1. In the first few paragraphs of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he specifically addresses the local clergymen, lays out his purpose for the letter, and creates an authoritative and well-organized tone. He makes his goal of wanting to prove he does belong in Birmingham to create racial equality clear by stating, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere” (800). Throughout this entire article King addresses the local clergymen and the white moderates; however, in this particular portion, he speaks directly to the clergymen. King establishes credibility with them when he states that he is “serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” (800). King realizes the clergymen are men of God; therefore, by informing them of his leadership role he demonstrations to them that he too shares the same knowledge, guidelines, and appreciation for Christianity. Furthermore, he shows a keen awareness of his audiences’ religious background when he uses the stylistic
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In this next section Martin Luther King Jr. makes the argument that some laws meant to be broken; to do so he, defines just and unjust laws and also provides proper examples. King defines just law as “a man-made code that squares with the moral law;” it is a law that is equally upheld by both majority and minority groups (804). He goes on to define unjust laws as “any law that degrades human personality” (804). By accurately defining the difference between just and unjust laws, it sets up the tone for his argument on why it is acceptable to support some laws and disobey others. He wishes to convey the idea that just because a law is put in place by a government, that does not always deem them reasonable and without corruption. He gives a compelling example of this when he says that “it was “illegal” to aid and comfort Jew’s in Hitler’s Germany” (805). This example is implemented for King to prove to his audience that it is possible to have unjust
In this next section Martin Luther King Jr. makes the argument that some laws meant to be broken; to do so he, defines just and unjust laws and also provides proper examples. King defines just law as “a man-made code that squares with the moral law;” it is a law that is equally upheld by both majority and minority groups (804). He goes on to define unjust laws as “any law that degrades human personality” (804). By accurately defining the difference between just and unjust laws, it sets up the tone for his argument on why it is acceptable to support some laws and disobey others. He wishes to convey the idea that just because a law is put in place by a government, that does not always deem them reasonable and without corruption. He gives a compelling example of this when he says that “it was “illegal” to aid and comfort Jew’s in Hitler’s Germany” (805). This example is implemented for King to prove to his audience that it is possible to have unjust