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King says on page. Furthermore, exterior events regarding the movement could ultimately reflect on his influence and polarize the audience further. Who was he truly writing for? The anaphora "If you were to" is meant to inspire his readers to emp. In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. IvyMoose is the largest stock of essay samples on lots of topics and for any discipline. Repetition in "The Letter from a Birmingham Jail" Ethos Example "A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. However, in the months that followed, Kings powerful words were distributed to the public through civil rights committees, the press, and was even read in testimony before Congress (Letter from Birmingham Jail), taking the country by storm. 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. Who was he truly writing for? Active Themes. One example of Kings use of pathos appeals to the audiences emotions by showing Kings confidence in his endeavors. Furthermore, Dr. King had four steps to achieve his goals by collecting facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct, Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a response to Dr. King's follow clergymen criticism. King goes on to explain how this right has not been kept, making it appear to be similar to a laid-back rule. Order original paper now and save your time! "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Allusion Essay. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. Dr. King uses his own words to describe what he wants the nation to look like in the future. Civil rights is an emotional subject for those who were affected by it, and MLK is proving his argument on civil disobedience. Letter from a Birmingham Jail AP.GOPO: PRD1.A (LO) , PRD1.A.2 (EK) Google Classroom Full text of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. 16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Introduction. It was during this time that Dr. King, refusing to sit idly by, wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, one of the most inspiring documents in history. 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). The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. In Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King responds to the subjectivity of law and the issue he paramounts by using precise and impactful rhetoric from inside of his jail cell. In terms of legacies, Martin Luther King Jr. is an example of someone whose legacy has left an impact on a great many fields. He needed something, that special something, that would ignite the fire that had somehow died out. King defends his primary thesis all throughout the length of his letter, and the arguments that he has made to prove that his thesis is true and valid will be the focus of this rhetorical analysis. King uses tone, literal and figurative language to establish structure and language in his letter. , vol. King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. Martin Luther King Jr. was born to a middle class family and was well educated. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims. MarkAHA. 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. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. There are three main considerations to make while analysing a rhetorical situation: the constraints, the exigence, and the audience. With this addressed, his audience was truly the population of the United States, especially Birmingham, with a focus on those who withheld and complied with the oppression of African American citizens, even if not intentionally. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. In the Gettysburg Address Lincoln talks about how people fought the war and how people should honor their soldiers. Dr. King is saying that if we allow injustice to happen in some places, we risk it happening to everyone. Lastly, King is constrained by his medium. Because of his skill in creating such pieces of writing, as well as his influential role within the Civil Rights Movement, and the reminder that Letter from Birmingham Jail provides of these trying times, his letter should continue to be included within A World of Ideas. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. Martin Luther in Birmingham Jail, The Atlantic. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. Prior to the mid 20th century, social injustice, by means of the Jim Crow laws, gave way to a disparity in the treatment of minorities, especially African Americans, when compared to Caucasians. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. He wrote the letter in response to criticisms made by white clergymen. As a black man and pacifist-forward figurehead of the Civil Rights movement, the way Martin Luther is perceived is mostly dictated by preconceived biases and is rampant, widespread, and polarized. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. By using it, you accept our. Martin Luther found himself arrested on the twelfth of April 1963 after leading a peaceful protest throughout Birmingham, Alabama after he defied a state courts injunction and led a march of black protesters without a permit, urging an Easter boycott of white-owned stores (Jr., Martin Luther King). To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. What type/s of rhetorical device is used in this statement? Jr., Martin Luther King. samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that 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. Get professional help and free up your time for more important things. The use of pathos is effective because it appeals to emotions and the issue of civil rights and civil disobedience. King chose to write this for a reason; to resonate with those who were not his enemies but who held back the movement through compliance. Parallelism is useful to emphasize things and ideas to the audience, which, like all the other tropes and schemes. He begins strongly by explaining why he is in Birmingham in the first place, stating, So I am herebecause we were invited here. In this way, King asserts that African-Americans must act with jet-like speed to gain their independence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with many other civil activist, began a campaign to change the laws and the social attitudes that caused such a disparity. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. We allow people to think that it is okay to act unjustly towards some individuals. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere!" was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. Furthermore, as King attests to the significance of the Birmingham injustices, he utilizes antithesis to foster logos: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere; Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly (515). They fought for what they believed in but in vastly different ways. Greater importance is placed on his tone, choice of words, choice of argument, and credibility, for better or for worse, and he must carefully make rhetorical decisions, not only because of his race. You can order a custom paper by our expert writers. Martin Luther King Jr. uses both logical and emotional appeals in order for all his listeners to be able to relate and contemplate his speeches. He seeks to make them see the logic behind their protesting and make them feel ashamed and embarrassed by the way that they have been treating the African Americans. By clicking Receive Essay, you agree to our, Essay Sample on The Effects of the Atomic Bomb, Essay Sample: The Development of the Braille System in Nineteenth-Century France, Constitution of The United StatesResearch Paper Example, Hippies In The 1960's (Free Essay Sample), Positive And Negative Impacts Of The Columbian Exchange, Essay Sample on Early River Civilizations. He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time. Explain why the examples fit your chosen reason. At this time, he is representative of the Black American population and the Civil Rights Movement as a whole he is Martin Luther King Jr., and while this is a powerful position to occupy, the constraints imposed are just as dominant. Analysing a rhetorical situation clarifies why a text was created, the purpose in which it was written, and why the author made specific choices while writing it. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own . He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. In addressing and confronting the problem of injustices among the black Americans in the American society, particularly the violence that had happened in Birmingham, and, Martin Luther King Jr. faced many challenges during his life. Parallelism is a literary device in itself, but it is also a category under which other figures of speech fall, such as those mentioned previously. " A just law is man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of the god. One example of parallelism he uses is, But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity (Barnet and Bedau 741). In addition, King is also in Birmingham because he feels compelled to respond to injustice wherever he finds it. