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Rhetorical Analysis Of Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Responding to criticism is usually advised against, considering most of it comes from ill intent; however, it’s important to keep in mind that criticism may come from a good place as well, so therefore, critiques should be taken seriously depending on the motive behind them. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist during a dark period where racism and white supremacy were extremely prevalent in the world. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and charged with parading without a permit, despite being a part of a nonviolent protest against segregation. From the Birmingham Jail, Dr. King decides to send a letter to eight white religious leaders in regards to being labeled as “unwise and untimely” because he believes this criticism stems …show more content…

King is clever when presenting brutal facts, statistics, and reasoning behind the mistreatment of black people to convince the clergymen that the civil rights movement has been thoroughly thought out. In addition to using logos, Martin Luther King also employs figurative language, specifically metaphors (a comparison between two unlike things) and personification (giving human-like characteristics to non-human objects), to disprove the clergymen’s judgements. Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his frustration through this letter, as the white moderates refuse to support the civil rights movement; they believe time will eventually handle it. Dr. King states, “It is the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills” (21). He provides human-like attributes to time to emphasize that time itself does not obtain such powers to improve racial inequality, but instead, it’s up to the people to be strategic with time to progress, like Martin Luther King has been doing all

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