Rhetorical Devices In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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OUTLINE introduction: SOAPStone serious, ardent, and a sn First ten paragraph summary: MLK begins by explaining his reasoning for being in Birmingham in the first place. He proclaims to be there for a nonviolent direct action program organized by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights group. He's appealing to his group, establishing credibility. He then says that he is in Birmingham because of the racial injustice happening in the city. Dr. King feels obligated to carry the gospel of freedom beyond his own home city. He says he and his people had to prepare for a direct action program and hints that tension promotes change, and change promotes conflict. He says that the purpose of the direct action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will open the door to negotiation, that he and his group have been wanting to happen for a while. In the letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and taken to the Birmingham city jail to await his release. He wrote a letter explaining his being in Birmingham in the first place, and what led to his untimely apprehension. While writing his letter, King uses various rhetorical devices and appeals to argue against the clergymen who claimed his activities were …show more content…

Against this remark, King attests that "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds. I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states." King also posits that he refuses to sit on the sideline while the people of Birmingham experience injustices caused by other people. King uses rhetoric like allusion to the Bible and comparison. He calls it his biblical duty to spread the gospel of freedom and justice wherever he goes, as the Apostle Paul