Martin Luther King's Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

In this letter by Martin Luther King Jr., he wants to explain to the eight clergymen why he has been jailed. He wants to show them that what he was doing was necessary. The clergymen were confused and upset about his image and wrote a statement explaining their own views. After reading this statement, King wanted to have these men completely educated on the matter. King does this by persuading his audience, using various rhetorical devices.

In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr., he explains to the eight clergy men, whom had previously criticized him, and to the rest of America about why he is in Birmingham. King wrote this letter to persuade and answer the criticism of why his present activities were NOT “unwise and untimely.” While writing this, King uses the three Aristotelian Appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos to fully explain his points. Throughout the second paragraph, Martin Luther King began to build his credibility.

Critical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail The Letter form the Birmingham jail is one of the greatest piece written my Mr. King today, pointing out various laws which were called unjust laws to the Negros community in Birmingham. After many steps considered to reach a conclusion of demonstration to point out the awareness of these unjust laws. African Americans where given the 14th amendment and laws where established to fight for the black Civil Rights in the early 60’s, but discrimination in social establishments, public places and other areas where still encountered. Mr. King elaborating in his letter the different incidents that points to discrimination, from police violence

Though he comes off as respecting of the other clergymen, he essentially traps them into a corner of either betraying their faith and defying who they claim to be, Christian priests, or join him on the fight to racial and civil equality, appealing to the either/or fallacy. King asks his audience “the question is not whether we will be extremist, but… will we be extremist for hate or… for love?” The clergymen are compelled by guilt to be an advocate of love, rather than hate, otherwise they will be deceiving their church. King also appeals to guilt and an element of fear by mentioning specific examples of how the inequality is affecting both the People of Color but also those who are privileged, saying “ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in [the girl’s] little mental sky… developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people.” By including this powerful, intimate experience of a “colored child”, the clergymen cannot help but feel guilty and culpable for the distorted childhood that would eventually spiral into self-resentment and hatred towards the majority racial group.

They try to convince their audience that they are doing the right thing by using the three appeals; however, they both approach their arguments differently. King and Thoreau both use ethos to make their arguments seem credible. At the beginning of “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” King announces he is “president of the Southern

1. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are important aspects in Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The meaning behind Ethos is to appeal to ethics, which means convincing readers of the author’s credibility, meanwhile Pathos is an appeal to emotion, and is used in literature to convince readers of an argument by getting their emotions involved. Last but not least, Logos is the appeal to logic and is used to persuade readers using a force of reason. These terms are important in MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail because the foundation of the letter is built upon ideas of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

MLK states in paragraph 3, “...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 home town.” King uses an analogy to give his audience an idea of what he is doing when fighting for civil rights. Lastly, King uses a rhetorical question in his letter. He asks the question on page 278 in paragraph 24, “But is this a logical assertion?” MLK uses this question to make his

Wyatt Erovick AP English 12-6-16 Letter From a Birmingham Jail Analysis         Luther King Jr., in his letter, Letter From a Birmingham Jail, uses persuasive techniques to grab the reader’s attention and get them to agree with him.     In King’s 13 and 14th paragraph of the letter, he uses a logical appeal to persuade the audience. In the beginning of paragraph 14, King states that “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.”  

JoAnna Guzman AP English Period 4 Mrs. Solis 5 February 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. letter “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a response to eight Alabama clergymen of 1963. The clergymen had accused King of being an “outsider” and interfering with the racial issues of the community of Birmingham. When writing in response to the eight clergymen from Alabama Martin Luther King Jr. uses the rhetorical device of historical and biblical allusions.

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

Martin Luther King uses allusion in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to add greater meaning to the cause he is defending. Dr. King includes many biblical references in his writing to compare the similarities between actions in the bible and his. For instance, Martin Luther King says “like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Since Martin Luther King King is writing his letter to clergymen, his religious allusions are used to appeal to them; specifically, Dr. King brings up the point that certain tension is caused by people who have been subjected to grievances and believe “...that the white man is an incurable ‘devil.’” In saying this, Martin Luther King tells the clergymen that their sanctimonious acts and racial

In these texts, King effectively persuades his audiences using pathos and logos. In Martin Luther King Jr. – “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he captures both pathos and logos. Dr. King

In Martin Luther King’s 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. Throughout King’s letter, he used various ways of persuasive strategies: pathos, logos, and ethos. But the strongest influential device King used was pathos. Now the word “strongest” has various meanings, but in this instance, it means the most successful.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

King was able to employ a number of persuasive devices when writing Letter from Birmingham Jail which only added to his own