Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Rhetorical Analysis

Prompt Examples for Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay

• Rhetorical Devices and Strategies: Analyze the various rhetorical devices and strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," including ethos, pathos, logos, and parallelism, and discuss how they contribute to the effectiveness of his argument.

• King's Audience and Purpose: Examine Dr. King's intended audience and his purpose in writing the letter, considering how he tailors his rhetoric to address the concerns and objections of his readers while advocating for civil rights and nonviolent protest.

• The Power of Civil Disobedience: Discuss Martin Luther King Jr.'s defense of civil disobedience as a means of achieving social change, and analyze how he justifies the necessity of breaking unjust laws in pursuit of justice.

• The Legacy of Dr. King's Letter: Explore the enduring impact and relevance of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in contemporary discussions of civil rights, social justice, and the ongoing struggle for equality, considering how Dr. King's words continue to inspire and inform activism today.

• Racial Injustice and Equality: Analyze Dr. King's passionate and eloquent arguments against racial injustice and segregation in America, and discuss how his letter contributes to the broader discourse on racial equality and human rights.

Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay Example

During the 1960s in America, Dr. King served as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC, which operates in every southern state with its headquarters residing in Atlanta, Georgia, was formed to help push the abolishment of segregation and to end the oppression of blacks using nonviolent tactics. There are 85 affiliated organizations across the south and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). Dr. King along with the rest of the SCLC decided to come to Birmingham and assist ACMHR once a group member asked them to help engage in a nonviolent direct action program if necessary. Birmingham especially needed a call to action during this time since there was a strong prevalence of the KKK and brutality from the police officers and other law officials. Dr. King referred to Birmingham as “America’s worst city for racism” and made it his goal to bring justice and peace to all of its people, not only for the state but for the rest of the country.

In order to strengthen his argument and increase his credibility, Dr. King uses various forms of rhetorical devices in his letter. He uses parallelism when he says, “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 to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” (383). The repeated use of “when you” emphasizes the countless ways blacks have been mistreated. The use of 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. Dr. King also includes metaphors in his letter such as when he says he sees “twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.” (383). This metaphor paints a visual picture in the audience’s mind of the oppression they go through that seems to have no door to escape. They are forced to look at the privileges and freedoms that the white people in their community have, and there is no way for them to achieve it. Also, by saying they are confined in an airtight cage, it dehumanizes the blacks and subjects them to animals without any rights. Since Dr. King used multiple rhetorical devices in his letter, the audience views his argument as more credible since he has personal experience with seeing the injustice blacks endure. By his use of parallelism and metaphors, the audience has a better understanding of Dr. King’s argument and therefore can sympathize with him and support his ultimate goal.

Dr. King is also able to grasp the reader’s attention and allow them to sympathize with what black people have endured throughout America with the use of pathos. By vividly describing the violence, injustice, and brutality Dr. King has witnessed or experienced, the audience is able to better understand the issue at hand and therefore will more likely side with his standpoints and actions as opposed to the clergymen. In response to the clergymen’s opinion that the Birmingham police are keeping order and preventing violence, Dr. King says, “I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the policemen if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes.” it clearly broadcasts the image in the reader’s mind. Using the words “sinking their teeth”, “unarmed”, and “nonviolent” causes the audience to truly see the inhumane brutality behind the police’s actions towards people who are peacefully protesting. The people are able to see that while the police claim they are providing protection for the community, they are actually only doing harm. Dr. King also tells his audience that discrimination and segregation affects everyone when he says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”. This shows that everyone, regardless of race, is affected by the injustice occurring in the 1960s. If a group of people is oppressed, the rest of the population cannot progress or succeed. Knowing this, the audience will be more inclined to contribute to the social change. Dr. King puts the effect of segregation and racism on society as a whole into perspective and the readers are now able to see this barrier that keeps society from advancing too. From his use of pathos, the reader is able to better agree with the point being made and better able to sympathize with Dr. King and the millions of other people that experience this injustice. If Dr. King hadn’t chosen phrases and sentences that appeal to the reader’s emotions, he wouldn’t have received such strong support and understanding behind his actions and everyone else’s during the Civil Rights Movement. The audience was therefore more inclined to sympathize with the blacks and the treatment they have received than the clergymen and the government officials.

To effectively have the clergymen and the rest of the American people believe and side with his arguments, Dr. King must have sufficient facts and reason. In order to do this, he uses logos when he says, “There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts.” By providing his audience with unarguable facts that provide evidence of the excessive violence in Birmingham, Dr. King not only improves his credibility and trust, but enhances his overall argument.

