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Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Letter to Birmingham Rhetorical Analysis A young, timid girl named Ruby Bridges looks determinedly at the school that would change her life. Her eyes scan the school yard as the ferocious monsters begin to swarm her entrance towards equality, and their eyes fill with anger and disgust as they take in her appearance. She takes a shaky breath as she walks calmly past the monsters who yell names and throw food to deter her from her mission. However, she ignores their insults and continues her walk towards freedom. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to communicate the unfair treatment being directed at African Americans. This letter was written because of his arrest for breaking the Alabama injunction against …show more content…

Throughout King’s letter, he incorporated different rhetorical appeals, such as pathos, to make the audience understand the harsh treatment African Americans were subjected to each day. In his letter King emphasized, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society... (King 3).” This piece of evidence describes the brutality that was …show more content…

One way that he conveyed this idea was by using personification. In his letter King wrote, “As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us (King 2).” King used personification to exemplify their struggles and disappointment that appeared regularly while fighting for equality. This use of figurative language exposes the audience to their struggle for freedom. Although “a shadow of deep disappointment” doesn’t directly fall upon the Black community, it let the clergymen know that their neglect towards fulfilling their promise of removing humiliating sins had deeply crushed the Black community. It can also illustrate the rhetorical appeal pathos because it brings a somber mood onto the audience. It provided them with a sense of guilt and shame for their inability to speak up for equality. This paragraph describes how personification helps to portray King’s theme of equality and equal

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King was in the midst of extreme injustice placed upon black citizens of America, coming not only from white citizens but from the government itself. When his letter was written, it was impossible for King to respond to the laws of the nation in a just and responsible manner, as the very nation he lived in was poisoned with corruption, racism, and violence towards

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if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; If you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men. ’’ I believe imagery like this makes the letter have a bigger impact on its audience because it causes people to feel something whether it’s sorrow or anger; and pathos can be a powerful rhetorical appeal. Another aspect of this letter that I think is very clever of King to include, is his use of a lot of religious qoutes and knowledge to back up his beliefs because Christianity is something him and the eight clergymen have in common.

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In order to spread his message King used pathos, such as, “Now is the time to rise from the dark desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice,” (King 262). Also he said, ¨... the life of the Negro is still crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,¨ (King 261). Another example of

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He denounces the unproportioned use of force against the blacks “if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls;” that attracts the audience into the situation while creating a sense of urgency and emotions. King, by the same token, continues to clarify that “if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes.” in order to persuade the clergymen to encounter the undeniable fact at the point of time when Negroes are defined as flaws in human being. King appeals to the pathos of his readers and the clergy men to adopt some sense of concern with his argument. He ends this section with “I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith.

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Pathos is a very key ingredient in the process of persuading people, and while everybody tugs at people’s heartstrings, King used it to change the opinion of all that remain on the fence between inequality and equality. “Let us not wallow in the valley of of despair.” That sounds like torture, and that's why many fought for black rights, it sounded like a life of pure pain and suffering, causing many to hate the idea of blacks being forced to endure such discriminative horrors. He of course doesn’t use all negative words, but words of hope and positive thoughts, “An oasis of freedom and justice… a beautiful symphony of brotherhood... we will be free one day.”

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In Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King effectively uses pathos and logos to justify his nonviolent action displayed while protesting for equal rights for black Americans. In his letter, King recounts multiple examples of the tragic treatment of black Americans by policemen and white neighbors to spark empathy through pathos to illustrate a reason for King’s nonviolent action. Throughout his letter, King attempts to put the reader in his perspective by illustrating heart-breaking experiences of injustice suffered by black Americans. For example, King explains that black Americans can’t ignore inequality “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers… when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse,

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powerfully utilizes the likes of pathos and logos to appeal to the reasons of the general intended audience of the average white males and females, in addition to other government officials who have power and control the destiny over the public. Pathos, which appeals to the emotions of the reader, is utilized on many different occasions throughout “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” as King vividly describes the suffering and emotional distress that the African American population was facing in America at that time. For instance, King invokes the use of pathos by recounting the emotional toll taken on him and his people, exclaiming, “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television... you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’... then you will understand why we find it emotion for the common white man, and to display that the pain the African American community endured on a daily basis did not go unfelt, and that every harsh and explicit word uttered towards them carries a heavy

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on April 16th, 1963 after King had been arrested for leading a peaceful and nonviolent demonstration that was held in order to bring attention to the cruel racist treatment of blacks Americans. Despite being written in a jail cell, the beautifully crafted letter effectively used ethos, pathos, and logos; three powerful rhetorical devices that work to clearly convey his message to the target audience. His viewpoint was that of a frustrated African American man who had seen various forms of racial discrimination and segregation throughout the course of his lifetime. Nevertheless, he was also a devout follower of Christ who had a great deal of patience and was knowledgeable about the principles and practices of civil disobedience.

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Equally important, King brings upon feelings of sympathy and compassion to convince the clergymen what they're going through is what no one should ever have to go through. To be specific, King states “when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim” and “when you … explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised… and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children”. These examples make the clergymen imagine the struggles and pain they are put through just because they don't have the same color of skin as others. His goal

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King uses pathos to tap into his audience’s mind to think about the importance of promoting action now rather than waiting for others to promote it first. He ends his letter by stating that he “hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation”. (King Jr., p. 658) Dr. King is a man of great integrity and love. He wanted to bring his fellow brother and sister together as a nation strong and not divided.

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Injustices in Birmingham While sitting in the Birmingham jail in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., writes a powerful and emotional letter to the clergymen of Birmingham. In his letter, he responds to the harsh criticism and injustices he received for simply protesting peacefully without a permit. King states in his letter, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

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He places the strong authority of the declaration on his side to show how the American people are in contradiction to their own “sacred obligation” and the Negros have gotten a “bad check.” A metaphor representing the unfulfilled promise of human rights for the African Americans. King skillfully evokes an emotional response from all races with the use of religion: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” By doing this he finds a common ground that brings black and whites closer with a common belief in God they share, as well as the mention of

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“...when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” (MLK, 276). King uses this strong sense of appeal to emotion to engross his readers and let them know how hard it is for them.

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To achieve this, he used rhetorical strategies such as appeal to pathos and repetition. His passionate tone flowed through these strategies, increasing their persuasive power on the people and encouraging them to follow/listen to his message on racial injustice. While pathos elicits an emotional response from the audience to make them more accepting of King’s ideas, repetition structures the speech and emphasizes key ideas for the audience to take away from listening. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. To this day, King’s speech remains one of the most famous and influential speeches in

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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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