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

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“Effective writing can cause riots, ignite revolutions, and induce love. Treat the form with respect” (Ellis). Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, was a revolutionary document. It was not a letter to cause a bloody revolution, rather being a letter to heal. The United States was a festering wound that wasn’t able to heal on it’s own, and needed the assistance of King. King's letter was like an effective medicine necessary for healing. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is effective at convincing the audience of joining the movement of equality because of his use of rhetorical appeals, his experience with the topic, and his understanding of the audience. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, provokes …show more content…

In “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he states, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (1). King is warning those in his audience that injustice has a way of spreading; therefore, it needs to be confronted and stopped where it occurs. “We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom” (6). America was founded upon freedom; nevertheless, sooner or later America would have came to the conclusion that colored men and women weren’t being allowed the same freedoms that we all were allowed to have according to the Constitution. King is expanding his audience’s thoughts, and revealing to them that whether they like it or not change is going to happen. “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (4). Eventually, revolution was going to occur, and King is trying to show his readers that this revolution doesn't have to be a bloody one. “I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends” (7). Even though King and his followers were being treated immorally, it would have been illogical for them to take immoral actions against those who are not doing morally upright things. If they were to use immoral means, it would have given them the label of being hypocrites, and only would have made things

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Martin Luther king wrote the letter from Birmingham jail and discuss the biggest issues in the black community of Birmingham. In order to justify his desire for racial justice and equality, martin Luther king uses knowledge and potential thoughts given toward to his letter transcending to his people and the churches and he made very important valid statement that gave his audience and open mind and to encourage American society desegregation and having equality among all Americans with no stratification according to racial differences. His letter addresses the American society, political and religious community of America. King uses metaphors saying “ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning

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In 1963, King was arrested for participating in a march because no parade permit had been issued by city officials. While in jail, he responded to a letter published in a city newspaper from eight clergymen called “A Call for Unity.” Martin Luther King's “Letter from Birmingham” Jail is part of civil rights history and an astonishing piece of well-written literature. It perfectly embraces the structure and analysis of the rhetorical triangle. The letter was to address the racial issues at the moment in Birmingham to give his response to the public.

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Dr. King’s way of speech in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” starts off with, “My Dear fellow Clergymen,” which seems oddly reserved. He had learned that Birmingham clergymen had issued a declaration critiquing him and flattering the city’s narrow-minded police influence, when Dr. King had been in solitary quarantine. Due to this, anyone could agree that Dr. King had every right to write an enraged letter. However, his topic was not to go off on this matter, but to explain himself. Thus, Dr. King starts his letter with “fellow clergymen,” which depicts the main idea of his argument, which is “brotherhood.”

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King uses rhetoric in The Letter of Birmingham Jail to advance his purpose powerfully. King writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen that indirectly target his actions and state false accusations. These eight clergymen do not understand the rationale King advocates throughout his non-violent protests, therefore King retaliates by writing a letter. This letter uses rational tone throughout to get these eight men and even more so the public to understand the purpose of his activist movements.

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Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an exquisite testament of human civility. The fact that King was determined enough to write such a powerful letter from the confinement of a jail cell speaks volumes. He could have simply sat back and succumbed to the individuals trying to overshadow him, however, King choose to exalt his freedom of speech in an empowering fashion. At the start of the letter, King states that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.

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