These encompass his exigence, at its most simple and precise, and validify the importance behind transforming the country in a positive way. 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. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. 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. 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). During this letter, King then uses the time to unroot the occasion of nonviolent protests in BIrmingham and the disappointing leadership of the clergy. is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. On April 12, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and nearly 50 other protestors and civil rights leaders were arrested after leading a Good Friday demonstration as part of the . 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 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. Martin Luther King Jr. twists the perspective of his audience -- Southern clergymen -- to create antithetic parallelism in Letter from Birmingham Jail. In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. Martin Luther in Birmingham Jail, The Atlantic. 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). Good uses of similes, metaphors, and imagery will act on the reader's senses creating a false sense of perception. Throughout Kings letter, he used various ways of persuasive strategies: pathos, logos, and ethos. Martin Luther King then goes on to make an analogy to the Bible, portraying Apostle Pauls proliferation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in parallel to his own efforts, stating, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown (1). 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. Martin Luther King responds to the subjectivity of law and the issue he paramounts by using precise and impactful rhetoric from inside of his jail cell. 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. 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. Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. In addition, King is also in Birmingham because he feels compelled to respond to injustice wherever he finds it. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. Even now, it continues to make generations of people, not just Americans, to give up their racist beliefs and advocate social colorblindness. Greater importance is placed on his tone, choice of words, choice of argument, and credibility, for better or for worse, and he must carefully make rhetorical decisions, not only because of his race. Dr. King wrote 2 famous works, Dream and Birmingham and each had a different audience and purpose. In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses. 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. Some clergymen, mostly white American men, believe the nonviolent protest Dr. King and African Americans were during was "unwise" and "untimely". The letter was addressed to clergymen who had criticized King and made many claims against him. 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. 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. For example, to use parallelism in a sentence in which you list a series of elements, each element typically has the same form. This evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. Ethically most people believe that it is necessary to keep a promise. What King discloses in his essay, Letter From Birmingham Jail, displays how the laws of segregation have affected African-Americans. What are some examples of parallelism in 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. In Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King responds to the subjectivity of law and the issue he paramounts by using precise and impactful rhetoric from inside of his jail cell. Dr. King often used repetition and parallel construction to great emotional effect when he spoke. Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. Firstly, and most daunting, is the constraint of the letters audience. 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). He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and . Letter from Birmingham Jail: Repetition BACK NEXT This guy knew how to write a speech. : "There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community." . Choose one type of reason and cite an example from these lines. Overall, King is saying that we need to fight against injustice anywhere we see it,, In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. 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. 1, Penn State University Press, 1968, pp. Writers commonly use parallelism when there is a pair or a series of elements, or in the headlines or outlines of a document. 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." In the letter, King appeals for unity against racism in society, while he wants to fight for Human Rights, using ethos. 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. Without King, America would be probably still heavily segregated. This use of parallelism draws on the emotions of personal experiences to persuade that segregation is a problem in a myriad of ways. 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. With these devices, King was able to move thousands of hearts and inspire the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. Letter from a Birmingham Jail AP.GOPO: PRD1.A (LO) , PRD1.A.2 (EK) Google Classroom Full text of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. 16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. 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. 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.. King responds with complete confidence that he is in the right place at the right time, and that his actions are necessary. Explain why the examples fit your chosen reason. The letter from the Birmingham jail of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Martin Luther Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses his fellow clergymen and others who critiqued him for his actions during this time. 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. He points out the irony of America because Black Americans were still not truly free. Order original paper now and save your time! Emotional appeal uses intense words and charged language to grab listeners to get them to keep listening. 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. 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. 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. One example of parallelism he uses is, 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, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity (Barnet and Bedau 741). 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. 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. 1963, a letter was written to the clergy to alert them of what great injustices were taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. The topic of Dr. Kings letters from a Birmingham prison is the nonviolent protest being done in Birmingham, Alabama in the fight for African Americans civil rights. Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. Both works utilizes the persuasive techniques of pathos in Dream and logos in Birmingham. Both of the works had a powerful message that brought faith to many. An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and 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). Although Kings reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. They were arrested and held in . King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. In parallel structure, a writer repeats the same pattern of words or/and pattern of grammatical structure. He begins strongly by explaining why he is in Birmingham in the first place, stating, So I am herebecause we were invited here. Lastly, the exigence of a rhetorical piece is the external issue, situation, or event in which the rhetoric is responding to. In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963, King's campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. In sum, all rhetoric has an external situation in which it is responding to. King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. He wanted this letter to encourage and bring up a people that will start a revolution. 