Abraham Lincoln And Robert Louis Stevenson's A Letter From Birmingham Jail

All arguments arise through difference of opinion and separate points of view. In the crucible of a struggle, one side may act in aggressive retaliation. To properly win an argument, one must act tranquil. Doctor Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is one man capable of acting in such manner. As he endured imprisonment, he remained composed and wrote A letter from Birmingham jail (1963) to counter the argument for oppression. The fact that he has accomplished this arduous task is commendable. His literary skills demonstrate how to effectively achieve what one desires to be the outcome of an argument. A letter from Birmingham jail is not the only example of this situation. Other prime sources that similarly achieve this goal are Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863), Robert Louis Stevenson’s Father Damien, a letter to the Reverend Doctor Hyde of Honolulu (1890), and history.com for facts. Both Lincoln and Stevenson use specific language and argumentative techniques to counter their opposition argument. The way these authors’ use such techniques can be confusing, until it is broken down and examined from an educative point of view. The arguments are different, but, they have come across them in similar ways. This was achieved by using selective styles and rhetoric to …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. manages this by using similar styles to Abraham Lincoln and Robert Louis Stevenson. His A letter from Birmingham Jail is a prime example of how to counter an argument with rhetoric. It is still utilized today as a symbol of this. Most commonly used with these authors are pathos, which is the emotional appeal to arguments, and the fallacy of composition, which is when one breaks down another’s argument and dictates it course. By using both written and spoken sources as examples, by following these precedents, it should be within one’s ability to succeed in an