In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. 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. Right after that, he alludes to another American writing, the Declaration of. It elucidated the exigence behind his letter as his presented rationale behind his arrest only made unjust laws appear more asinine and questionable by relation. Found a perfect sample but need a unique one? Saying it that way magnifies the imperative difference between the two types of laws. The rhetorical choices referenced above are riddled with pathos, also known as language utilized to persuade the audience emotionally. He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time. 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. Dr. King fought against segregation between Black Americans and White Americans. Correspondingly, King urges the clergy to reconsider the horse-and-buggy pace of their methods of action through his logos. Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. 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. Parallelism is useful to emphasize things and ideas to the audience, which, like all the other tropes and schemes. 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. 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. 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. He died in 1968. "A Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Analysis. 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. The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written by the African American hero Dr. Martin Luther King in Birmingham back in 1963, addressing the issues that the African Americans faced back in that time. He is placing hope among the Negro community and assuring the white superiority that one day, they will share the same rights as their nation distinctively promised a hundred years earlier. That sentence magnifies the fact that good people doing nothing is the same as bad people purposely hindering civil rights. The problem is that this kind of thinking can spread and infect other people to believe this is acceptable. 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. Jr., Martin Luther King. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. 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. the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. 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. There are three main considerations to make while analysing a rhetorical situation: the constraints, the exigence, and the audience. Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. Initially, the eight Birmingham clergymen are the audience and while they were not overtly racist, King uses rhetoric meant to have them understand his urgency. In this way, King asserts that African-Americans must act with jet-like speed to gain their independence. Furthermore the Kings parallel structure clarifies and highlights his intent by building up to a more important point. However, they each have different ideas about freedom, and about what they want their audience to do. Firstly, and most daunting, is the constraint of the letters audience. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. Engels . 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. 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. MLKs use of pathos and repetition is an effective way to persuade his audience about his position on civil disobedience. This letter occasioned his reply and caused King to write a persuasive letter "Letter from Birmingham Jail," justifying his actions and presence in Birmingham. In this way, King juxtaposes his perspective with that of the clergy to demonstrate the depravity of his oppressors. When Dr. King first arrived in Birmingham, trouble occurred when he and fellow activists were . 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. 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. 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). Even now, it continues to make generations of people, not just Americans, to give up their racist beliefs and advocate social colorblindness. The concept of parallelism in letters from birmingham jail by martin luther king jr.. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-concept-of-parallelism-in-letters-from-birmingham-jail-by-martin-luther-king-jr-Q1aX8ugT Be sure to capitalize proper nouns (e.g. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. 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. is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. At the time, Birmingham was one of the harshest places to live in America for African Americans; white supremacy groups would set off bombs to instill fear in the black community and withhold racial integration, and peaceful protests and sit-ins were met with unjustifiable police violence, in addition to the suffocating social qualms surrounding the black community (Eskew). 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. 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. 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). They fought for what they believed in but in vastly different ways. 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. He is a firm believer that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (262). King understood that if he gained support from the white American, the civil rights movement would reach its goals much faster. 100% plagiarism free, Orders: 11 Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. In this example, King manufactures logos through the creation of antithetic parallelism, as the structure of his essay provides justification for his argument against the postponement of justice. Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. 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. samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that His writing is respectful and educated, if not naturally, to invalidate the use of his race against him by the largely prejudiced audience. He goes on to add; I am in Birmingham because injustice is here (King 1). 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. 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. When teaching speeches and letters, it's helpful to refresh or introduce students to literary elements that enhance rhetorical strategies. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. 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. An Unjust Law Is No Law At All: Excerpts from "Letter from Birmingham Jail" January 18, 2021 By The Editors In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're sharing excerpts from King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail," one of the most important moral treatises of the twentieth century. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive. Order can only be held for so long whilst injustice is around. Similarly, King uses pathos to trigger the emotional . Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Parallelism, in the way King uses it, connects what seems like small problems to a larger issue. MarkAHA. Any subject. Besides the use of pathos, King uses repetition to enhance the effectiveness of his argument. Back then, people were ready to oppose unjust laws that were causing inequality and preventing progress. 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. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. 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.

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