Personal Narrative: An Interview With Martin Luther King Jr.

Great Essays
Have a you ever heard of the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Well, Martin Luther King Jr. was one leader involved. I once met Martin Luther King Jr, who is great with speaking; he inspired me and others by standing up for what he believes in. We met in a huge office in Montgomery, Alabama when I was being interviewed to be Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal assistant. Our first interview is 1, 1955. I don’t have much time because they are planning to start the boycott on December 5,1955. I need to go over my interview as much as I can if I want to be Martin Luther King Jr’s personal assistant.
The next morning I went into his huge office for the very important meeting. When I walk up a bunch of stairs to the building, I notice that a bunch of people
…show more content…
Ring. Ring. I jump up to see who called. I sprinted to the wall phone. It was the Martin Luther King Jr. OMG! I can’t believe it! I might actually get the job ! I answer as fast as I can. Hello? Yes, this is Bailey Ranta. Hi, we would like to congratulate you with the job of being Martin Luther King Jr assistant.We would like to see you in the office tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. OMG! Thank you so much, I can’t believe it. Thank you and have a great day. I hung up and screamed so the whole neighborhood could hear. I think I should go to bed so I can get some rest. It's morning finally. I get dressed and scurry out of the door. When I get there I put a gigantic smile on my face and walk in the door. Hello, I am Martin Luther King Jr.Would you like to get started? He shows me around his office and his plans on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. If you're going to be my assistant I need your help on my speech, would you be willing to do that? Of course I would love to. It’s been a long day, how about you come back early tomorrow morning.But first we have to focus on the boycott. Okay see you …show more content…
Do you know why it is special? Well, it is the day the boycott starts. I am super excited to witness this historical event. We will spread the word in Montgomery, Alabama to not ride the buses. If we do that then they will start to lose money. It’s a pretty genius idea. We spread the news fast as lightning. Once we spread the word across the whole town, then we can go home. 6 hours of walking later we finally get to go home. The day after that Doctor King called at 5:00 am. That is unusual for him to call this early. I picked up the phone nervously. “Hello?”, I asked. “Hello? Is this Bailey Ranta?”, he said. “Yes” I said. “I need you to do me a favor, I need you to go down to Washington and tell one of my friends I need there help” he said. “Okay, I will be willing to.” “Thank you, have a good day”, he said. Doctor King gave me a plane ticket immediately. I am looking for a Cole Johnson he lives at 182 Duneland Ln, Washington DC. My flight arrives at 5:00 am. I have to be there early because I need to find him and bring him back in time for the ceremony.When I get off the plane someone should be holding up a huge white sign Doctor KIng’s name on it. I found a nice gentleman with a fancy black suit on with the sign. He escorts me to a limo. I have never been in a limo before. This might be exciting. I give the gentleman Cole Johnson’s address. The ride to his house should be at 20 minutes. Wow! I see a mansion

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    In April of 1963, when segregation was at its peak, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was jailed for his civil rights efforts in Alabama. A few days after Kings’ arrest, a group of 8 local white clergymen got together and criticized his protests. While in his jail cell, King replied to the ministers as well as to the white middle class by writing his response on the margins of a newspaper and on toilet paper. He excels in the structure of his letter and the usage of pathos, ethos, and logos to protect him in the dispute. From his creditability of being the President of the SCLC, to the emotional appeal to the white moderate, all the way to the logical persuasion he uses by reasoning, King justifies his desire for racial justice.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, leader in the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., powerfully replies to criticisms regarding his cause and his actions. King’s purpose is to prove to his criticizers that his cause is right and just. He adopts a condemnatory tone in order to convey his disapproval with the clergymen’s criticisms and excuses. It’s Dr. King’s strong use of diction that has the greatest impact on making this piece so powerful and effective.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Letter Read Around The World On April 16, 1963, while Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail for participating in a civil rights protest, he wrote a letter to eight clergymen to plead his case why the protests happening in Birmingham and all over the south were just. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” not only took the clergy by surprise, it took the whole nation by surprise. At the time of the letters publication, the nation was still divided by the Mason-Dixon line but for a different reason this time; the south was unfairly treating the African American citizens who lived there; stores wouldn't sell their goods to them, restaurants wouldn't serve them, African American people even had to use water fountains and bathrooms specifically marked…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister and an advocate of the civil rights movements, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a response to the clergymen who questioned his demonstration techniques in their “Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen”. These eight clergymen voiced their concern that King, an outsider, controlled peaceful demonstrations against discrimination in Birmingham. Whilst the clergymen stated that they supported King’s ultimate aims, they disliked his “untimely and unwise” (“Public Statement” p 3) demonstrations. King, hoping to incite peaceful public action against segregation, discredits the clergymen's claims in his “Letter” using rhetorical devices and strategies to repudiate the clergymen’s concerns and support his argument. King asserts his credibility as a minister and civil rights activist throughout his letter using allusions.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amjad Badrah History 12 Letter from a Birmingham Jail When the Civil Right revolution reaches its maximum height in 1963, Br. King was leading protests in Birmingham. When the court ordered to stop the demonstrations, Dr. King who supported the law throughout his life, found it essential to break the unjust law for the very first time. As a result, he was arrested and held for not in contact for a day.