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Martin Luther King Paul's Letter Rhetorical Devices

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When it comes to the excerpt from: “Paul’s letter to American Christians,” told by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the main reason for his speech is to persuade the people to become more spiritually aware of the effect of these scientific advancements. During 1965 Dr. King at the time pushed for African Americans to vote, President Johnson is along at his side, advocating the same treatment while struggling with the war stalemate, being fought with America in the North Vietnam. Dr. King's speech uses the rhetorical devices of allusion, nostalgia, euphemism, and anaphora in order to restore the direction of the people- away from all the violence of the civil rights movement and the war effort- to the focus of their faith. Because everyone knows …show more content…

King uses in his speech is allusion, an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly in order to appear on the same level as the people. He states,”For several weeks I have worked hard assiduously with the translation.” This quote means that the Paul’s letter was initially written in Greek and needed to be translated to English which clearly took time for the minister, however he made time because the translation was important. This flows with his speech in terms of reminding the people of their spiritual faith and that they must not let outside forces alter the amount of time they devote to God. Dr. King is still a very busy man during the this time but places himself on the same level as the people to remind them that one's faith should never be as easily placed …show more content…

King in his speech in order to alert the people of what the letter is really meant to say now that he has gathered rather the readers full attention of what he had to say about the true root of the matter at hand.“I am implied to write you concerning the responsibilities laid upon you to live as Christians in an UnChristian world.” In this quote the Baptist minister points out that while this may not be a discussion many people wish to hear, it is one he however must give in order to remind them of that they have lost their way in terms of being true to their faith despite outsides forces such as the war and the fight for civil

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In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to “A Call for Unity,” a declaration by eight clergymen, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. Through powerful, emotionally-loaded diction, syntax, and figurative language, King adopts a disheartened tone later shifts into a determined tone in order to express and reflect on his disappointment with the church’s inaction and his goals for the future. King begins this section by bluntly stating that he is “greatly disappointed” (33) with the church, though he “will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen” (33). By appealing to ethos and informing the audience of his history with the church, he indicates that he is not criticizing the church for his own sake, but for the good of the church.

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Since Dr.King is writing to religious people he is aiming to appeal to their knowledge of their religion. Since you can assume the audience has strong religious beliefs , relating his duty to religious duties can persuade the audience easily. As the Letter continues King explains why he is leading

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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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King uses rhetoric in The Letter of Birmingham Jail to advance his purpose powerfully. King writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen that indirectly target his actions and state false accusations. These eight clergymen do not understand the rationale King advocates throughout his non-violent protests, therefore King retaliates by writing a letter. This letter uses rational tone throughout to get these eight men and even more so the public to understand the purpose of his activist movements.

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The use of the historical and biblical allusions/ references being used is to help build a standard ground for his audiences and the clergymen; it also helps make his letter more effective. King 's letter uses biblical allusions to create analogies between

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Martin Luther King uses allusion in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to add greater meaning to the cause he is defending. Dr. King includes many biblical references in his writing to compare the similarities between actions in the bible and his. For instance, Martin Luther King says “like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Since Martin Luther King King is writing his letter to clergymen, his religious allusions are used to appeal to them; specifically, Dr. King brings up the point that certain tension is caused by people who have been subjected to grievances and believe “...that the white man is an incurable ‘devil.’” In saying this, Martin Luther King tells the clergymen that their sanctimonious acts and racial

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Most commonly, because of Dr. King’s background, his allusions are to the Bible, like when he refers to the Levite and the Good Samaritan. In another section, he alludes to Amos. He also mentions many non-biblical events, such as “...when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters,” and “...in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation…,” which refer to the Civil Rights movement. These help build the Doctor’s oration by assisting him in sounding more eloquent, and also thoroughly informed. The Biblical references, however, are because Dr. King himself was a preacher, and came from a deeply religious family.

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King appeals to his audience with persuasion that was meant to touch the hearts of the readers through pathos. The values and beliefs of the readers are where King directed much of his responses. He began with comparisons of himself to Paul. “I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

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He uses a quote from St. Augustine, one of the founders of the Catholic church. It was important to use since most clergymen are catholic. King quotes St. Augustine‘s “an unjust law is no law at all.’” Using strong words written by someone so important helps the clergy realize King is not some illiterate African American, he is proving that he is educated as well. St. Augustine was an African philosopher, so he may have been African American which gives the clergymen an example of an intelligent person who isn’t white.

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On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to seven, white clergymen as a response to their criticisms of King’s approach to tackle segregation and other racial issues in Birmingham, Alabama. Coincidentally, King was also a clergyman—a clergyman with tons of influence as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization that has 85 affiliated groups. Throughout his letter, King’s use of allusions both of historical and religious significance supports King’s position as a highly influential and educated clergyman, provide the inspirations behind King’s strategy of nonviolence, and a strong ethos to criticize his fellow clergymen who act as bystanders. In the beginning of King’s letter, the first thing he does is to address his own credibility the seven clergymen questioned.

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1546 Words | 7 Pages

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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866 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. His use of diction and syntax would align his mission to God’s, and show that he was in the right and the clergymen were in the wrong. In his letter, King effectively used an extended periodic sentence that consisted of more than 300 words. The sentence has an extreme appeal to pathos, with such vivid imagery

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MLK states in paragraph 3, “...just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” King uses an analogy to give his audience an idea of what he is doing when fighting for civil rights. Lastly, King uses a rhetorical question in his letter. He asks the question on page 278 in paragraph 24, “But is this a logical assertion?” MLK uses this question to make his

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621 Words | 3 Pages

Rhetorical Strategies: Letter from Birmingham In 1963, Birmingham Alabama was a place where African Americans struggled for equal rights. From segregation to discrimination, Birmingham consisted of all many injustice activities which involved civil rights. In 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested from protesting the treatment of African Americans.

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1229 Words | 5 Pages

He incorporated a lot of biblical allusions to insist the audience that his speech is in accordance to the Bible, as King writes that he has a dream that one day, “every valley shall be exalted,” every hill and mountain “made low,” all rough places will be “plain” and crooked places “straight” and that the “glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:4-5). On another occasion he paraphrased one of biblical statement “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5 ) in his words as “It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity “cite .King’s allusions to past events help to create unite both races and inspire them to tackle this problem collectively as both colors experienced American history in some form or another. King not only references the Biblical allusions which emotionally appeal to people but also mentions legal statements like declaration of independence and Emancipation proclamation by mentioning “Five score years …” to refer to Abraham Lincoln’s address and “promissory note” to direct their attention towards their legal rights as mentioned in the constitution.

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