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King is not speaking only of racism; he is speaking of injustice in general. Repetitions help the writer give structure to his arguments and highlight important aspects. If your first two elements are verbs, the third element is usually a verb, too. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. Letter from Birmingham Jail: Repetition BACK NEXT This guy knew how to write a speech. He hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. Writers commonly use parallelism when there is a pair or a series of elements, or in the headlines or outlines of a document. Egypt) and titles (e.g. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. In. These purposes can be similar, or different. He wants the clergyman to realize that what they believe and think is wrong. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a letter that illustrates oppression being a large battle fought in this generation and location. As King disproves the arguments of the white clergymen, he utilizes antithesis to create logos; furthermore, he calls the reader to take action against injustice across the nation. This letter is a prime example of Kings expertise in constructing persuasive rhetoric that appealed to the masses at large. That sentence magnifies the fact that good people doing nothing is the same as bad people purposely hindering civil rights. Original: Apr 16, 2013. Jr., Martin Luther King. , vol. Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. Get professional help and free up your time for more important things. Martin Luther King then goes on to make an analogy to the Bible, portraying Apostle Pauls proliferation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in parallel to his own efforts, stating, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown (1). Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. Dr. Being nearly symbolic, King being held prisoner in Birmingham, the most polar racial arena of the United States, made his rhetoric more effective. The amount of original essays that we did for our clients, The amount of original essays that we did for our clients. With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, A Call for Unity. Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. Martin Luther utilizes powerful rhetoric to define his exigence. In response to Kings peaceful protesting, the white community viewed [his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist, and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Allusion Essay. King does this in an effective and logical way. A letter, as a medium, is constraining as there is one definitive original copy, it is addressed to a small specific group, and since it cannot be directly broadcasted widely, opposed to television or radio, it must be printed or passed along analogically. He proves his authority through his explanation of his experience as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia (King 232), and he emphasizes the importance of addressing the situation to him when he says, seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas, referring to the people of Birminghams resistance to the civil protests that he has been leading in Birmingham (King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. mentions the atrocities of racism and describes his endless battles against it. Similarly, King uses pathos to trigger the emotional . There may have been advantages to broadcasting this message similarly to his I Have a Dream speech, which touched America deeply, due potentially to the accessible, instantaneous, and widespread coverage in American media. In order to do this, Martin Luther King uses several techniques in paragraph thirteen and fourteen of his letter such as repetition, personification, as well as allusion, to support his claim that racial unity has taken too long. In this essay, King also brings up why he is justified in his preaching about the separation of African-Americans and white people. Lincoln states, We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. What he says means that the soldiers lost their lives to give us freedom. Wiki User 2013-03-13 02:55:46 Study now See answer (1) Copy "One has not only legal but moral responsibility to obey just. There are people in the white community that are already standing hand-in-hand with them and their dreams. Martin Luther Kings "letter from Birmingham Jail" strives to justify the desperate need for nonviolent direct action, the absolute immorality of unjust laws together with what a just law is. 25 terms. Letter from a Birmingham Jail: The Rhetorical Analysis At the peak of the Civil War Movement in America on April 12th, 1963, eight Alabama . This wait has almost always meant never (King 2). The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. Found a perfect sample but need a unique one? While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. However King also deliberately wrote his letter for a national audience. Read these passages aloud, and as you do so, feel their undeniable passion and power. Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Although Kings reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. He needed something, that special something, that would ignite the fire that had somehow died out. In this example, King employs antithesis to highlight the logical structure and urgency of his argument against inequity, which allows him to establish logos. The use of pathos is effective because it appeals to emotions and the issue of civil rights and civil disobedience. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. This evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963, King's campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. King's main thesis in writing the Birmingham letter is that, racial segregation, or injustice to the black American society, is due to the continuous encouragement of the white American society, particularly the powerful communities in politics and religions. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. As mentioned before, the social and political ideologies in America surrounding racial equity at this time, specifically in Birmingham, were extremely poor. Throughout the letter, Dr. King does a tremendous job of supporting his argument with the three elements of Aristotles rhetorical appeal. In Kings speech he. Your email address will not be published. A seminal text of the Civil Rights Movement, King's, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, justifies the measures that brought about his arrest, and asseverates that the segregation laws against blacks in the south must be repealed. He begins strongly by explaining why he is in Birmingham in the first place, stating, So I am herebecause we were invited here. