Letter From Birmingham Jail Pathos

Improved Essays
Back in the 60’s, laws were very different. Focusing in on the South, blacks were still treated unfairly. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against this wanting blacks to have full freedom like whites.
Dr.King wrote two famous works, “I have a dream” and “Letter from Birmingham jail”. Both were geared towards different audiences the first one being for blacks and whites but just mostly blacks. The second one being for the clergymen. They both use the persuasive techniques of pathos in “I have a dream” and logos in “Letter from Birmingham jail”.
In his “I have a dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes pathos to build a relationship with his black and white audiences; we can see this through children and allusions to times of slavery which

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In the "Letter From Birmingham Jail" Martian Luther King Jr. uses ethos and rhetorical question to help the clergymen understand his stance on civil disobedience. In addition to persuade them that peaceful protesting is the correct path to take so segregation can be diminish. A example Martian Luther King Jr. uses in the letter is when he says "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern State with headquarters in Atlanta"(LFBJ). MLK says this to prove to the clergymen that he is trustworthy. By proving himself trustworthy the clergymen will listen to what he has to say and know that it is true.…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963. King was a civil rights activist and minister. As an advocate for nonviolence, he became known as one of the greatest leaders in history. He worked towards the progress of racial equality. In 1957, King was elected to serve as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights organization for African-Americans.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article, Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr, discusses the nonviolent resistance to racism. He uses ethos and pathos throughout his argument to the clergymen to announce the point of how he believe that him going to Birmingham would benefit the movement. The author goes in detail to talk about the movement of standing up for their rights, going on to address a more general audience of both whites and Africans, to say that he felt as if the racism should not be focused on and that it was a violence of the amendment in the constitution, specially the 4th amendment. He says “...but I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ‘tension’”, which shows, as he later goes on to talk about, how he believes that nonviolence…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this video, students were asked to read and analyze text from the Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. In order to have the students engage in a deeper level of thinking from this text, TJ Hanify(teacher) developed different strategies to keep their interest. First students must read the Letter from Birmingham and create notes from their findings. Students must include the main idea of the author’s purpose and any questions or concerns students might have.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the early 1960’s Martin Luther King Jr was confined in the Birmingham, Alabama prison cell along with almost 50 other civil rights activists and leaders. While King was restricted in his prison cell he wrote a letter in response to “A Call for Unity”, shaped by eight clergymen disapproving King’s demonstrations. The letter that King wrote in response to the clergymen changed the way religious leaders and other individuals in society view civil rights, without discrimination or repression. One of the largest reasons behind King’s letter being successful is the persuasive use of pathos. The appeal to pathos throughout the letter does not only support King’s claims but also makes the response to “The Call for Unity” purely indisputable.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Delsy Rosario Santos Prof. Leslie Hurley Section E05 The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. talks about the great injustices happening toward the black community in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr uses appeals to emotion in order to justify his desire for racial justice and equality. King Jr states that he's not from Birmingham but he needs to be there because of the big injustices white do toward the black.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Letter from Birmingham Jail was written on April 16, 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,( on the margins of newspaper) but is still relevant today. Referring back the reading from last week on why God allows evil, MLK understood what it meant to be a Christian and what the journey looked like. He understood that as Christ suffered, he would too. The most captivating part was that he was okay with carrying the gospel of freedom at any cost as lines 38-44 declare. As we discussed on Thursday, Swinburne explained that people that do evil should matter as well.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis on Letter from Birmingham Jail In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to his fellow clergymen. King aimed to persuade the clergymen as well as the other readers of his dedication to the civil rights movement and his work. His expert use of pathos, logos, ethos, and other literary devices reflect Kings’ intelligence, and credibility on the matter of segregation, injustice and discrimination. King was and continues to be one of the most quintessential examples of “civil disobedience” and his work is often quoted on the subject of racism and prejudiced.…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil Disobedience and Letter from Birmingham Jail Two different men from two different time period made their writing a master piece against government brutality by using many literary devices in their writing to convey their message. Thoreau and King Jr. were famously known to be highly against the injustice of the American government legislative system, they tried to help and persuade people in their writing by incorporating a lot of literary devices. Their main writing goal is that “now is the right time for each man to do act on the injustice being done around him. As King stated, "Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere"(King).…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Flight of Activism “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are”. These were the wise words of the reputable, Benjamin Franklin. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to address the horrendous issue in not only Birmingham, but the United States as a whole as well. Throughout this letter, King exploits many different rhetorical devices such as imagery, while portraying a multitude rhetorical questions all through this letter, and to convey a sense of powerful diction through the duration of this mind altering letter.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the texts “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and “Letter to Viceroy: Lord Irwin” by Mahatma Gandhi, each passage argues that “It is justifiable to break an unjust law,” and “Protests using non-violence due to the mistreatment of the Indian people.” In order to achieve true freedom, one must use non-violent means to find a solution. First off, one must use non-violent means to find a peaceful solution in order to achieve true freedom. Based on “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King proclaimed in lines 130-132, “My friend, I must say to that we have not made a civil right without determining a legal non-violent pressure.” This shows King wants to protect his and other African-Americans’ civil rights with non-violent methods.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Attempts to redefine what is right or wrong are numerous in history, albeit rather ineffective. Thus, the question arises as to why it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a clear distinction between just or unjust. It is not feasible because there is no scientific instrument that measures moral conventionalities. Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail both stress the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws and encourage non-violent resistance. They address their resolution to disobey authority, especially that of political nature, when a social injustice takes place.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    True to Dr. King's words from the Birmingham jail, the American community could no longer ignore the issue of racial inequality that took place within their “free” country. Outcry came from all across the nation and the true effect of peaceful resistance shook the segregated South on August 6th 1965 as the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, thus abolishing…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. This quote was one of the most famous quotes of Martin Luther King that he used in the I Have a Dream speech. The I Have a Dream speech is one of the most remarkable speeches ever. This speech had an exceptional flow that was caused by the amazing style that MLK used.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the passages "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and "Speech at the March on Washington" by Josephine Bake and "form Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin" each passage shows many examples of equality, and how non-violence can bring equal rights. To achieve true freedom one most use non-violence means in order to find a peaceful solution. To begin with discrimination people should respect the religion or color of the person and not make them less. Based on the "Speech at the March on Washington" by Josephine Baker on lines 42-45, Baker expressed "I tell you I have walked into the places of king's and queens and into the houses of presidents and much more.." This shows that she went to another country.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays