Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

Throughout history, minorities of countries have been faced with oppression. For instance, in America, blacks have often been segregated and punished. One advocator for the end of this treatment was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after a peaceful protest, Dr. King and his fellow protestors were thrown into a jail in Birmingham. In a letter from King while he was incarcerated in jail to the clergy members of the church, Dr. King used rhetoric such as logos, metaphors, and parallel structure in order to show how he thinks his actions were not rash and poorly timed as well as prove why he thinks segregation needs to be stopped. In his letter, Dr. King uses rhetorical devices such as logos, or the use of logical thinking, to prove his idea that his peaceful protest was not rash and poorly timed as well as show why he thinks that segregation needs to be stopped. This is shown …show more content…
King says that he and his fellow blacks have been denied the right to negotiate for a long time. While talking about creative tension, King says “… that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation” (King, Par. 10). This is a way that King uses metaphor in order to show how he feels that negotiation has been being unfairly withheld from the black community for far too long. King also describes the difference between unjust and just laws. King describes unjust laws as “difference made legal” and just laws as “sameness made legal” (King, Par. 15). The impact of this is that King is showing how he feels about the way these laws treat individual groups of people. These are just a few examples of when King used rhetoric such as metaphors in order to convey the way he feels that he did not act rashly of poorly timed for his protest and why he believes that segregation need to be