...Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter titled "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". In this letter he said, "It is wrong to use corrupt means to attain moral ends....it is just as wrong...to use moral means to preserve immoral ends." How does this quote relate to advancing the dream of freedom and justice in America? “It is wrong to use moral means to attain immoral ends….it is just as wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends…” Martin Luther King uses this quote in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to summarize the actions of the infamous Bull Connor and his policeman who “have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of flagrant racial injustice.” However, this quote can also be used with relevance to today’s advancing dream of freedom and justice in America....
Words: 622 - Pages: 3
...The purpose of Martin Luther King’s words used in the letter from Birmingham Jail was to correct the misconceptions and to advocate the approach of nonviolent civil disobedience. Martin Luther King wanted to get rid of racial injustice by writing the letter. Therefore, the cause is the words he used in the letter, the effect is the civil rights act. First, the cause in the letter was to correct the misconceptions held by clergymen. He wanted to make his point clear in order to get the effect he was hoping for. For example, on page 187, paragraph 3, Martin Luther King states, “But more basically, I am here in Birmingham because injustice is here.” This means he is simply trying to gain justice, and not trying to start a rampage. The tactics...
Words: 277 - Pages: 2
..."Letter from a Birmingham Jail" was written by Martin Luther King in response to the criticisms from his fellow clergymen, who found the demonstrations he was leading in Birmingham “unwise and untimely.” In his letter, King argues that the time of action for the American civil rights movement has come, and that any further delay would lead to an interracial conflict on a scale never witnessed before in the United States. On top of constructing his argument to show the urgency of the situation, King appeals to the religious principles of the Church by asserting that at the critical juncture America stood, the most extreme application of Christian principles such as love, self-sacrifice and vindication of justice was commendable and necessary both for complete desegregation and successful demonstration...
Words: 1279 - Pages: 6
...Eng 101 Teresa Sweeney 6 November 2015 Letter from Birmingham Jail Throughout Martin Luther King Jr. life, he faced many hardships, one of the most known ones was facing the town of Birmingham. He went against the Clergymen to defend why he was allowed to speak in this town with a brilliant letter known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. This letter of importance was so greatly recognized and understood for its attention to literature. The argument was created by classical appeals, figurative language, and rhetorical strategies. King wrote this letter responding to the criticism demonstrated by eight prominent white clergymen. King first develops his letter using appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos to explain how he is allowed...
Words: 906 - Pages: 4
...You do not have to be black to understand the urgency and spirit in which Martin Luther King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He is an inspiration not only to his people but also to everyone fighting for equality and against social injustice. In his letter MLK gives an effective argument that uses ethos to build credibility, includes societal factors happening outside and around him at the time, and appeals to his audience using many special technics. The letter was written at a shameful time in history when people were fighting to end segregation in the United Sates. While non-violently protesting, MLK and other demonstrators were jailed. MLK “was jailed for 8 days but only because he asked his supporters not to bail him out so it would have more of an effect and make a bigger statement” (HISTORY.COM MARANZANI 2013) While in jail, “someone snuck a newspaper that had an open letter to King written by Christian and Jewish religious leaders criticizing demonstrators and king” (history.com Maranzani 2013). King’s rebuttal to that statement is now this famous letter....
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...a reality every single day. White citizens truly believed they were superior and mistreated others who weren't like them. America is built on the idea of unity and freedom, so it was no surprise that people of African descent, and white allies stood up for equality. This protest became known as the civil rights movement and lasted for years before African-Americans were given equal rights in the late 60s. A large amount of white people believed that the condition of the United States was perfectly fine and balanced, relying on the idea of being "separate but equal." Martin Luther King, Jr. led the movement and urged people to voice their opinion, stating that becoming silent about the things that matters is the same as ending your life. One group that remained silent was the white church. A group of white clergymen wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while he was in a Birmingham jail. In this letter, titled 'A Call for Unity,' the men essentially listed their...
Words: 718 - Pages: 3
...In Martin Luther King Jr’s The Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King outlines four basic steps to any nonviolent campaign: “collection of facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action”. The direct action he calls for falls in line with Dr. King’s assertion of “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right”. This is a call to action as much as a philosophical musing. An American diplomat working in the field of International Relations would undoubtedly benefit by adopting Martin Luther King’s steps and perspective. First, comes a collection of facts, which may seem like an obvious step, but should not be undervalued. Billions of dollars are assigned to help carry out U.S. foreign policy, so even a small percentage that is lost to fraud can account for substantially large losses. By following up on the contracts negotiated, allocations of resources and measuring the outcomes for specific projects, a...
Words: 571 - Pages: 3
...Martin Luther King is known for his methods of peaceful protesting. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King talks about his struggles and explains his current situation. He gives a more basic reason for being in Birmingham which is “because injustice is here.” He justifies his presence by bringing in allusions which include saying how prophets of the 18th century left their hometowns and villages just to spread their beliefs. He then goes on to state that it is his job to carry the “gospel of freedom” beyond his own hometown. He compares communities and states, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” So what King is saying is that no matter where we are we need to be aware what is happening elsewhere also. When King addresses the issue of the response of white clergymen who do not agree with nonviolent protesting, he responds with the fact that violent protest will only burn down the bridge to equality between all colored people. As soon as the protesting becomes violent, it loses its meaning and is seen as work done by anarchists. Because of the negative responses to violent protesting, the only way of seeking out equality would be negotiation. King explains that “Nonviolent direct action seeks to...