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. He ended up creating a very persuasive letter, one that effectively uses ethos in establishing his character, logos in providing reason and logic, and pathos in reaching human emotions. One example of Kings use of pathos appeals to the audiences emotions by showing Kings confidence in his endeavors. Your email address will not be published. When teaching speeches and letters, it's helpful to refresh or introduce students to literary elements that enhance rhetorical strategies. The law was written in 1962, but the powerful response pushed the courts to finalize their decision. Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. In order to properly convey his response to the questions proposed by the religious leaders of Birmingham, Dr. King uses it to draw comparisons which magnifies an idea, but it also commends one and disparages the other. By addressing his respect for the clergymen, feigned or not, he is acknowledging the effectiveness of respect to those in power, whether they may or may not deserve it. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" "United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. In the letter "Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. writes to the Clergyman to express his idea on the racial discrimination and injustice going on in Birmingham Alabama. Not only does he use pathos to humanize himself, but he also uses it to humanize his immediate audience, the eight clergymen. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. Throughout the essay, King uses several powerful tones to complement his strong opinion, Martin Luther King Jrs Letter from Birmingham Jail is one his many writings on segregation and racial inequality towards blacks in the southern American states. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. This protest, his subsequent arrest, and the clergymens public statement ostensibly make up the rhetorical exigence, but it truly stems from a much larger and dangerous situation at hand: the overwhelming state of anti-black prejudice spread socially, systematically, and legislatively in America since the countrys implementation of slavery in Jamestown, 1619. Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Even now, it continues to make generations of people, not just Americans, to give up their racist beliefs and advocate social colorblindness. What type/s of rhetorical device is used in this statement? In his letter he uses examples like when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters. and when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and gathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim to make his audience envision and feel what many negroes felt while watching their families put up with this mistreatment. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. parallelism really etches into the audience's mind the seemingly never-ending hardships blacks face and the repetition makes it seem like a regular routine they endure. Any deadline. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. King says on page. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. The eight clergymen in Birmingham released a public statement of caution regarding the protesters actions as unwise and untimely (King 1), to which Martins letter is a direct response. He died in 1968. Lloyd Bitzer describes rhetorical situation as, a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action to bring about the significant modification of the exigence (6). Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/. Dr. King fought against segregation between Black Americans and White Americans. Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. He uses rhetorical devices such as repetition, analogy, and rhetorical questions. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, Dream and Birmingham and each had a different audience and purpose. " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." Martin Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. Take for instance when the part of the letter when Dr. King talks about different men, both biblical, Martin Luther King Jr.s goal in Letter From Birmingham Jail is to convince the people of Birmingham that they should support civil disobedience and the eventual end to the segregation laws in Birmingham. Explain why the examples fit your chosen reason. This special lyrical and parallel structure helped get his main points across and allows a large audience to understand simple but powerful words (Layfield) . Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. In this way, King juxtaposes his perspective with that of the clergy to demonstrate the depravity of his oppressors. samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that His audience ranged between those who his message empowered, a radical positive force, and those who disagreed, made up of southern states, extremist groups, and the majority of American citizens stuck in their racial prejudices. His use of diction and syntax would align his mission to Gods, and show that he was in the right and the clergymen were in the wrong. MarkAHA. This website uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." He opens with an explanation to his response, stating, Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideasBut since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms(King 1). This protest, his subsequent arrest, and the clergymens public statement ostensibly make up the rhetorical exigence, but it truly stems from a much larger and dangerous situation at hand: the overwhelming state of anti-black prejudice spread socially, systematically, and legislatively in America since the countrys implementation of slavery in Jamestown, 1619. During the era of the civil rights movements in the 60s, among the segregation, racism, and injustice against the blacks, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial to deliver one of the greatest public speeches for freedom in that decade. Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail.
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