Logical Appeals In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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

“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