Dr. Martin Luther King was an extremely prominent and influential member of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. He was able to effectively show the American people the injustices the black community faced, why nonviolent protests were crucial to the movement, and what needed to be changed to bring equality and peace to America. Without his use of rhetorical devices, his audience would not be able to truly grasp the argument he was conveying, thus the Civil Rights Movement wouldn’t be as successful and monumental as it ended up being. Using ethos, pathos, and logos made his letter more credible, logical, and better to understand and sympathize with. If Dr. King had not written such a strong and effective letter from the use of rhetorical devices, the strength of the Civil Rights Movement uproar and momentum that it is remembered today would be diminished.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in The Letter from a Birmingham Jail

The “Letter from a Birmingham jail”, written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. describes his protest for a non-violent resistance to racism. King also uses pathos to give emotion for the reader and persuades the reader to act. Also, King uses ethos to show that he has authority on the subject and uses it to explain why he is fighting against racism and segregation. He also uses logic to state a clear position and give a reason to fight against segregation. The letter has a reflective tone that’s uses to catch the readers and draw out emotions. The “Letter from a Birmingham jail” is an example of King’s skill in writing and shows his passion for equality.

King makes his position on the human rights clear. King was jailed during a protest for the racism in Birmingham, while fighting for human rights. “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.” He is writing about why he was arrested and how he was treated differently and was denied his first amendments. He knows that he didn’t have a permit and there’s nothing wrong with that. People could make the assumption that he knew that there was going to be intervention of authorizes, given that he knew about the law and that he didn’t have a permit to protest.

Therefore, King tries to give the reader a perspective into the extent of the situation of how bad the human rights are in Birmingham. King is protesting in Birmingham which means that minorities were being treated unfairly. King tries to connect with the Blacks to fight against racism, King writes about how African Americans live because of the segregation and what they have experienced. “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 and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society”. This gives people a glimpse into what the Black Community has experienced, this appeals to mainly the Black community’s emotional aspect. King uses pathos to get emotion out of the reader.

Kings uses ethos in his first few paragraphs which makes this letter influencing. “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.” (King Par 2) King, here states himself as an authority figure by telling the reader that he is a leader. Kings word choice that he makes him seem more trustworthy and gives his organization credibility, making his ethos stronger.

In addition, he makes a lot of references to many notable figures in his writing. For example, “just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” He is comparing himself to Apostle Paul, who went out on a journey to spread Christianity all over Rome and Greece, but just like Apostle Paulk, he is spreading his ‘gospel of freedom’ to other places besides his hometown. He uses this example to get his reader into believing he wants revolutionary change. King believes that this change is so big that it is enough to be remembered in history and that can influence many people.

In the letter includes different logical explanations. King, known as an influential speaker, this has given his writing a lot of credibility in his work. He starts to talk about the definition of what an unjust law is.” An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal.” King starts to provide his definition of laws and shows examples of how they are uses, King is explaining the logic and is showing how discrimination is present within society. To him, the law that was used to arrest him was different than that of the laws that people follow. This is his experiences with a form of what an ‘unjust law’ is.

King uses of ethos, pathos, and logos, and King’s reasons to fight for his rights, makes this letter distinct from other pieces. King uses ethos to state himself as a trustworthy and credible person. King is very clearly stating that he desires big changes and that he is capable of doing so. King uses pathos to give readers an emotional aspect to reflect on human rights and what he’s doing in the Birmingham Jail. King also uses logos to justify the status of the situation on human rights. He writes the letter to catch the eyes of people who want change. King uses rhetorical strategies to strengthen his message to the people, bringing change to many people’s life.

Works Cited

1. Carson, C. (1992). The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Grand Central Publishing.
2. Carson, C. (2001). The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. University of California Press.
3. Erickson, R. (2012). "Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' as Pauline Epistle," Journal of Religion and Society, vol. 14, pp. 1-12.
4. Fisher, J. (2013). "Linguistic and Communicative Strategies in Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'," Rhetoric Society Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 213-231.
5. King, M.L. (1963). "Letter From Birmingham Jail," The Atlantic, August 1963.
6. King, M.L. (1991). "Letter From Birmingham Jail," in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., James Melvin Washington (Ed.). HarperCollins.
7. Oates, S.B. (1990). Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. HarperCollins.
8. Schmittroth, L. (2011). "Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' and the Limits of Liberalism," Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 218-241.
9. Washington, J.M. (1986). A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. HarperOne.
10. Wilson, B.L. (2014). "The Composition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'," Rhetoric Review, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 251-267.