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How would you feel if, every day, you had to experience the injustice of being deemed less of a person based on the color of your skin? The year is 1963 before the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech swept the nation off their feet; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is sitting in a jail cell writing a letter in response to “A Call for Unity.” King has landed himself in jail for marching at a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Alabama that he attended at the request of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. At the time, the Civil Rights movement is in full swing and both blacks and whites are standing up for a change and demanding an end to racial segregation. An analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” reveals, the appeals known as ethos, pathos, and logos help support and persuade racial equality and to explain his actions in…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr, in his letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” highlights his views as to why he believes demonstrations are needed towards justice for Blacks. King’s purpose is to refute and provide counterarguments regarding the urgency of changing segregation laws. He accomplishes this by arguing against the clergymen’s claims that opposed his views on why the Civil Rights Movement is needed and why he is calling for demonstrations involving direct action in Birmingham to continue. He adopts a civil and persistent tone in his letter to show how Blacks will stop at nothing to gain their basic freedoms and rights. In paragraphs thirteen and fourteen, King emphasizes the need for change in Birmingham by using diction, anaphora, and anecdotes to support his claims on the fight for justice.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Martin Luther King Jr. Once said ,"Our loyalties must transcend our race ,our tribe ,our lass , and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. Everyone in due time, if not already,their perspective has changed. The day I witnessed my aunt graduate and become a Chiropractor after all the time she spend trying to become a dentist and decide to change paths. She's always wanted to become a dentist but then deciding she wasn't very much interested in pursuing down the road to becoming one.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The speeches and writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are among the most powerful and persuasive work in history. One notable example is the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King’s skillful use of appeal to emotion, authority, and logic effectively put forward his ethnics and ideals. By adopting words as his weapons, he proves that language is often more effective than that of violence in bringing about positive change. He brilliantly explains the reasons for his nonviolent protest with restraint and commitment.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During the 1950’s and 60’s in the United States, the quest for equal rights was unfortunately just growing out of its infancy. Spearheading this effort was the renowned minister Martin Luther King Junior. While protesting in Birmingham, Alabama, King was arrested on the charge of parading without a permit and detained in the local jail. During his less than luxurious stay, he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The purpose of this message was to clearly lay out the process, display the importance, and illustrate the demand for Nonviolent Direct Action when negotiating civil rights for the non-white citizens of Birmingham; he additionally argues that one must take caution when carrying out civil disobedience, and that both of these forms of protest require courage and more importantly incredible discipline.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for freedom and equality of African American people and is now a well known historical person for what he did for people all around the nation. Segregation and discrimination have been going on for quite some time now. Negroes didn’t have their rights, there are separate places for white people and colored people, white people feel superior to African Americans, and nothing is changing. This is until Martin Luther King Jr., a minister of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, gave his powerful “I Have a Dream” speech and wrote his cogent letter directed to the Clergymen, “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” King was a leader of the African American civil rights movement, lead nonviolent protest, and spoke out against poverty…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, argued to his equality supporting peers that non-violent and instigative protests, while not as dignified as court battles, were fundamentally more potent and provocative. King successfully produced an appealing and effective message by integrating pathos and logos, utilizing faith based ethos, suitable literary devices, and a unique subtle tone that allowed him to maintain even-tempered and reasonable appeal in subject he was passionate and infuriated about. King wins the credibility of his peers by, firstly establishing they are his peers. He reminds them of his position as a reverend by citing the Alabama clergymen as “fellow clergymen”. Referring to his position as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and his invitation not Birmingham, he further established credibility by highlighting he is not merely a reverend creating social upheaval but a revered civic and religious leader whose presence is desired by the people of the city.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people know about Martin Luther King Jr. because of his famous speech “I have a Dream.” However, not a lot of people know about his great masterpiece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which was written on April 16, 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter while he was in jail. He had been arrested in Birmingham, Alabama because he was marching in a peaceful protest for civil rights for African-Americans without a permit. Several local religious leaders were opposed to him and told him not to protest.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the graphic novel, March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, Lewis had demonstrated leadership, but was not always aware of his surroundings and the needs of the world until he encountered stages in his life that had influenced him to help his African American culture. The main events that directed him towards his awakening were, his trip to New York, his first-time hearing Martin Luther King’s speech, and the tragic story of Emit Till. These stages awoke him to the disorder of his surrounding and seemed to have directed him towards fighting for a better future. Without these main events in his life, Lewis would not have strived to achieve his dream of making peace between both ethnicities.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bruce Watson, author of the book Bread and Roses explains to the reader an overview of a strike caused in Lawrence, Massachusetts by textile workers in 1912. Immigrant workers who came from all sorts of lands such as Italy, Ireland and Germany and many more started working in Mill working areas. They came to America for the American Dream. Sadly, these immigrants were working in horrible working conditions. These conditions led workers to die or grow sick.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays