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Logical Appeals In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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I believe that the “I Have a Dream” speech has more pathos and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” has more logos. The speech is made to be more appealing to the emotions than appealing to logic. However, the speech still has logical explanations as well. The letter is the opposite. It has more logical appeal than emotional appeal because the letter is a response to fellow clergymen. (NEEDS WORK) The emotional appeal of the speech is very easy to find. For example, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”.” Martin Luther King Jr. is saying that America is not giving his people the rights that are guaranteed in the constitution. He believes that America says that they can have equal rights but do not hold up to their word. Another emotional appeal would be “One hundred years [after the civil war], the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” He is …show more content…

“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification and direct action.” Martin is referring to the beginning process of starting a protest. He believes that you must have these four steps accomplished to hold a successful protest. The first step is collecting the facts. This means researching the area to see if any injustice occurs and make sure that there is something happening that needs protested. The second is negotiation. You want to try to come to a resolution before you have to expose people/events to the general public. Third, self purify. In the letter he says that people have to purify themselves to make sure that they are ready to give up some parts of their life and go to jail over and over again fighting for freedom. The fourth and final is direct action. This step is made up of sit ins marches, and other forms of public

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Dr. King appeals more to the heart, although he appeals to logic he appeals to the heart more in his messages. In his big speech “I Have A Dream,” he used the what the black people went through to get to their hearts, he used terms they have been called such as dirty niggers, that hit there heart. In his other famous message “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he uses terms of slavery, what the blacks went through to appeal to them, Chains of Discrimination… (King 282 paragraph 32). King often uses emotion to appeal to people. Such as in his letter “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he refers to the term “dirty nigger lovers,” (King, 282 paragraph 32).

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196 Words | 1 Pages

Empowered, gratified and dedicated is how Martin Luther King Jr, made his audience feel when they were either reading his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” or listening to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The letter he wrote from the Birmingham jail was a response to the 8 white clergymen who criticized M.L.K for leading protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The speech approached by non-violent protesters, it took place at the Lincoln memorial after the march on at Washington. In these two forms of writing Martin used two different persuasive appeals, logos and pathos.

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741 Words | 3 Pages

Now, King talks about how they have been promised things, and promised new changes in laws but it just turns into another lie and let down of the African American community. “As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us.” (273 King). King uses this pathos in his letter to shown the men that the broken promise of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights promised another ‘broken promise’. He uses this to appeal to their emotions so they understand why he was upset and

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329 Words | 2 Pages

However, in any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self- purification, and direct action. Furthermore, all of those steps

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408 Words | 2 Pages

He also wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail” while being incarcerated. This letter was in response to his critics which were eight white clergymen. In both of these pieces of work from 1963 King uses pathos (emotional appeal)and logos (logical appeal) to show the harsh reality of the African American lives. In Dr.King's speech “I have a dream” he uses logos to show logical evidence to appeal to his audience In this quote you can see Dr.King’s use of logic “This note was a promise that all

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1048 Words | 5 Pages

Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This quote is from Dr. Martin Luther King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' of 1963. At the pinnacle of the Civil War Movement in America, eight white Alabama pastors announced in the local newspaper that Dr. Martin Luther King's protests should end since they condoned "disdain and savagery. " The pastors disagree with utilizing peaceful defiance to acquire social liberties for the individuals of color in Birmingham and suggest that if whites and blacks meet up to talk about this issue, there will be a superior result for everybody. They stated that Martin Luther King was only an "outcast" who needed to create mischief in Birmingham.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King responds to the clergymen’s critics of his actions by justifying why action is needed. King describes the long-awaited freedom and equality the black community has been waiting for. He discusses about time being neutral, and how it can be used constructively or destructively. King explains that action needs to be taken, and used constructively in order for things to change. Just like King, Terry Tempest Williams, in her own ways uses time constructively to take action for her family and the rest of the victims of the atomic bomb testings.

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203 Words | 1 Pages

The following passage is from the Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. is as follows This passage impresses me through the choice of words and how they make one think. When Doctor King explains that this was not a random act but an act of change due the lack of effort on the city. There are no wasted or trivial words each word has purpose in this passage if you close your eyes you may hear Socrates. The other impressive feat is not once did you ever feel a since of anger even though this is a difficult time for Doctor King.

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King points out that his movement is one of nonviolence. He also educates them on the four steps of a nonviolent campaign, the collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. King wants to confer that his actions have been well thought-out and not done on a whim. The marchers had also been trained on how not incite violence from the local police. “In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963 while being confined in Birmingham City Jail. The letter was addressed to Kings Fellow Clergymen who had written an open letter. Letter from Birmingham criticizes King and Southern Leadership conference while protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King told the clergymen he was upset and wanted to address the concerns and criticisms they had.

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“In coming to a fixed determination to run away, we did more than Patrick Henry, when he resolved upon liberty or death. With us it was a doubtful liberty at most, and almost certain death if we failed. For my part, I should prefer death to hopeless bondage.” (Douglass 74) Because this controversy was affecting him he was able to ensure that he would obtain liberty because there was no other way for him to continue being a

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671 Words | 3 Pages

“I have a dream today!” That dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s was to bring about racial equality. That dream of his was the reason that he was imprisoned in Birmingham, and a reason why he wrote his letter. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King argues that Christians need to stand together against racial discrimination. He uses authoritative quotes, logical examples, and emotional language to make his point.

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907 Words | 4 Pages

In terms of legacies, Martin Luther King Jr. is an example of someone whose legacy has left an impact on a great many fields. The first to come to mind for most would be civil rights activism, as he was an instrumental figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. However, Martin Luther King Jr is an extremely influential figure in the field of oration and rhetoric. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. This letter is a prime example of King’s expertise in constructing persuasive rhetoric that appealed to the masses at large.

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1575 Words | 7 Pages

No one enjoys the feeling of being discriminated, insulted, being made the punchline of the joke. Imagine walking into a café in the 1960s, and you had to sit in your segregated area, in the dirty unpleasant back corner of the café. Then while you try to enjoy a nice drink after being served last, people approach you – they start calling you names, making insensitive jokes about you, then they squirt tomato sauce on your face, sprinkle salt in your hair and spit on you all for no logical reason – yet if you retaliate in anyway then you could be fined or even jailed for abuse. How do you think you would react? This is what life was like for African-Americans in the mid-20th century, ‘in which the Negro was forced patiently to submit to insult, injustice and exploitation’.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

King’s speech through his use of logic and evidence. Dr. King says, “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” This is an analogy. He reasons that everyone can relate to and understand this because money is such a predominant thing in life.

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