Words: 500 - Pages: 2
...outlawed many years earlier, many whites still used racist laws in states to separate whites from those who are ‘colored.’In Birmingham, Alabama, especially, segregation continued to exist in numerous cities. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, an anti-segregationist and leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, protested and held non-violent demonstrations and marches in many cities, such as Birmingham. After his famous march in Birmingham, white police officers arrested him and put him in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail, he read a public statement delivered by eight Alabama clergymen from local churches, claiming that King's demonstrations were unnecessary. King, responding by writing "Letter from Birmingham Jail," refutes all of the clergymen's claims. In paragraphs 12-14 of his letter, King attempts to persuade the clergymen as to why he must act now, rather than later, for social change, dismissing the claim that the march was "untimely." King raises the clergymen’s awareness of the situations affecting the...
Words: 1623 - Pages: 7
...From 1963 to modern day, 2015, Martin Luther King serves as a monumental figure of justice, as he fought for the equality of men that defines our society today. His courageous actions sent him willingly to jail yet did not stop his ambition for equality. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King uses rhetorical devices of ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the Clergymen and the American public that the severity of unjust treatment of blacks has reached its breaking point, and justice must come now. As King writes his piece from prison, he must establish himself credibility, proving himself worthy of the clergymen’s time and ears. Throughout the piece, King uses ethos to give himself credit on the topic of racial injustice. He begins...
Words: 967 - Pages: 4
...In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. King uses a variety rhetorical devices in order to counter claims made by the clergymen who wrote him a letter while he was in jail. The purpose of King’s letter was to defend not only his actions but the actions of other fellow African Americans. According to Dr. King, Birmingham was the most segregated city in the south. Blacks were forced to adhere to laws that would be considered inhumane and unlawful in modern times. The continuation of these laws caused King to eventually turn his focus towards Birmingham. His method of non-violent direct action landed him in jail numerous times. After receiving the letter from the clergymen he decided to write his own letter in response to theirs. Throughout the letter there are many examples of pathos, logos, and allusion that are used to advance his argument. Dr. King was able to effectively use pathos in order to pull out sympathy from its reader. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the African American race faced many political and social injustices that hindered their progression in society. Groups such as the KKK caused African Americans to operate in fear. In order to make his audience feel the pain that African Americans went through, in...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
...In Martin Luther King Jr's popular Letter from Birmingham Jail, he uses tactics to persuade and inform all readers of what is wrong with the world from the view point of a denomination that is unfortunately, under appreciated. His letter is formally toward eight while religious leaders of the South, and his action of going to jail was where he had a peaceful protest but without a permit. He first opens up explaining his career of being a successful business man and sharing common work actions with the religious leaders. With this, King used ethos, showing his credibility that he can relate to the readers of his letter, in a respectable way. King (1963) stated "when you take a cross-country drive and find I necessary to sleep night after night...
Words: 397 - Pages: 2
...Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. It stresses our natural rights as written in the Consititution. By doing so, we are practicing the rights to protect, assemble peaceably, and oppose laws, as stated in the First Amendment. While to some, civil disobedience may seem as an idea that destroys a society, to others (including myself) is just another way to bring about awareness and change to a society. In Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", civil disobedience is shown throughout King's actions. King's peaceful protest movements showed resistance to several negative impacts of injustice. In the essay, King states that although Alabama clergymen were criticizing his actions, his argument was...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
...In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King uses various rhetorical devices in order to make his argument that much more effective against that of the white supremacists. It is clear to me that his most effective use of a rhetorical device would have to be one of the logos, or logical appeal, variety, in which he states, “If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day…” (Martin Luther King Jr. SpringBoard book 206). This, in which it is my firm belief, is a very effective quote because it seems to tie to more than one type of appeal. While it is clearly logical that King receives a surmountable pile of hatred, it is also plausible that he stated this as a form of pathos - as a way of appealing to the emotional values of the critics who were to read his...
Words: 458 - Pages: 2
...Vaughn English 102-01 14 September 2009 Someone Else’s Shoes Martin Luther King’s (MLK) “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” was written in 1963 as a response to the Eight Alabama Clergymen’s public statement against King’s actions in April of that year. Martin Luther King Jr. was an activist for desegregation of the south in the early 1960s and overcame much adversity to attain incredible gains on the segregation issue in the United States. King uses effective persuasive appeals of logical evidence, emotional appeal, and author credibility to win over his audience in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail.” MLK’s writing shows the effects of segregation in Birmingham with clear direct language and heart wrenching examples. Imagine being put in his position. If your family and friends were being treated cruelly and unjustly would you not help them in any way possible, especially if included in the mistreated group? After reading MLK’s letter, maybe you would see things in a different way with his convincing examples of logical and emotional appeal. Martin Luther King proves his credibility by several factors. The first way King proves he is a credible author is the fact that he is in the Birmingham jail. He is arrested while protesting in the city. The reader can believe that MLK is writing about something that he is well versed in because he shows that he has experienced it firsthand. Another way that Martin Luther King shows he’s plausible is by stating “I have the honor of serving...
Words: 1426 - Pages: 6
