While his actions may not have had much success at first during the 1960s what made his arguments so powerful was his use of pathos and logos., In Dr. Martin Luther Kings letter from Birmingham, he targeted specific people who he wrote the letter for including everybody. Bitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation. Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. This period of quiet speculation over the law illuminates the national divide in opinion over the matter, one which King helped persuade positively. 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. Any deadline. In. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. 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. 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. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. 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. First, King writes that the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. This antithesis makes the audience realize that the Negroes have been left behind and ignored while the rest of modern society has charged forward into prosperity and fortune. Find step-by-step Literature solutions and your answer to the following textbook question: Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. While in jail, King received a letter from eight Alabama clergyman explaining their concern and opposition to King and his non-violent actions. King is not speaking only of racism; he is speaking of injustice in general. Who was he truly writing for? 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. 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. 100% plagiarism free, Orders: 11 Despite his opposition, however, the letter is truly addressed to those who were not against King, but did not understand the urgency of his movement. Introduction. 1, no. Here, King combines divergent interpretations of justice to demonstrate the gravity of the injustice that he confronted in Birmingham. 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. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. 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. King was the figurehead of the Civil Rights movement, infamous for his I Have a Dream speech and substantially impactful rhetoric promoting social and political change, peaceful indignation, and calls to awareness. Martin Luther in Birmingham Jail, The Atlantic. 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. However, Martin Luther King Jr is an extremely influential figure in the field of oration and rhetoric. and may encompass the audience, as seen while analysing Letter From Birmingham Jail. This comes to endanger our entire society. 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. 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. 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. Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. All of this accumulates into an unwavering social constraint placed on Martin Luther Kings rhetorical text. 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. Saying it that way magnifies the imperative difference between the two types of laws. Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. King wants to bring to the readers realization the fact that laws are only to be followed when they are rightfully just and correct. Laws should build up society to be better so that a law is not need to be enforced and people will still follow it. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. 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. Example: Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? There are people in the white community that are already standing hand-in-hand with them and their dreams. Throughout Kings letter, he used various ways of persuasive strategies: pathos, logos, and ethos. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. 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. Besides the use of pathos, King uses repetition to enhance the effectiveness of his argument. " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." The amount of original essays that we did for our clients, The amount of original essays that we did for our clients. Parallelism/ Juxtaposition. 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. 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. 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. Mistreatment of this kind is labeled as racial discrimination. , 29 May 2019, https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail. . He begins strongly by explaining why he is in Birmingham in the first place, stating, So I am herebecause we were invited here. , Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/. His expressive language and use of argumentation make his case strong and convincing. Using emotional appeals captures an audience's attention and makes them think about what the narrator is saying. 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. 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). This website uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. 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. 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. King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. 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. 25 terms. The law was written in 1962, but the powerful response pushed the courts to finalize their decision. 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. After reading "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", ask your students to do a scavenger hunt using the storyboard creator. He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. 808 certified writers . An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. He approaches his argument with logic and appealing to the people of Birminghams emotions. Several clergy who negatively critiqued Kings approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here (King 1), after describing his involvement in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as president. 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. Throughout the Letter from Birmingham Jail, ethos, pathos, and logos are masterfully applied by Martin Luther King. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Furthermore the Kings parallel structure clarifies and highlights his intent by building up to a more important point. Some clergymen, mostly white American men, believe the nonviolent protest Dr. King and African Americans were during was "unwise" and "untimely". Furthermore, good usage of these rhetorical device . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He needed something, that special something, that would ignite the fire that had somehow died out. Dr. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. Dr. King brought people up and gave them hope that one day everything will be taken care of and we 'll all be happy, he said that one day we 'll have peace and love among each other. 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. King was jailed along with large numbers of his supporters, including hundreds of schoolchildren. 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. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. 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). Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. 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. 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. Explain why the examples fit your chosen reason. One example of Kings use of pathos appeals to the audiences emotions by showing Kings confidence in his endeavors. King does this in an effective and logical way. 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. How does this comparison appropriately justify. Throughout the essay, King uses several powerful tones to complement his strong opinion, Martin Luther King Jrs Letter from Birmingham Jail is one his many writings on segregation and racial inequality towards blacks in the southern American states. 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). We allow people to think that it is okay to act unjustly towards some individuals. Additionally, personable elements such as tone, inflection, and overall vindication behind the letter are left to be determined by the rhetorical language. 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. 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). With these devices, King was able to move thousands of hearts and inspire the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 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 evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. 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. 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. His use of diction and syntax would align his mission to Gods, and show that he was in the right and the clergymen were in the wrong. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. King goes on to write that he is disappointed that white moderates care less about justice and more about order. Order can only be held for so long whilst injustice is around. Martin Luther King Jr. twists the perspective of his audience -- Southern clergymen -- to create antithetic parallelism in Letter from Birmingham Jail. In Martin Luther King Jrs I Have a Dream speech he effectively uses ethos, diction and powerful metaphors to express the brutality endured by African American people. He uses rhetorical devices such as repetition, analogy, and rhetorical questions. 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. 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." Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. For example, to use parallelism in a sentence in which you list a series of elements, each element typically has the same form. Required fields are marked *. But the strongest influential device King used was pathos. Found a perfect sample but need a unique one? In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses parallel structure to compare just and unjust laws. In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. : "There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community." . The following well-known adage is an example of parallelism: "Give a . 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. 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. 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. These encompass his exigence, at its most simple and precise, and validify the importance behind transforming the country in a positive way. Being nearly symbolic, King being held prisoner in Birmingham, the most polar racial arena of the United States, made his rhetoric more effective. King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. 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. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. 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. Bitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation.. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. Active Themes. 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.