Martin Luther King, the most well known civil rights activist and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 16, 1963. He was arrested for protesting without a license. Martin Luther King wrote a letter while in jail in response to the clergymen and the public stating that he will no longer sit and wait to be heard. While writing his letter, Martin Luther King uses rhetorical devices to develop his argument. Martin Luther King established credibility through his letter. He uses organizational ties, biblical duty, and interrelatedness of America. King uses his organizational ties by stating the organization he is in, which is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In the letter, King states, "I have the honor of serving as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference." King also uses biblical teachings. King talks about how he was a minister in the letter. He states an allusion in paragraph 3,"...as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town." What the king is meaning by this is he is wanting to spread peaceful protest around like Paul did the …show more content…
Martin Luther King uses two examples of primary sources in paragraph 15. The first primary source he uses is The Supreme Court's Decision of 1954. King states, "Since we so diligently urge people to obey The Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in public schools..." King uses ethos by using this credible source. Another credible source King uses in paragraph 15 is St. Augustine. King states, "I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all." Here again King uses ethos by putting this credible source in the letter. These two sources matter very much because it makes his letter sound more proper and better having those credible sources in