see the other side of the argument, for the clergy failed to offer any protesters credit for their actions. The clergy people think that the problems afflicting their country the benefits will be handled on a case that is not on a street corner. The King connected to his readers when he wrote a letter to the African-American community that they would no longer stand to go through as a white area and deny them their God-given

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1498 Words | 6 Pages

After the eight clergymen released a public statement directed towards King’s “extreme” leadership in the Civil Rights Movement, King decided to respond in his letter. He used a variety of allusions, targeting scholars, history, and, directed closest to the audience, the bible: “Was not Jesus an extremist…” (page 269). Because the eight clergymen consider themselves men of God, King alludes to Jesus’s extremes. If the clergymen rejoice and respect Jesus’s duties as an extremist, planning to insult King’s efforts backfired: King used the slander to his advantage, building ethos of himself as a man of God. Constructing more credibility, King writes, “...just as the Apostle Paul left his village...and carried out the gospel of Jesus Christ… so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my hometown.”

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King uses biblical allusions to appeal to the eight white clergymen and their religious affiliation when he states his duty to carry the “gospel of freedom beyond his home town... Like Paul.” His final point of this section is the clergymen’s failure to recognize the underlying causes of the demonstrations they so harshly condemn, a failure causing further ignorance and confusion on racial

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