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. , Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/. 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. His expressive language and use of argumentation make his case strong and convincing. The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. Both influential speeches rely heavily on rhetorical devices to convey their purpose. Similarly, King uses pathos to trigger the emotional . It was important for King to address this audience as their support would ultimately make the largest difference in the movement. Additionally, as he confesses to the clergy, King employs antithesis to create a rational structure that fosters logos: I agree I cant agree; small in quantity big in quality and shattered dreams hope (521 & 524-525). The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. 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. Despite this, the clergy never questions whether or not segregation is unjust. He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. This evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. Not only was this a social division, but those who opposed King were reinforced by the respective legislature that sought to burden him. Black Americans were forced to sit behind buses and kids were to use old books and uniforms of White Americans. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. 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. Ultimately, King crafts antithetic parallelism to establish a logical structure that emphasizes logos in his argument: the timeliness of justice. 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). 25 terms. He wanted this letter to encourage and bring up a people that will start a revolution. 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. Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. Pathos are present more often in the I Have A Dream speech, mainly because he is bravely facing a crowd, speaking from the heart, rather than formality. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. Dr. 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." 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 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. On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a famous speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and freedom, this speech was called I have a dream. This speech was focused on ending racism and equal rights for African Americans during the civil rights movement. King says on page. As campaigning, King uses it in his speech in order to express all his points. 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. " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail", King typically uses repetition in the form of anaphora - repeating the same word (s) at the beginning of consecutive clauses. He died in 1968. 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. The use of pathos is effective because it appeals to emotions and the issue of civil rights and civil disobedience. The letter from the Birmingham jail of Martin Luther King, Jr.. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. 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. 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. you can use them for inspiration and simplify your student life. What King discloses in his essay, Letter From Birmingham Jail, displays how the laws of segregation have affected African-Americans. During this period in the 1960s, King was disappointed by the way the white clergy was not in support of the religious civil rights movement and Kings goal of equality as a whole. samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. King does this in an effective and logical way. 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. Throughout the letter critics are disproved through Kings effective use of diction and selection of detail. When King was making his mark in American history, the United States was experiencing great social unrest due to the injustice towards their colored citizens, which would lead to social rights rallies and unnecessary violence. 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. 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). 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). This letter serves as a purpose to apply the need for love and brotherhood towards one another and avoid all the unjust laws. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive. The letter goes on to explain his choice to act directly and nonviolently, stating, For years now I have heard the word wait. It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. In Kings speech he. 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 hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. 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. In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. " Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." It managed to inspire a generation of blacks to never give up and made thousands of white Americans bitterly ashamed of their actions, forging a new start for society. 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. '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. Your email address will not be published. In his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. presents an argument through analogy by comparing his situation to Apostle Paul. In Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter From Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream speech he uses many different rhetorical devices. There are three main considerations to make while analysing a rhetorical situation: the constraints, the exigence, and the audience. Martin Luther King Jr. was born to a middle class family and was well educated. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. 262). 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. , 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail. Dr. King wrote, This wait has almost always meant never. This is why Dr. king addresses this matter in a letter about the battle of segregation. Right after that, he alludes to another American writing, the Declaration of. Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. Lastly, King is constrained by his medium. 114, Jr., Martin Luther King. Letter From Birmingham Jail One of the most famous documents in American history is the 1963 letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. 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. This comes to endanger our entire society. 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). I am here because I have basic organizational ties here (King 1), after describing his involvement in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as president. 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. 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. In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. 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. There are three main considerations to make while analysing a rhetorical situation: the constraints, the exigence, and the audience. Martin Luther King Jr., with the Rev. African Americans have been waiting to have there civil rights of freedom, but the social courts has requested them not protest on the street but to take it to court. While his supporters nation-wide were avid, determined, and hopeful, they were challenged by the opposing, vastly white population, comfortable in their segregated establishments and racist ideologies who would certainly weaponize his viewpoints. Original: Apr 16, 2013. the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. 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). . Lines 14-43: King provides three different types of reasons in his letter to justify his presence in Birmingham: Organizational reasons, religious or historical reasons, and moral reasons. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. 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. 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. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. Dr. King goes on to say that laws that do not match what the Bible says are unjust. In A Letter From A Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. He wants the clergyman to realize that what they believe and think is wrong. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true. Additionally, personable elements such as tone, inflection, and overall vindication behind the letter are left to be determined by the rhetorical language. 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. It is rather for us to be here, As it may do that, it also seems to serve more of a logical appeal because he mentions the evidence of white brotherhood. 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. What are some examples of parallelism in letter from Birmingham jail? This use of parallelism draws on the emotions of personal experiences to persuade that segregation is a problem in a myriad of ways. King uses pathos to invoke anger, sympathy and empathy, his impeccable use of logos makes his argument rational to everyone, and his use of ethos, especially the use of biblical references, makes his opinions more reliable. We will write a custom Essay on King's Allusion in "Letter From Birmingham Jail" specifically for you. was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, Dream and Birmingham and each had a different audience and purpose. 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). Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. The anaphora "If you were to" is meant to inspire his readers to emp. 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. Ethically most people believe that it is necessary to keep a promise. King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. King addressed these communities as the primary groups wherein racial segregation is continuously proliferated (the white American political and religious community) and points much of his arguments to and for his fellow black Americans in the society. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist that fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. 100% plagiarism free, Orders: 11 Letter From Birmingham Jail and use of Parallel Structure and Anaphora Kirtan Patel Chapter 25 Chapter 24 Parallel Structure- repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. Ultimately, he effectively tackles societal constraints, whether it be audience bias, historical racism, or how he is viewed by using the power of his rhetoric to his advantage. One of the challenges that he faced included being criticized because of what he believed in concerning the laws of segregation. Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. 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. 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. The audience of a rhetorical piece will shape the rhetoric the author uses in order to appeal, brazen, or educate whoever is exposed. 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. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. 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. King implies that one day, all, I Have a Dream, however, played a major step into changing it. In the same manner, King believed that people could unite to combat oppression. In parallel structure, a writer repeats the same pattern of words or/and pattern of grammatical structure. In his "Letter form a Birmingham Jail" and his "I have a Dream speech, Dr. King uses metaphor, repetition and parallel structure to provide visual images which may evoke empathy in the readers and audience and emphasize the ideas he presents: the argument for civil rights and the goal to end segregation. 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. 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. 1, no. 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 "Letter from Birmingham Jail", King implements antithesis -- along with his background as a minister -- to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Southern clergymen, as he attempts to further diverge the two diametric rationales; thus, he creates logos as he appeals to the audience's logical side and urges African-Americans to act punctual in their While in his cell, he composed the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. 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. 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. 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). Several clergy who negatively critiqued Kings approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. 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. Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. 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. 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. Malcolm X, on the other hand, grew up in a rather hostile environment with barely enough schooling. Using emotional appeals captures an audience's attention and makes them think about what the narrator is saying. Order can only be held for so long whilst injustice is around. During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. 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. 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. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. 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. 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. 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. Furthermore, exterior events regarding the movement could ultimately reflect on his influence and polarize the audience further. 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. 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. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. 114, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40236733.