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). He is a firm believer that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (262). Additionally, personable elements such as tone, inflection, and overall vindication behind the letter are left to be determined by the rhetorical language. Furthermore, good usage of these rhetorical device . 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. 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/. While the Civil Rights movement superseded the dismantling of Jim Crow, the social ideologies and lackadaisical legislature behind anti-black prejudice continued to rack the country far into the 1960s. King had been arrested while participating in a peaceful anti-segregation march although several local religious groups counted on King for support. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Early in his speech, King writes riches of freedom and security of justice and then justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. In these two examples, King is using parallelism to express that the African American wants justice and freedom by repeating them next to each other and mentally connecting them in the readers mind, which is also connected with pathos as the terms King uses subtly emphasize those words and create good feelings in the reader. In A Letter From A Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. Dr. The first to come to mind for most would be civil rights activism, as he was an instrumental figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. From this revelation, the audience will also realize that it is no fault of the Negro that they have been left behind in contrast, modern society have been dragging them back through racism. Ultimately, King crafts antithetic parallelism to establish a logical structure that emphasizes logos in his argument: the timeliness of justice. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. 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). Active Themes. "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Analysis. They were arrested and held in . King's letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the American society, particularly the political and religious community of the American society. 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. Letter from a Birmingham Jail: The Rhetorical Analysis At the peak of the Civil War Movement in America on April 12th, 1963, eight Alabama . Bitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation. Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. 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). He uses these rhetorical techniques along with a logical argument to demonstrate why his methods were right., Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist that fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. While pathos elicits an emotional response from the audience to make them more accepting of Kings ideas, repetition structures the speech and emphasizes key ideas for the audience to take away from listening. 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. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. 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. While in his cell, he composed the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. Throughout Kings letter, he used various ways of persuasive strategies: pathos, logos, and ethos. Letter from Birmingham Jail: Repetition BACK NEXT This guy knew how to write a speech. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail, 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. While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. By using it, you accept our. He said that one day we won 't have to worry about our skin color and segregation and that we 'll all come together as one. During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. As campaigning, King uses it in his speech in order to express all his points. These purposes can be similar, or different. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. That sentence magnifies the fact that good people doing nothing is the same as bad people purposely hindering civil rights. Whether this be by newspaper, flyers, or restated by another in speech, the spread of information is slower and potentially more controllable. 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. In addition, King is also in Birmingham because he feels compelled to respond to injustice wherever he finds it. Bitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation.. Introduction. Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. King gives a singular, eloquent voice to a massive, jumbled movement. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. 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. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were both two African American civil rights activists who were very prominent throughout history. 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. King wants to bring to the readers realization the fact that laws are only to be followed when they are rightfully just and correct. Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. 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. Martin Luther King's 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' 16 terms. Engels . 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. He points out the irony of America because Black Americans were still not truly free. Martin Luther in Birmingham Jail, The Atlantic. 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. " Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." King provides imagery to make the audience see what it would be like to be an African American in the united, I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal. Dr. King also states that one day he would like his children to be free as whites were. 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. He hopes that "[o]ne day the South will know that [the Negroes] were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream" (47), and that "the evil system of segregation" (46) will come to an end. 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. He uses a large number of rhetorical devices in his letter to reach his goal, including point of view, imagery, and rhetorical questions. 1963, a letter was written to the clergy to alert them of what great injustices were taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. 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). Here are more examples of parallel structure within "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that I find especially powerful. However King also deliberately wrote his letter for a national audience. King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. Right after that, he alludes to another American writing, the Declaration of. 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. Here, King concedes that the clergy acts with the virtuous goal of justice in mind, which allows him to establish his argument against the manner in which they seek equality. 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. Glenn Eskew, Bombingham: Black Protest in Postwar Birmingham, Alabama, 1997. 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. 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. 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. 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. Finally, King uses antithesis one more time at the end of his speech, when he writes when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands. The pairs he mentions are all the direct opposites of each other, yet he says that they will all join hands together and be friends. Lastly he shows ethos by using authority in his speech by using quotes from two very famous documents. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. Civil rights is an emotional subject for those who were affected by it, and MLK is proving his argument on civil disobedience. 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. Your email address will not be published. Malcolm X, on the other hand, grew up in a rather hostile environment with barely enough schooling. There isn't quite as much of that in "Letter From Birmingham Jail," but it still pops up a couple of times. In Letter From Birmingham Jail, the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. What King discloses in his essay, Letter From Birmingham Jail, displays how the laws of segregation have affected African-Americans. As example, King uses I have a dream that one day and Let freedom ring.. to open his points on how Americans should change against racial indifferences. Both their speeches, I Have a Dream and The Ballot or the Bullet may have shared some common traits, but at the same time, differed greatly in various aspects. 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. King understood that if he gained support from the white American, the civil rights movement would reach its goals much faster. He evokes emotion on his audience by discussing the trials and injustice African Americans have endured. Martin Luther utilizes powerful rhetoric to define his exigence. 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 comes to endanger our entire society. Both lincolns Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech are similar in that they both express the concept of freedom to achieve their purpose. We will write a custom Essay on King's Allusion in "Letter From Birmingham Jail" specifically for you. 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. Dr. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. His expressive language and use of argumentation make his case strong and convincing. 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. He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. 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. the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. This letter is a prime example of Kings expertise in constructing persuasive rhetoric that appealed to the masses at large. After reading "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", ask your students to do a scavenger hunt using the storyboard creator. In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s response to A Call for Unity, a declaration by eight clergymen, Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. 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. It was important for King to address this audience as their support would ultimately make the largest difference in the movement. Order can only be held for so long whilst injustice is around. Even now, it continues to make generations of people, not just Americans, to give up their racist beliefs and advocate social colorblindness. King has explained this through many examples of racial situations, factual and logical reasoning, and . These encompass his exigence, at its most simple and precise, and validify the importance behind transforming the country in a positive way. In Kings speech he. Kings arguments induce an emotional response in his readers. In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses parallel structure to compare just and unjust laws. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his letter while being held in Birmingham Jail after being arrested for participating, in a non-violent anti segregation march. Kings goes on to say how racial equality can not be achieved until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream (King). MarkAHA. Several clergy who negatively critiqued Kings approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Similarly, King uses pathos to trigger the emotional . 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. 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. 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.
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