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail 172 Words1 Page Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos and parallelism frequently throughout "Letters from Birmingham Jail," to persuade the clergyman to support his actions in the civil rights movement. In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. With the use of King's rhetorical devices, he described the ways of the Birmingham community and their beliefs, connected to the reader on an emotional level, and brought to light the overall issues dealing with segregation., The letter was ostensibly conceived in response to a letter that had recently run in a local newspaper which had claimed that the protest were "unwise and untimely." Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America till the Negro is granted his citizenship rights (King pg. He also wants the readers to realize that negroes are not to be mistreated and that the mistreatment of negroes could have severe implications as in a violent protest against the laws made by the court. This is the beginning of King's point-by-point rebuttal of the criticisms leveled against him. 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. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. Required fields are marked *. Ultimately, King crafts antithetic parallelism to establish a logical structure that emphasizes logos in his argument: the timeliness of justice. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, Dream and Birmingham and each had a different audience and purpose. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Its important to note that his initial readers/supporters greatly impacted the scope of his audience, spreading the letter through handouts, flyers, and press, in the hopes that others would be impacted for the better by the weight of the exigence at hand. While there were consistent and impactful efforts made by various groups for equality throughout the civil rights era, the proximity between the public release of the letter, found nation-wide by late 1963, and the passing of the Civil Rights Act in early July 1964 shows the direct impact the letter had on social attitudes following its publicization. Letter from Birmingham Jail: Repetition BACK NEXT This guy knew how to write a speech. The audience of Letter From Birmingham Jail was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. King spins the constraining pressure to properly represent the movement on its head, using his rhetoric to uplift the underprivileged and leave no room in his language for criticism, proven by the continuous adoption of his messages by the public. He writes how the white church is often disappointed in the African Americans lack of patience and how they are quick to be willing to break laws. In Kings speech he. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. First, King writes that the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. This antithesis makes the audience realize that the Negroes have been left behind and ignored while the rest of modern society has charged forward into prosperity and fortune. The continuous mistreatment of African Americans for over a century was, at last, deeply questioned and challenged nationwide with the growing popularity of the Civil Rights movement, and the topic of equality for all had divided the country. Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. Laws should build up society to be better so that a law is not need to be enforced and people will still follow it. Here are more examples of parallel structure within "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that I find especially powerful. His mention of involvement and leadership within a Christian civil rights organization, strength of religious analogy, and general politeness are effective rhetorical choices used to shape how he is perceived despite his critical response, racial setbacks, and arrest: a relatable man of faith, rationale, and initiative. Despite this, the clergy never questions whether or not segregation is unjust. Kings decision to compare his efforts to those of biblical figures with shared intent was a deliberate attempt to find common ground with his initial readers, the eight religious Birmingham clergymen, through the faith of a shared religion. Through the masterful use of analogies and undeniable examples of injustice, Kings disgruntled response to the clergies proves the justification for direct action taking place to establish equality for African Americans., Martin Luther Kings letter from Birmingham Jail was written to respond to white religious leaders who criticized his organizations actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black society in Birmingham. The topic of Dr. Kings letters from a Birmingham prison is the nonviolent protest being done in Birmingham, Alabama in the fight for African Americans civil rights. The letter from the Birmingham jail of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. Not only was this a social division, but those who opposed King were reinforced by the respective legislature that sought to burden him. Consequently, King fabricates logos as he urges African-Americans to demand justice from their oppressors, an issue that directly affects everyone across the nation: not just those in specific areas. 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. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1954. Another instance of parallelism in the letter is, We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people(Barnet and Bedau 745). His writing is respectful and educated, if not naturally, to invalidate the use of his race against him by the largely prejudiced audience. Yet his most important method of reaching his audience, and conveying his enduring message of equality and freedom for the whole nation was his appeal to pathos. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust(Barnet and Bedau 742). He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. Example: Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Repetitions help the writer give structure to his arguments and highlight important aspects. His masterful delivery of these metaphors and the frequent repetition makes the speech much like a poem or a part of a song. He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. Mistreatment of this kind is labeled as racial discrimination. Dr. King responded to criticism that was made by clergymen about calling Dr. King activities as "Unwise and Untimely". King goes on to write that he is disappointed that white moderates care less about justice and more about order. Thus, these essays are of lower quality than ones written by experts. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive. The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. Fred Shuttlesworth, defied an injunction against protesting on Good Friday in 1963. This audience is rhetorical as the social and political ideologies of the American people fuel democracy and are able to change the system around them through collective effort. Furthermore, good usage of these rhetorical device . 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. 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. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. : "There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community." . He evokes emotion on his audience by discussing the trials and injustice African Americans have endured. , 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail. 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). 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. King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. The biases of the audience go hand in hand with the rhetorical exigence of this letter, another large constraint in the effectiveness of his message. Furthermore the Kings parallel structure clarifies and highlights his intent by building up to a more important point. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. Dr. King goes on to say that laws that do not match what the Bible says are unjust. The letter was addressed to clergymen who had criticized King and made many claims against him. Egypt) and titles (e.g. To this day, Kings speech remains one of the most famous and influential speeches in. In Martin Luther Kings Jr, Letter from Birmingham Jail the letter was a persuasive attempt to get Americans to finally see the inequality in the United States of America.