Two writers who had great impacts on their audiences were Henry Thoreau, an author and poet (as well as many other jobs he tried out), and Martin Luther King Jr., the famous civil rights activist. Although these men lived in entirely different time periods they had writings that had a similar message. Thoreau wrote an essay “Civil Disobedience” in which he discusses the flaws of government, inspired by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a response to white religious leaders who opposed King’s efforts for civil rights. Although these pieces both are both trying to convince the audience to go against something they stand for, they use very different methods to achieve their desired
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The audience was similar in the way that they both targeted at Americans, but King looks to target, more specifically, the white moderate. Thoreau targets all Americans, not just a specific group. Although Thoreau must be more broad in his writing, he does very well making it feel personal and not making his essay feel like it is trying to win over all of America. King is directly trying to respond to the clergymen, while also writing to white moderate all across the nation, and this causes it to loose effectiveness. The writings also vary in the tone of the author. King focuses on staying gentle and religious based, while Thoreau is aggressive and discusses his personal disapproval of the government. Both authors do well in choosing which tones to use with their target audience. King has to be gentle because clergymen need to be respected and put on a pedestal, otherwise they would not give him, a black man, the time of day. He also has to related a lot to religion, to help connect with the audience with the struggles he is going through. On the other side, Thoreau wants his audience to be convinced that the government has evils that need to taken care of. He wants the people reading to be upset and to want to rally against things they feel are unjust, so he is writing with little censor and wants to express the way the government upsets him. Overall, both authors do well with their tones, and King may have done a better job than Thoreau at using the right tone to appeal to his specific
The audience was similar in the way that they both targeted at Americans, but King looks to target, more specifically, the white moderate. Thoreau targets all Americans, not just a specific group. Although Thoreau must be more broad in his writing, he does very well making it feel personal and not making his essay feel like it is trying to win over all of America. King is directly trying to respond to the clergymen, while also writing to white moderate all across the nation, and this causes it to loose effectiveness. The writings also vary in the tone of the author. King focuses on staying gentle and religious based, while Thoreau is aggressive and discusses his personal disapproval of the government. Both authors do well in choosing which tones to use with their target audience. King has to be gentle because clergymen need to be respected and put on a pedestal, otherwise they would not give him, a black man, the time of day. He also has to related a lot to religion, to help connect with the audience with the struggles he is going through. On the other side, Thoreau wants his audience to be convinced that the government has evils that need to taken care of. He wants the people reading to be upset and to want to rally against things they feel are unjust, so he is writing with little censor and wants to express the way the government upsets him. Overall, both authors do well with their tones, and King may have done a better job than Thoreau at using the right tone to appeal to his specific