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Rhetorical Triangle In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Analyzing Letter from Birmingham Jail Speech is one of the greatest tools that humans possess. Speaking allows expression of thoughts, ideas, dreams as well as a tool for persuasion. The Rhetorical triangle serves as an outline for this expression. The rhetorical triangle consists of three points, logos or logic, ethos or ethics/credibility, and pathos or emotional appeal. The rhetorical triangle is a structure that has been used in writing and speech for thousands of years. One prime example of the rhetorical triangle in important literature is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Dr. King’s letter was an answer to criticism as well as a way for him to express his feelings toward civil disobedience. In his letter Martin …show more content…

King starts the letter by stating where he is and who he is. Dr. King writes, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state.” (King 563). By stating he is the president of a religious leadership conference, Dr. King is inherently letting the people reading that he is credible in a leadership, religious, and responsibility driven aspect. As well as establishing his credentials, later in the letter Dr. King responds to being called an extremist. He considers the topic and decides to take it as a compliment as he begins stating many established names who share the extremist title: Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. As Dr. King states about these influential men, he is giving himself credibility at the same time. He is stating that he too is an extremist, one among the great men that shaped this nation. When establishing his point, King used his ethos to establish credibility. After establishing his credibility with his ethos, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses logos to establish his logic. Using this letter to address critics, Dr. King expresses his thoughts on injustice as …show more content…

If you do not let a person express themselves peacefully, eventually they will turn to violence as a means of expression (King 570). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses these logos in his letter expressing logic to support the induction and deduction he presents. Lastly, in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King uses pathos to incite an emotional response. In his letter, Dr. King paints a picture of injustice and discrimination. One of the best examples of this is when Dr. King writes, “you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the. amusement park. and see the tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to children.” (King 565-66). As he illustrates the little girl’s sadness, it pulls at the heartstrings of those reading; it makes the reader think of how that must feel. That imagery incites an emotional response, making Dr. King’s points more persuasive. In “The Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Responds to the criticism received and expresses his thoughts on injustice. As he writes, he uses the rhetorical triangle to shape his expression. He appeals to ethics, logic, and emotion using ethos, logos, and

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