Rhetorical Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

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. King refutes the first argument of the clergymen, King is an outsider, by stating, “I . . . am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here” (“Letter” p 2). King was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which supports his credibility as a civil rights activist. Furthermore, while King explains the imminent resistance of the oppressed, he states:
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King’s anaphoras allow the clergymen and the audience to anticipate the repetitions and to be more receptive to the emotional resonance. However, through anaphoras, “We urge the public to continue to show restraint . . .We further strongly urge our own [African American] community to withdraw support from these demonstrations” (“Public Statement” p 7), the clergymen’s arguments become authoritative and strict, affecting the sympathetic response of the audience negatively. King’s appeal to pathos prompts an emotional response and allows the audience to connect with King’s