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Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

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How he wrote his argument and how well. Analyze his use of ethos/emotion Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written during 1963, when African Americans were fighting for black and white equality. We can see this by the vocabulary that he uses, like “Negro”, which was used around that time period and no longer used anymore. We can also see this through the context of the letter; that King wants freedom for African Americans. The purpose of this letter is that Martin Luther King is trying to convince the clergymen that him and his “people” demonstrated because it was absolutely necessary at that time. When doing this, he uses condemnatory and persuasive tones to try to influence the reader to agree with him. Martin Luther King provides a valid argument using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos throughout his piece. King uses logos in his letter to backup his counter argument against the clergymen. In his letter he trys to support the fact that “[they] had …show more content…

uses is pathos. One prime example of him using pathos is on page 2, when he says “...when you suddenly find your tongue-twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children.” This is a good example of pathos because this is a general topic that would make anyone feel guilty or sad, in that people feel more sympathy for children, and a normal person would feel bad if they are reading this.When people start to feel bad about the problem, it helps them choose Martin Luther King’s side in the argument. King’s adjectives also help him persuade the reader in this situation. When he says that the tears were “welling up” it adds imagery and the audience can actually picture this scene, and this will make people for guilty or

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