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. 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. King says on page. 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. This letter serves as a purpose to apply the need for love and brotherhood towards one another and avoid all the unjust laws. 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. He begins strongly by explaining why he is in Birmingham in the first place, stating, So I am herebecause we were invited here. Abused and scorned through we may be, our destiny is tied with the destiny of America. (Page 9) The sureness King presents in this quote both instills hope in the reader and allows them to relate to Kings passion. Lincoln says, The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. He didn 't know if people would remember what Lincoln said on November 19, 1863 but he said don 't forget that the soldiers lost their lives. With this addressed, his audience was truly the population of the United States, especially Birmingham, with a focus on those who withheld and complied with the oppression of African American citizens, even if not intentionally. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. He hopes that this letter will stop this injustice matter, and show what the African American desire. for only $11.00 $9.35/page. With his respectful nature, humility, compassion, optimism, and determination, King responded to a group of white Alabama clergymen who had condemned the civil rights protests as extreme in their open letter, A Call for Unity. Although his letter was directed towards a small group of eight men, his words eventually reached the minds and hearts of the entire country. While in his cell, he composed the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. Despite this, the clergy never questions whether or not segregation is unjust. " A just law is man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of the god. 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). Without King, America would be probably still heavily segregated. He approaches his argument with logic and appealing to the people of Birminghams emotions. The amount of original essays that we did for our clients, The amount of original essays that we did for our clients. In short, Martin Luther King Jr. includes rhetorical devices in his writing. Dr. King repeats the same starting words when you have seen with different examples of injustices. What are some examples of parallelism in letter from Birmingham jail? Several clergy who negatively critiqued Kings approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. 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. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true. Right after that, he alludes to another American writing, the Declaration of. is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. Martin Luther King Jr. displays pathos by targeting the audiences emotion by talking about his American dream that could also be other peoples too. Although King was arrested for a nonviolent protest, he still found a way to justify his actions with the use of logos and pathos. Specifically, King's letter addresses three important groups in the American society: the white American political community, white American religious community, and the black American society. Besides the use of pathos, King uses repetition to enhance the effectiveness of his argument. 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. Original: Apr 16, 2013. These purposes can be similar, or different. King goes on to explain how this right has not been kept, making it appear to be similar to a laid-back rule. King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. After reading "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", ask your students to do a scavenger hunt using the storyboard creator. In Kings letter, he states, We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Funny thing is he had lots of time to think about and write this letter. He does an exceptional job using both these appeals throughout his speeches by backing up his emotional appeals with logical ones. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. Kings arguments induce an emotional response in his readers. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. 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. Your email address will not be published. In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses. 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. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1954. Any deadline. 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." 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. 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. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. They were arrested and held in . Engels . Macbeth) in the essay title portion of your citation. Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. He writes how the white church is often disappointed in the African Americans lack of patience and how they are quick to be willing to break laws. Dr. 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. The letter is a plea to both white and black Americans to encourage desegregation and to encourage equality among all Americans, both black and white, along all social, political and religious ranks, clearly stating that there should be no levels of equality based upon racial differences., In Letter from Birmingham Jail, author Martin Luther King Jr. confirms the fact that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. We will write a custom Essay on King's Allusion in "Letter From Birmingham Jail" specifically for you. But immediately after Dr. King speaks out on how after 100 years Blacks still do not have the free will that is deserved. 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. 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. Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. With this addressed, his audience was truly the population of the United States, especially Birmingham, with a focus on those who withheld and complied with the oppression of African American citizens, even if not intentionally. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. Just as well, King uses his aspirations to create ideas within the listeners. 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. He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. In this example, King employs antithesis to highlight the logical structure and urgency of his argument against inequity, which allows him to establish logos. In the same manner, King believed that people could unite to combat oppression. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. 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). The anaphora "If you were to" is meant to inspire his readers to emp. 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. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with moral law. 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 For example, to use parallelism in a sentence in which you list a series of elements, each element typically has the same form. Martin Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. His writing is respectful and educated, if not naturally, to invalidate the use of his race against him by the largely prejudiced audience. Ralph Abernathy (center) and the Rev. King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. Furthermore, as King attests to the significance of the Birmingham injustices, he utilizes antithesis to foster logos: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere; Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly (515). Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail.. 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. Martin Luther utilizes powerful rhetoric to define his exigence. One example of Kings use of pathos appeals to the audiences emotions by showing Kings confidence in his endeavors. 