"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere!" In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. Dr. 262). His masterful delivery of these metaphors and the frequent repetition makes the speech much like a poem or a part of a song. Jr., Martin Luther King. King through this letter tries to express his, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans 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. This comes to endanger our entire society. Dr. King repeats the same starting words when you have seen with different examples of injustices. His passionate tone flowed through these strategies, increasing their persuasive power on the people and encouraging them to follow/listen to his message on racial injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. Therefore this makes people see racism in a whole new light; racism has not been justified because the United States have failed to uphold their promises. In Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was this line, "We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right." King was the leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement as well as an activist for humanitarian causes. In this way, King juxtaposes his perspective with that of the clergy to demonstrate the depravity of his oppressors. Martin Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. 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. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. 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. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Furthermore, good usage of these rhetorical device . 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). By stating the obvious point and implying that moderates act as though this was not true, he accuses them of both hypocrisy and injustice. Besides the use of pathos, King uses repetition to enhance the effectiveness of his argument. 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. Read these passages aloud, and as you do so, feel their undeniable passion and power. To truly understand the effectiveness of this letter, one must rhetorically analyse the contents. Who was he truly writing for? That sentence magnifies the fact that good people doing nothing is the same as bad people purposely hindering civil rights. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and . Throughout the letter critics are disproved through Kings effective use of diction and selection of detail. To get a high-quality original essay, click here. King gives a singular, eloquent voice to a massive, jumbled movement. 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. 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 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). Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. Not only was this a social division, but those who opposed King were reinforced by the respective legislature that sought to burden him. 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. During a civil resistance campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was arrested. 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. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. Letter to Birmingham Jail is a response to a group of Birmingham ministers who voiced negative comments and questioned the civil rights demonstrations Dr. King was leading in Birmingham. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., King addressed the concerns of the white clergy and gave support to the direct action committed by African Americans. The audience of a rhetorical piece will shape the rhetoric the author uses in order to appeal, brazen, or educate whoever is exposed. Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. 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. Parallelism/ Juxtaposition. Parallelism, in the way King uses it, connects what seems like small problems to a larger issue. Dr. King goes on to say that laws that do not match what the Bible says are unjust. 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. Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. " A just law is man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of the god. 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." He had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress (King 267). MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience. Get professional help and free up your time for more important things. In his letter King effectively manipulates language and tone to strengthen his argument against the complaints of the clergyman and successfully address the white people. In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. similes, metaphors, and imagery are all used to make the letter more appealing to the audiences they make the letter more descriptive while making you focus on one issue at a time. Specifically, King's letter addresses three important groups in the American society: the white American political community, white American religious community, and the black American society. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here (King 1), after describing his involvement in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as president. Although Dr. Kings exploits are revered today, he had opponents that disagreed with the tactics he employed. He hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. 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). King is saying that if we allow injustice to happen in some places, we risk it happening to everyone. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments. Choose one type of reason and cite an example from these lines. He uses rhetorical devices such as repetition, analogy, and rhetorical questions. Original: Apr 16, 2013. Any deadline. To achieve this, he used rhetorical strategies such as appeal to pathos and repetition. In his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. presents an argument through analogy by comparing his situation to Apostle Paul. 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. Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. 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. Letter from Birmingham Jail; McAuley ELA I HON. : "There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community." . While his letter was only addressed to the clergymen, it is safe to assume that King had intent on the public eventually reading his letter, considering his position within the Civil Rights movement, use of persuasive rhetorical language, and hard-hitting debates on the justification of law. He writes of his own problems that may apply to the daily struggles of the abused African, Parallelism In Speech From Birmingham Jail, Throughout the speech, another scheme King uses frequently is parallelism, the strategy of repeating similar clauses, several times. There isn't quite as much of that in "Letter From Birmingham Jail," but it still pops up a couple of times. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how Kings protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. 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. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. 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. Since Kings arrest he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Moreover, King juxtaposes contradictory statements to bolster the legitimacy of his argument against injustice -- in stark contrast to the racist beliefs held by the clergy -- which creates logos that he later capitalizes on to instill celerity within the audience. He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. Saying it that way magnifies the imperative difference between the two types of laws. Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. He had a great impact on race relations in the U.S. and he made a great impact on many lives. Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at its peak in the South. 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. 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. Throughout the work, Letter from Bimingham Jail, Martin Luther constantly uses examples from historical figures in order to unite his argument that action must be taken in order to end discrimination and segregation. 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. However, this constraint did not ultimately halt the spread of Kings message nation-wide, as it became a persuasive landmark of the civil rights movement, likely due to both his impactful position and persuasive use of rhetoric. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. He approaches his argument with logic and appealing to the people of Birminghams emotions. This website uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By using it, you accept our. 25 terms. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. 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. This use of parallel structure emphasizes how just and unjust laws can look deceptively similar. The letter is a plea to both white and black Americans to encourage desegregation and to encourage equality among all Americans, both black and white, along all social, political and religious ranks, clearly stating that there should be no levels of equality based upon racial differences., In Letter from Birmingham Jail, author Martin Luther King Jr. confirms the fact that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. 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. Active Themes. 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. What King discloses in his essay, Letter From Birmingham Jail, displays how the laws of segregation have affected African-Americans. The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. The audience of Letter From Birmingham Jail was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. 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. King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. 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. Kings use of pathos gives him the ability to encourage his fellow civil rights activists, evoke empathy in white conservatives, and allow the eight clergymen and the rest of his national audience to feel compassion towards the issue. These purposes can be similar, or different. Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. 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. Both works utilizes the persuasive techniques of pathos in Dream and logos in Birmingham. Both of the works had a powerful message that brought faith to many. But the strongest influential device King used was pathos. 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. 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. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. 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. Although the letter was addressed to the eight clergymen, the Letter from Birmingham Jail speaks to a national audience. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true. Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail. 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. 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. Whether this be by newspaper, flyers, or restated by another in speech, the spread of information is slower and potentially more controllable. 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. The amount of original essays that we did for our clients, The amount of original essays that we did for our clients. King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. King writes the letter to defend his organization's actions and the letter is also an appeal to the people, both the white and black American society, the social, political, and religious community, and the whole of American society to encourage desegregation and encourage solidarity and equality among all Americans, with no stratifications according to racial differences. King is not speaking only of racism; he is speaking of injustice in general. In the same manner, King believed that people could unite to combat oppression. In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. Writers commonly use parallelism when there is a pair or a series of elements, or in the headlines or outlines of a document. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own . 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. One of the challenges that he faced included being criticized because of what he believed in concerning the laws of segregation. Likewise, King creates logos as he employs another antithetical statement that demonstrates the timeliness of his argument: Never voluntarily given by the oppressor must be demanded by the oppressed; Jet-like speed horse-and-buggy pace (518). 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'"' is a clearly written essay that explains the reasons behind, and the methods of nonviolent civil disobedience, and gently expresses King's disappointment with those who are generally supportive of equal rights for African-Americans. the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. 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. In short, Martin Luther King Jr. includes rhetorical devices in his writing. There are three main considerations to make while analysing a rhetorical situation: the constraints, the exigence, and the audience. In both of these writings Dr. King uses logos - logical persuasion - and pathos - emotional appeal - to change the opinions of people who were for segregation and against civil rights. " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." Repetition. The law was written in 1962, but the powerful response pushed the courts to finalize their decision. This exigence is rhetorical because it can be improved if enough people are socially cognizant, whether that be in legislature or the streets of Birmingham, through creation and enforcement of equitable laws and social attitudes. IvyMoose is the largest stock of essay samples on lots of topics and for any discipline. 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. Therefore, as King fabricates antithetic parallelism, he constructs logos and persuades the audience to take prompt action against injustice through the careful juxtaposition of inverse statements. This is the beginning of King's point-by-point rebuttal of the criticisms leveled against him. The constraints surrounding Martin Luther Kings rhetorical situation include the audience, the rhetorical exigence of the situation he is responding to, Dr. King himself, and the medium, all of which are deeply connected. Back then, people were ready to oppose unjust laws that were causing inequality and preventing progress. Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Analysis. The rhythm and frequent repetition are used to drive home his key points, stressing the importances of his goal. He uses a large number of rhetorical devices in his letter to reach his goal, including point of view, imagery, and rhetorical questions. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. 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. This essay was written by a fellow student. 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 is a firm believer that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (262). While his letter was only addressed to the clergymen, it is safe to assume that King had intent on the public eventually reading his letter, considering his position within the Civil Rights movement, use of persuasive rhetorical language, and hard-hitting debates on the justification of law. Found a perfect sample but need a unique one? samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with moral law. 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). The law was written in 1962, but the powerful response pushed the courts to finalize their decision. In this way, King juxtaposes the unscrupulous principles of the clergy with his righteous beliefs to highlight the threat of injustice, which he seeks to combat with hope. Who was he truly writing for? Lincoln says, The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. He didn 't know if people would remember what Lincoln said on November 19, 1863 but he said don 't forget that the soldiers lost their lives. King uses tone, literal and figurative language to establish structure and language in his letter. All of these factors influence each other to shape rhetoric, which Bitzer describes as, pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself (3), with Martin Luther Kings. Overall, King is saying that we need to fight against injustice anywhere we see it,, In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. We allow people to think that it is okay to act unjustly towards some individuals. 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. 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. Black Americans were forced to sit behind buses and kids were to use old books and uniforms of White Americans. This wait has almost always meant never (King 2). All of these factors influence each other to shape rhetoric, which Bitzer describes as, pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself (3), with Martin Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail being a shining example. As the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s unfolded, Martin Luther King Jr. had, perhaps, the most encompassing and personal rhetorical situation to face in American history. In parallel structure, a writer repeats the same pattern of words or/and pattern of grammatical structure.