“Letter from Birmingham Jail”, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (King) is a powerful piece of writing that graces the injustices occurring in Birmingham, Alabama at that time. Part of the power lies in the use of rhetorical devices such as anaphora, ethos, pathos, as well as antithesis and how King used these devices and literary approaches to express his message, intention, and educate the clergymen to the realities of injustice occurring in Birmingham. XIn paragraph 24, King uses anaphora to counter a claim from the clergymen who referred to Xhim as an extremist. He asks the clergymen “Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist?” In this Xparagraph King repeated the words “was not” six times to explain the concept that being an extremist is not always negative. Using anaphora, King barrages the clergymen with an overwhelming reference to many extremists, including Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, along with many others who had positive impacts in history. Those positive changes would not have been possible if the extremists had not initiated change. XThe usage of anaphora in …show more content…
“I must admit that I was initially disappointed in being so categorized” (Paragraph 23). King showed multiple times how disheartened he felt, which is something most people who have authority would say. He goes on and states several times how disappointed he was. “I have been disappointed with the church” (Paragraph 27). This indicates that the clergymen and white people with power, as well as the church, have failed him. Furthermore, King states, “Let me rush on to mention my other disappointment” (Paragraph 26). XWhen someone mentions the word disappointment it typically means they expected more from Xa person, and King conveys this and writes “Maybe I expected too much “ (Paragraph 25). XThis would cause the reader to feel sorrowful or sympathetic towards