The rhetorical choices referenced above are riddled with pathos, also known as language utilized to persuade the audience emotionally. This is the beginning of King's point-by-point rebuttal of the criticisms leveled against him. : "There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community." . Martin Luther King, Jr. - The letter from the Birmingham jail Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. Lastly, King is constrained by his medium. He is a firm believer that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (262). This letter serves as a purpose to apply the need for love and brotherhood towards one another and avoid all the unjust laws. Martin Luther King, Jr. reads his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" If your first two elements are verbs, the third element is usually a verb, too. 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. 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." In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. . King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. 25 terms. Therefore, these other literary devices and figures of speech are specific types of parallelism.. One of the most well-known examples of . Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. 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). 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. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. 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. Why was the letter from Birmingham written? - Wise-Answer 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. Kings arguments induce an emotional response in his readers. In this example, King employs antithesis to highlight the logical structure and urgency of his argument against inequity, which allows him to establish logos. 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. Just as well, King uses his aspirations to create ideas within the listeners. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. 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. The law was written in 1962, but the powerful response pushed the courts to finalize their decision. Later in the letter, parallelism is used to contrast just laws and unjust laws. This use of parallel structure emphasizes how just and unjust laws can look deceptively similar. 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. 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. Furthermore, good usage of these rhetorical device . However, Martin Luther King Jr is an extremely influential figure in the field of oration and rhetoric. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. Your email address will not be published. King uses tone, literal and figurative language to establish structure and language in his letter. Correspondingly, King urges the clergy to reconsider the horse-and-buggy pace of their methods of action through his logos. Macbeth) in the essay title portion of your citation. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. 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. 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. Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr's Letter From Birmingham Jail Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. He hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. Any subject. Being nearly symbolic, King being held prisoner in Birmingham, the most polar racial arena of the United States, made his rhetoric more effective. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. 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 King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. Glenn Eskew, Bombingham: Black Protest in Postwar Birmingham, Alabama, 1997. Lastly he shows ethos by using authority in his speech by using quotes from two very famous documents. 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. 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. He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. For example, to use parallelism in a sentence in which you list a series of elements, each element typically has the same form. But immediately after Dr. King speaks out on how after 100 years Blacks still do not have the free will that is deserved. 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). 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. Repetition. Wiki User 2013-03-13 02:55:46 Study now See answer (1) Copy "One has not only legal but moral responsibility to obey just. 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). Choose one type of reason and cite an example from these lines. He uses the rhetorical appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos numerous times throughout his essay to relay his argument about the laws of segregation and the African-Americans that are being cruelly treated.. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. He points out the irony of America because Black Americans were still not truly free. 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. Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. Since Kings arrest he had time to think deeply about the situation; therefore, he decides to reply back to the Alabama clergymen. Other than the speechs heartwarming and moving content, Kings effective structure along with the usage of all three rhetorical modes and certain rhetorical tropes and schemes has revealed the reason I Have a Dream as a masterpiece of rhetoric and it persuades hundreds of thousands of people support the blacks instead of treating them. King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, including hundreds of schoolchildren. He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time. 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. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail Essay Example - IvyMoose 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. 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. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter "Letter from Birmingham Jail," justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. Explain why the examples fit your chosen reason. Martin Luther King's 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' 16 terms. 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. Several clergy who negatively critiqued Kings approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. King is saying that if we allow injustice to happen in some places, we risk it happening to everyone. 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. 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. 50 Years Later, King's Birmingham 'Letter' Still Resonates 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. 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. , Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/. Civil rights is an emotional subject for those who were affected by it, and MLK is proving his argument on civil disobedience. Furthermore the Kings parallel structure clarifies and highlights his intent by building up to a more important point. 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 biases of the audience go hand in hand with the rhetorical exigence of this letter, another large constraint in the effectiveness of his message. The letter was written April third, 1963, it was published for the public in June of the same year, a slower spread than a nationwide address on television or radio. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. 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 in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their concern and opposition to King and his non-violent actions. 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. However, they each have different ideas about freedom, and about what they want their audience to do. Throughout Kings letter, he used various ways of persuasive strategies: pathos, logos, and ethos. One of the challenges that he faced included being criticized because of what he believed in concerning the laws of segregation. There isn't quite as much of that in "Letter From Birmingham Jail," but it still pops up a couple of times. Dr. King goes on to say that laws that do not match what the Bible says are unjust. 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.
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