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Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Out of the two personal appeals MLK used, I would say he mainly used pathos. This is because if you can reach the good in people you can truly move them. Dr. King realized this and often exploited it. He was a very good persuader and could twist your emotions at will. This is why his speeches were so powerful and why he’s famous. Using your emotions against your mind was one of his greatest tactics. He appeals to logic very well, however he has strings on your emotions like a puppeteer. Stupid people you can’t reason to with logic because they always will make something up that avoids the facts. For these reasons King was forced to appeal to their emotions. All his life he had to do this because he grew up in an era where having more melanin …show more content…

was a great writer who knew how to motivate you to fight for the better of the world. For the people he was speaking to it made the most sense to use pathos. He felt so strongly for his rights he was trying to activate everyone else to do the same. “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience” (MLK, Letter from Birmingham jail, 281). This statement shows just how strongly he feels about is cause. MLK was born in a very tough time for blacks, however this seemed to make him stronger. He seemed to not care to get in trouble as long as he fought for the right reason. It was this persistence and relentless determination that made King go down in history, but not only was he strong willed he was also an amazing writer and speaker. He used these attributes to lead masses of people like no other before. To me MLK is amazing because how he got people to listen to him with just words, no violence, no catch or skeme, just words. This is how powerfully he appealed to a pathos type of …show more content…

This sentence can really play on your emotions. It makes you truly feel bad for all the African Americans during that time. This was a good use of a pathos appeal. Dr. King’s writings were so pure and could motivate you to help the cause. This is why things got better for his people, because of people like him. I believe the reason MLK chose to use emotional text was to let the whites feel what they feel since most of the racist whites at that time were uneducated and uncultured. By making them feel bad he could have them want to help the cause. After all the pieces of evidence I have pointed out I believe it is safe to conclude that indeed Martin Luther King Jr. appealed more to the emotional side of things. I believe it is because of this that he was so successful. This tactic worked very well since he moved people and became a national hero. MLK was a genius with how he worded everything, he could

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MLK also uses rhetorical devices to persuade the audience. MLK states In Letter To Birmingham Jail, “Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth?” (King 7) MLK used rhetorical questions so the audience would have to think to themselves. MLK is showing the audience that by doing these actions is the only way they will be heard.

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Dr. King appeals more to the heart, although he appeals to logic he appeals to the heart more in his messages. In his big speech “I Have A Dream,” he used the what the black people went through to get to their hearts, he used terms they have been called such as dirty niggers, that hit there heart. In his other famous message “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he uses terms of slavery, what the blacks went through to appeal to them, Chains of Discrimination… (King 282 paragraph 32). King often uses emotion to appeal to people. Such as in his letter “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he refers to the term “dirty nigger lovers,” (King, 282 paragraph 32).

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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1954. He had a great impact on race relations in the U.S. and he made a great impact on many lives. He died in 1968. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, “Dream” and “Birmingham” and each had a different audience and purpose. Both works utilizes the persuasive techniques of pathos in “Dream” and logos in “Birmingham.”

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In these texts, King effectively persuades his audiences using pathos and logos. In Martin Luther King Jr. – “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he captures both pathos and logos. Dr. King

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Response to “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he responded to statements written in a Birmingham newspaper that criticized his actions in the city. He undermined these disapprovals by explaining his belief in nonviolent direct action. King also went on to give opinions on other topics, such as, the lack of support from white moderates and white churches. He used technique and structure to develop his ideas and justify his methods.

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In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” it can easily be argued that King used many rhetorical devices such as anaphora and tone in order to further persuade his audience to take action on behalf of the Civil Rights movement. Through copious examples, the reader is presented with King’s effort to use repetition in order to drive his point as well as being presented with the changing tone of his writing which allows the reader to experience a shift in emotions and urgency throughout the

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Have you ever read an article or book that express a lot of sympathy and it made you feel as if you can feel their pain. “The Letter From Birmingham Jail” displays the true meaning of pathos. After reading this” letter” emotions will overflow. Dr. King wrote with so much passion and courage, that it makes his readers feel as if they were part of the movement. He shows his concerns for the African American community by expressing their thoughts and feelings because they feel as if they have no voice.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.

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Martin Luther King Jr once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” He believed that we could live in a society where we could all live together in peace. That’s why MLK Jr was important to the Civil Rights Movement. Also, he cared about many important issues that had to be taken care of. Finally, he made bigger impacts on the freedom of African Americans than any other leader.

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By using the rhetorical features, MLK’s speech reached a different level of effectiveness for his audience. Using credibility, authority, trustworthiness and similarity to build a relationship by using evidence, MLK achieved ethos. Then by stating his values and creating imagery achieved but hos vocabulary he effective used pathos. Finally, by his clarity, goals, evidence and consistency, MLK appropriately reached his audience logical and effectively using logos. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered for his great speeches, accomplishments and his leadership skills, but also for the sincerity of his heart for the freedom and unity of all people.

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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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In a “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. uses rhetorical devices. For example, MLK uses repetition in his letter. In paragraph 31, he repeats the word “extremists” several times to redefine the word so it's less negative. MLK also uses an analogy in his letter, by comparing himself to the Apostle Paul.

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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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Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in gaining civil rights throughout the 1960’s and he’s very deserving of that title as seen in both his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience.

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MLK uses appeal to emotion and appeal to logic equally throughout his speeches. For example, in his speech “I Have a Dream”, he declaims,

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