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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King

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Not all persuasions are ethical. For that reason the purpose for rhetorical speech may vary from person to person and because it is so ambiguous people have found it easier to simply rely on unethical methods into persuading other into believing that they are to be trusted. Which is why convincing others is considered unethical because the majority of people use rhetorical speech for personal gain; therefore people believe the ethics of rhetorical speech is mainly concerned with one’s moral compass. In most cases people chose to influence others not because they are altruistic but for personal gain; we live in a world where people are being influenced whether it may be on social media or at a store making it seem almost inescapable .So if …show more content…

For instance Martin Luther king Jr. is a great example on how pathos is used to make an audience sympathize. In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. uses persuasive speech to address his concerns to the opponent. King structures his language that conflicts with the oppression against human rights. The use of ethos is apparent throughout King’s letter to convince the clergymen that he has enough credibility, this is a great technique because the intended audience were christian religious leaders; “ I have the honor of serving as president of the southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia”( King 254). King also uses anaphoras throughout his letter and he uses this to build emphasis on the grievances he and other african americans had to endure: “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch you mothers and fathers… When you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters… ”(King par.14). The reasons why King chose to write with this technique is to have an emotional pull and to make his letter more impactful for the opposing groups. Not only was King capable of making his letter memorable but he also made it extremely effective for the pathos appeal throughout the text by making the reader

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Compelling Craft The craft of using words to create a mood or an atmosphere takes great skill to make an audience understand and feel the cause a writer is fighting for. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist from the 1950’s to the 1960’s, wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail. In his letter he made a compelling argument to a group of clergymen, who questioned his quest. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his compelling argument using pathos, ethos, and Kairos by utilizing personal experiences, expressing a moral obligation to help, and his timely involvement for direct action.

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The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 while incarcerated for leading a civil rights march in Birmingham, Alabama. “Declaration of Independence” was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, while preparing the country for a war with Great Britain. Each document was written amongst the midst of a freedom struggle. These struggles were known as the Civil Rights Movement and the American Revolution. According to Eric Badertscher, “Thomas Jefferson, the United States' third president, was one of the founding fathers of the United States, serving both Virginia and the nation in a variety of roles over forty years of public service.

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The first example of pathos is seen in the quote, “ We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 3). This statement supports King’s argument by expressing how his people can no longer wait for their freedom, because if they do, it’ll never come. In this case, good things do not come to those who wait. The second example of pathos is seen when King says, “If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church. it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century” (King 9).

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One of the most respected political writers of the 20th Century was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and one of his most famous essays was "Letter from Birmingham Jail." In this piece of writing, which King authored to respond to criticisms he had received from eight Birmingham clergymen while awaiting release from his Birmingham prison cell, King clearly demonstrated such a passionate appeal that his words have had a lasting effect ever since. All four discourse modes are present throughout the work, making this an extremely powerful piece. King's narrative and informative passages vibrantly sketch a tumultuous time in American history when the entire country was involved in an emotional dispute over equal rights. According to King's narrative, authorities everywhere had been calling for delays in reformation, taking a 'not now' approach.

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On April 12, 1963, civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. He was asked by an affiliate of his organization to partake in a nonviolent program. He was arrested during a non violent protest. Police Commissioner Eugene Connor declared that the reason behind King’s arrest was that he did not at have a permit to protest. While he served his 11 day sentence, King would write the “Letter From Birmingham City Jail” to the eight Birmingham Clergymen.

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In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and an excerpt from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the authors carry contrasting religious views that result in differing approaches to their mutual dissatisfaction with the lack of a more perfect and just society in their relative modern America. Both Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King write in support of a Utopian motive for attempted societal perfection and they each have agreeing and varying perspectives on the topic. King, being a man of faith, turned to true Christianity as a guiding source of the way individuals should live in a moral fashion even if they are not of the faith. King also references the dream of freedom that the founding fathers

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A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.

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Essay #2: Argumentative Analysis Martin Luther King Jr. introduced a very controversial argument about why he believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”(264). In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King stated that justice is never given by the oppressor and the reason why his protests were very relevant and wise was because the issues needed to be addressed right then and not later. Moving along throughout his entire letter his primary thesis seemed to be that if the people wanted to be free from racial injustice they needed to participate in nonviolent protests. Given his setting and atmosphere, MLK did an extremely impressive job of using kairos and other rhetorical techniques in his piece.

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In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. argues that one who disobeys an unjust law must do so with a willingness to accept the consequences of breaking the law. Through civil disobedience, King aims to draw attention to ongoing injustices, and contends that one who seeks to achieve such an objective must also hold oneself to the higher moral law of justice, or the law of God, by seeking such a remedy peacefully. I argue that Socrates, in Plato’s Crito, similarly appeals to this higher notion of justice when he explains his rationale for remaining in jail. First, I demonstrate that both King and Socrates seek to awaken their respective communities through each community’s respective legal framework. Next, I show that

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Houston Community College Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. Suman Kathayat Professor Rodolfo Villareal History 1302 15th June 2018 While incarcerated in a cramped cell at Birmingham City in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. drafted the letter titled a Letter from Birmingham Jail.

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On April 12, 1963 the Alabamian clergymen sent out a public letter discussing the violations that Martin Luther King Jr. was causing in Birmingham. Once King saw the letter , in jail after being imprisoned for peaceful marching in the civil rights movement, he responded explaining that the clergy weren’t doing anything to help out the African American racial injustices. Martin Luther King not only responded to the Alabamian clergymen’s criticism in his letter, he also addressed the local African American community in order to successfully convince them that they need to continue fighting for their equal rights. Martin Luther King strategically uses biblical allusions, knowing that his immediate audience is the clergy, and the reference to

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In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” he provides answers to fundamental metaphysical questions regarding the nature of the human soul. Though his letter is addressed to a group of eight clergymen criticizing his direct action campaign in Birmingham, his ultimate aim is the uplifting of human personhood. Underlying King’s letter is a philosophical, hylemorphic anthropology which puts an anchor deep into a certain conception of personhood, and binds all people who are to read it. He looks deeply at the nature of human beings, as rational creatures who are made to love and be loved, and from thence, deliberates that there is a universal Gospel of Freedom and Justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that there are universal principles justifying what actions are morally right and wrong, just and unjust.

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Upon being imprisoned for marching Dr Martin Luther King wrote a letter to the fellow clergymen of Birmingham, addressing his reasons as to why he committed his “crime”, This letter was widely known as “The Letter of Birmingham”. This letter was very influential and paramount to the cause of civil rights as it spurred up future events that would play essential roles in ending racial segregation in America. Throughout his whole letter, King used Ethos, logos, and pathos to firmly get his message across while adding rhetorical devices such as repetition, metaphors, and biblical references.

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Martin Luther King Jr., a pioneer for the Civil Rights movement, wrote an inspiring letter while imprisoned at the Birmingham jail, in Birmingham, Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr.’s main point of this letter is to show the effect of non violent protests to combat racism. He is doing that because he wants African-American people to be patient because nonviolence is the best answer, and in the end they will get what they want, eventually getting the equal rights they deserve. One time in the letter that King really exemplifies this is when he says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” My original thought after reading this was that King wrote an effective letter from inside the Birmingham jail that

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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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