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. King's letter from Birmingham Jail addresses the American society, particularly the political and religious community of the American society. Introduction. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and . Writers commonly use parallelism when there is a pair or a series of elements, or in the headlines or outlines of a document. King implies that one day, all, I Have a Dream, however, played a major step into changing it. In. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, Dream and Birmingham and each had a different audience and purpose. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims. In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written by Martin Luther King Jr., King delivers a well structured response to eight clergymen who had accused him of misuse of the law. you can use them for inspiration and simplify your student life. 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. Being nearly symbolic, King being held prisoner in Birmingham, the most polar racial arena of the United States, made his rhetoric more effective. Fred Shuttlesworth, defied an injunction against protesting on Good Friday in 1963. 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. Laws should build up society to be better so that a law is not need to be enforced and people will still follow it. 1, no. 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. 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. He was able to further interact with the audience; they were able to hear his voice, listen to the intended tone behind his words, see his face, and study his demeanor in the face of adversary. 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). 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. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. This helps King focus on the differences between them. 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. A seminal text of the Civil Rights Movement, King's, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, justifies the measures that brought about his arrest, and asseverates that the segregation laws against blacks in the south must be repealed. Back then, people were ready to oppose unjust laws that were causing inequality and preventing progress. 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. 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). 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 wanted this letter to encourage and bring up a people that will start a revolution. Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail", King typically uses repetition in the form of anaphora - repeating the same word (s) at the beginning of consecutive clauses. Saying it that way magnifies the imperative difference between the two types of laws. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. 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. 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. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and, Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. King through this letter tries to express his, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses and responds to the issue and criticism that a group of white clergymen had thrown at him and his pro- black American organization about his and his organization's non- violent demonstrative actions against racial prejudice and injustice among black Americans in Birmingham. Who had criticize Martin Luther King because he was simply doing something that was right and violence was not needed for King. 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. 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. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here (King 1), after describing his involvement in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as president. He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. King wants to bring to the readers realization the fact that laws are only to be followed when they are rightfully just and correct. It is rather for us to be here, As it may do that, it also seems to serve more of a logical appeal because he mentions the evidence of white brotherhood. Dr. King responded to criticism that was made by clergymen about calling Dr. King activities as "Unwise and Untimely". Here are more examples of parallel structure within "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that I find especially powerful. These "parallel" elements can be used to intensify the rhythm of language, or to draw a comparison, emphasize, or elaborate on an idea. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own . 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. Black Americans were forced to sit behind buses and kids were to use old books and uniforms of White Americans. 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. 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. While his supporters nation-wide were avid, determined, and hopeful, they were challenged by the opposing, vastly white population, comfortable in their segregated establishments and racist ideologies who would certainly weaponize his viewpoints. 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). SophAbs. One of the challenges that he faced included being criticized because of what he believed in concerning the laws of segregation. Analysing a rhetorical situation clarifies why a text was created, the purpose in which it was written, and why the author made specific choices while writing it. IvyMoose is the largest stock of essay samples on lots of topics and for any discipline. Both lincolns Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech are similar in that they both express the concept of freedom to achieve their purpose. This use of parallel structure emphasizes how just and unjust laws can look deceptively similar. 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. Both influential speeches rely heavily on rhetorical devices to convey their purpose. 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. Therefore, these other literary devices and figures of speech are specific types of parallelism.. One of the most well-known examples of . The problem is that this kind of thinking can spread and infect other people to believe this is acceptable. Letter From Birmingham Jail One of the most famous documents in American history is the 1963 letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. King chose to write this for a reason; to resonate with those who were not his enemies but who held back the movement through compliance. Thus, these essays are of lower quality than ones written by experts. and may encompass the audience, as seen while analysing Letter From Birmingham Jail. 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. Likewise, King creates logos as he employs another antithetical statement that demonstrates the timeliness of his argument: Never voluntarily given by the oppressor must be demanded by the oppressed; Jet-like speed horse-and-buggy pace (518). 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. There are people in the white community that are already standing hand-in-hand with them and their dreams. In Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter From Birmingham Jail and I Have a Dream speech he uses many different rhetorical devices. Furthermore, exterior events regarding the movement could ultimately reflect on his influence and polarize the audience further. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. Not only was this a social division, but those who opposed King were reinforced by the respective legislature that sought to burden him. When Dr. King first arrived in Birmingham, trouble occurred when he and fellow activists were . 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.. The way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. Parallelism is a literary device in itself, but it is also a category under which other figures of speech fall, such as those mentioned previously. 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.