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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In Letter from Birmingham Jail, paragraph 13, King uses the metaphor “disease of segregation”. He writes, “Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation” (13). He uses this metaphor in order to compare the treatment of African Americans in the 1960’s, to a disease. King’s diction is effective because the word “disease” carries numerous negative connotations. He manages to compare segregation to that of a disease; deadly, evil, and dysfunctional. By using this metaphor, King provides non-segregated American readers with a new perspective on how African Americans feel towards being segregated. Readers can infer, due to the negative
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Martin Luther King Jr. was able to transmit the oppression of African American from a jail cell through the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. With more than 6500 words, Martin Luther King Jr. touched the subject of segregation and injustice of the African American. One cluster that stood out the most was cluster 30, where King was able to explain why the African American was forced to express their birth given right of freedom after endless promises of justice during the Civil Rights Movement. Through the use of Logos, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to connect with the reader by using logic to convince his audience and quoting passages from Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Prophet Amos. Furthermore, by the use of pathos Dr. King was

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Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, he writes about his wrongful imprisonment. He tries to convince the eight white clergymen who said his actions were “unwise and untimely” that his actions were the opposite. King uses ethos and pathos to persuade the 8 white clergymen that the time is right for equality. In the letter, King uses his ethos to portray himself as a credible person to trust.

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In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King writes to the clergymen to defend his nonviolent actions. He goes on to show that his actions are justified and that it's time to move forward from all the injustices toward African-American people just because of the colors of their skin. Dr.King defends his peaceful protests and stated that they can no longer wait, and that is not right that clergymen think they should wait, when they have not been in the position and have felt the discrimination. Dr. King uses emotional, ethical and, logical appeal to convince the clergymen that his actions are wise and justified. Dr. King uses emotional appeal, to try to persuade the clergymen that he is not an extremist as it is being said he is.

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Throughout his letter King aids his point through the use of rhetorical devices. King does this by making stark comparisons, alluding to the bible and its’ stories, along with the use of figurative language. This gives King’s letter a great literary view and makes it ever more effective in resolving segregation. Within King’s letter

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In Dr.king’s open letter he states that segregation is “an existential expression of man’s tragic separation”(8) of the blacks and whites in the south. The discomfort emphasized in this open letter reflects off of the unjust laws made for the blacks in south. Although, that Dr.king uses nonviolent action to solve problems that he and the blacks are facing in the south, the south continued to use unjust laws and methods to prevent the blacks from peacefully protesting against segregation. The unjust laws that the whites created to cause segregation is what really gives Dr.king the discomfort he expresses in this open letter because it allows the whites to do whatever they feel is possible to make the blacks feel like they aren’t human and by allowing them to do such inhumane things to them gives the whites a feeling of superiority that is not real. The feeling of discomfort that is expressed in this open letter by Dr.King forced him to act accordingly on the issue of segregation created by the unjust laws of the

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For the love of King From the Prompt “ Birmingham Jail: Lawbreaker” Martin Luther King is using the form of persuasion while continuously informing the Clergyman about the unjust laws that are taking place. The main point that Martin Luther King is trying to express is that the cursory comprehension from people of good will is more rational(irritating) than the pure misunderstanding from people of ill will. The author is attempting to make a valid argument that disobeying an unjust law is more flawlessly moral than just letting ill will happen. King utilizes repetition in his letter, while using techniques such as civil disobedience in his skillful writing. The indistinguishable point similar to the rest of Martin Luther King's ideas is the

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Direct action was the best way to go about the segregation issues in America during the civil rights movement. Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an international power. The use of pathos was very crucial in convincing people who read the message to change their ideals on segregation. Martin Luther King is writing a letter while in jail because of civil disobedience. Ethos was used on page 6 of letter from Birmingham jail “While confined here in the Birmingham city jail”.

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While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.

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Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. It was during this time that Dr. King, refusing to sit idly by, wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” one of the most inspiring documents in history. With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, “A Call for Unity.” Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. Throughout the letter, Dr. King does a tremendous job of supporting his argument with the three elements of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeal.

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Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the letter from jail, after he got arrested during a peaceful protest. At the time segregation was still a part of the culture in the United States and Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers were working diligently and peacefully to try and make a change in people’s hearts about segregation. In this letter MLK Jr. is writing to defend his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, which he does effectively by using rhetoric. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference focused on Birmingham, Alabama to start a nonviolent direct action campaign with the goal to get the city to get rid of segregation laws.

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We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”. King addresses the fact that even though at the time blacks are the ones being segregated upon, it still affects the white community, not just blacks. This quote is relevant to the entirety of the paper because the whole letter is focused on injustices and how they have affected

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In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.

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This reference in particular evokes the strongest emotional response from black people because many African Americans revered Lincoln for his decision to sign the revolutionary Emancipation Proclamation, and how the document symbolized a free future for slaves--the ancestors of the blacks in the crowd. But the next few lines following this allusion also persuades those ignorant of how little things have changed by highlighting the “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” that blacks still suffer from despite the hundred year gap. Here, he uses the connotations of “manacles” and “chains” to evoke a negative emotional response from the audience, especially from those unaware of the need to change, causing their opinion to match the speaker’s: against segregation. Additionally, King weaves biblical allusions into his speech to appeal to the Christians within the crowd. He uses the “dark and desolate valley of segregation” to illustrate the injustice African Americans have endured for centuries and juxtapositions it with the “sunlit path of racial justice” to exemplify a future where true freedom exists for

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Throughout his speech he implies a lot of metaphors to make his speech effective and influencing. For example, King constantly describes the Negroes as being “crippled” by the “manacles of segregation”, “Storms of Persecution,” and “chains of discrimination.” Through these metaphors King indicates the crises the Negroes face. A few of King’s strongest metaphors are his references to prejudice: “the quick sands of racial injustice”, the “heat of oppression”, “the dark and desolate valleys of segregation”, and the “chains of discrimination.” King also indicates the unbearable inequality by creating an image: “the sweltering summer of the negro’s discontent.”

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