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. 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. King understood that if he gained support from the white American, the civil rights movement would reach its goals much faster. 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. 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. " Any law that uplifts human personality is just." King concludes with optimism about the future of the relationship between the currently segregated blacks and whites. 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. King goes on to explain how this right has not been kept, making it appear to be similar to a laid-back rule. 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 audiences logical side and urges African-Americans to act punctual in their fight against injustice, prompted by the imprudent words of the clergy. This website uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. 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. The clergymen along with others are addressed in an assertive tone allowing them to fully understand why his actions are justified. Constraints bring light to the obstacles this rhetoric may face, whether it be social, political, economical, etc. However, the racial divide was legislated in 1877 with the implementation of Jim Crow laws, which lasted until 1950. In response to Kings peaceful protesting, the white community viewed [his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist, and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). 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. 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. 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. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. The audience of a rhetorical piece will shape the rhetoric the author uses in order to appeal, brazen, or educate whoever is exposed. " A just law is man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of the god. Although the letter was addressed to the eight clergymen, the Letter from Birmingham Jail speaks to a national audience. Back then, people were ready to oppose unjust laws that were causing inequality and preventing progress. When teaching speeches and letters, it's helpful to refresh or introduce students to literary elements that enhance rhetorical strategies. 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. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own . The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws Any law that uplifts human personality is just. 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 Whether this be by newspaper, flyers, or restated by another in speech, the spread of information is slower and potentially more controllable. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. 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. Moreover, King juxtaposes contradictory statements to bolster the legitimacy of his argument against injustice -- in stark contrast to the racist beliefs held by the clergy -- which creates logos that he later capitalizes on to instill celerity within the audience. 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). One of the challenges that he faced included being criticized because of what he believed in concerning the laws of segregation. 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. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos and parallelism frequently throughout Letters from Birmingham Jail, to persuade the clergyman to support his actions in the civil rights movement. 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. King uses tone, literal and figurative language to establish structure and language in his letter. Therefore this makes people see racism in a whole new light; racism has not been justified because the United States have failed to uphold their promises. In 1963, while Martin Luther King was in Birmingham Jail, King delivered a powerful letter to his Clergymen in order to take time and respond to the criticism he had received over his work in Birmingham. In this essay, King also brings up why he is justified in his preaching about the separation of African-Americans and white people. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. 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. In. 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. 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. Furthermore, exterior events regarding the movement could ultimately reflect on his influence and polarize the audience further. During a civil resistance campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was arrested. Martin Luther utilizes powerful rhetoric to define his exigence. Introduction. In Martin Luther Kings Jr, Letter from Birmingham Jail the letter was a persuasive attempt to get Americans to finally see the inequality in the United States of America. Dr. King was arrested, and put in jail in Birmingham where he wrote a letter to the clergymen telling them how long Blacks were supposed to wait for their God giving rights and not to be force and treated differently after, In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail from jail in Birmingham, Alabama in response to a public statement issued by eight white clergyman calling his actions unwise and untimely. There may have been advantages to broadcasting this message similarly to his I Have a Dream speech, which touched America deeply, due potentially to the accessible, instantaneous, and widespread coverage in American media. The rhetorical choices referenced above are riddled with pathos, also known as language utilized to persuade the audience emotionally. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. Throughout the text, King utilized the values of his audience to gain sympathy and later on support. Throughout the Letter from Birmingham Jail, ethos, pathos, and logos are masterfully applied by Martin Luther King. Lastly he shows ethos by using authority in his speech by using quotes from two very famous documents. There isn't quite as much of that in "Letter From Birmingham Jail," but it still pops up a couple of times. 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. 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. Although Dr. Kings exploits are revered today, he had opponents that disagreed with the tactics he employed. From the very beginning of it , King brings his crowd back to the origin of America when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, that freed all slaves and gave hope to the former slaves. 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 way Dr. King constructs his argument is as if he was preaching his argument to his congregation. , Atlantic Media Company, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/. 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. Martin Luther King Jr. was born to a middle class family and was well educated. This comes to endanger our entire society. The audience of Letter From Birmingham Jail was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. 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. 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. 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. What type/s of rhetorical device is used in this statement? Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. In Kings speech he. Pathos are present more often in the I Have A Dream speech, mainly because he is bravely facing a crowd, speaking from the heart, rather than formality. Early in his speech, King writes riches of freedom and security of justice and then justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. In these two examples, King is using parallelism to express that the African American wants justice and freedom by repeating them next to each other and mentally connecting them in the readers mind, which is also connected with pathos as the terms King uses subtly emphasize those words and create good feelings in the reader. 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. However King also deliberately wrote his letter for a national audience. 1, no. On the other hand, logical appeals helps to grasp the concept better and provides facts that prove it to be true. 808 certified writers .