Imagine you’re living back in 1963, it’s the year of change, for the better. There’s a man, Martin Luther King Jr., who is one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movements. He has two famous works, First, the Letter from Birmingham Jail. from back in August; a powerful response King gave after reading the criticisms of the clergymen of Birmingham. Second, there is the “I Have a Dream” speech from The March on Washington. Even though these two works are similar, their target audience were very different, thus, the way he talks and the writing tactics he uses are bound to be different. Let’s start simple, there are two main parts of persuasive appeal that Dr. King uses are Logos and Pathos. Logos(log) is a Logical appeal, while Pathos(path) is appeal relating to emotion. In his “Letter to Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King uses more Logos as he responds to the Clergymen. While in his “I Have a Dream” Speech, he uses more Pathos to appeal to the emotions to the thousands of protesters at the Lincoln Memorial. …show more content…
In his quote “Anyone who lives inside the U.S. can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds”(MLK 272) is a use of Pathos. It does not use logical backings, rather, it relies on the ideology of everyone being equal and having some sort of bond due to the fact they are all citizens of the U.S. However one way he uses Logos is: “I am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have Organizational ties here” (MLK 272). He draws attention to the fact that he was here on professional means alone, when responding to criticism, to disprove or nullify anything they might’ve had to say about his
Martin Luther king wrote the letter from Birmingham jail and discuss the biggest issues in the black community of Birmingham. In order to justify his desire for racial justice and equality, martin Luther king uses knowledge and potential thoughts given toward to his letter transcending to his people and the churches and he made very important valid statement that gave his audience and open mind and to encourage American society desegregation and having equality among all Americans with no stratification according to racial differences. His letter addresses the American society, political and religious community of America. King uses metaphors saying “ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”(King 264) These are important words Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in the speech “I Have a Dream.” He presented this speech to a large crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Graphic Organizer "I Have a Dream" "Letter From Birmingham Jail" Point-by-Point Introduction Attention Grabber I Have A Dream written by MLK to help change the way that african americans were being treated to get better rights. Letter From Birmingham jail written to respond to criticism for segregation also.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, which was written in April 16, 1963, is a passionate letter that addresses racial segregation and all the injustices to the black American society. He writes this letter as a response to the eight clergymen, but it also became one of the most influential letters in defense of nonviolent movement ever written. Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the country and the most violent. Even after segregation was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954. In Birmingham, white and black Americans were very much separate with “white only” hotels, restaurants, and even bathrooms.
The letter that Dr. Martin Luther King wrote at the Birmingham Jail was very powerful to me. Things I took away from this letter is that people back then were discriminated even worse than they are now. Mr. King didn’t want violence protest that would eventually turn into riots, he always wanted the protests to be peaceful. This letter was a response to white men who criticized his tactics, I think King wrote this letter to explain the goal of his non-violent protest and that they were necessary. Dr. King never wanted violence to solve the problems black people faced, he just wanted them to be treated fairly like the whites.
He wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and wrote his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the biggest visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. This man was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In both of his writings, he used pathos and logos to appeal to the audience and fit the occasion.
In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. is responding to criticism of the peaceful protests and sit-in’s that were taking place in Birmingham, which led to his being arrested and the reason that he was in jail. He first responds to the accusation of being an “outsider” by setting the stage for his being in Birmingham due to being invited because of his ties to the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights organization and due to the fact that he is president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Next, Martin Luther King expands on his moral beliefs that there is “injustice” in the way that Birmingham is “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States”.
The common similarity you find between the two writings by Martin Luther King Jr. is the fact that each one says facts about King Jr. wanting to end racism in the south and to stop it from erupting in the north. On the other hand, a lot of differences you see, is that King Jr. told his “I Have A Dream” speech to the public, and his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” speech was written in the creases and folds and nooks and crannies of old newspapers, (because he didn 't have proper writing paper) and sent to the eight prominent clergymen outside his jail cell. Another common similarity is that both of his writings impacted the U.S. both in the north and in the south. The “Letter From Birmingham Jail” letter impacted the city of Birmingham, and his “I Have A Dream” speech, it impacted the entire country of USA. His speech ended segregation, but he was then shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, in the Lorraine Motel.
Both pieces have many appeals in common, whether it is pathos, logos, ethos or repetition. In “ I have a Dream speech it contain mostly pathos and ethos because the speech is trying to make the audience emotionally toward the cause. In the speech “ I have a dream” are example of pathos was “ 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”. ( King,18). The quote was made toward to his children not himself it makes the audience think about their own children and how they wouldn 't want what is happening to king children to their own.
The “I Have a Dream” speech is well known throughout history to be one of the most famous speeches to be on the subject of civil rights. Throughout the entirety of “I Have a Dream”, Dr. King uses pathos more than logos. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.”
Dr. Martin Luther King and Frederick Roosevelt are both strong powered speakers of equal rights. These two amazing people have talked and fought for equal rights of every human being. With that, they’ve both have similarities in their amazing speeches letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King and four freedoms speech by Roosevelt. In 1963, MLK wrote a remarkable letter to the clergyman following his arrest In Birmingham. Whereas in 1941, Roosevelt published a speech to Congress on the state of the union.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr gave us one of one of the most rhetorically moving speeches ever given. Titled as the “I Have a Dream Speech,” he read this speech to the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”. As a civil right mover he gave this great speech to all Americans (black and white) so that he could give off the idea of equality on the same level. Because of his crowd of mix races King made sure to make his speech imploring to all no matter what the race that they may be. He uses metaphorical imagery, powerful diction,and symbolism to create an impact on the audience.
Martin Luther King and his fellow Civil Rights enthusiast used many disadvantages to their own advantage at many points in the Civil Rights Movement. For example, because they had small numbers compared to the Activists, MLK and his followers used the nonviolent tactic, hence causing guilt among many whites across the nation. Injustice was spreading across the nation and Martin Luther King used his paternalism skill to carry out a very successful Civil Rights Movement. In fact MLK said that he was in Birmingham because “injustice is here.” Likewise Martin Luther King is writing this letter from Birmingham jail because that is where he had to stay for no reason.
King believed that if he could just go to Birmingham, and protest non-violently, that he could make a difference. On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned, in Birmingham, for protesting the civil rights of Black Americans. While in jail, he began writing a letter addressing the clergymen. His main audience in writing this letter was to the eight clergymen who criticized his actions and also the majority of the population as well. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, argues that injustice
In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” he provides answers to fundamental metaphysical questions regarding the nature of the human soul. Though his letter is addressed to a group of eight clergymen criticizing his direct action campaign in Birmingham, his ultimate aim is the uplifting of human personhood. Underlying King’s letter is a philosophical, hylemorphic anthropology which puts an anchor deep into a certain conception of personhood, and binds all people who are to read it. He looks deeply at the nature of human beings, as rational creatures who are made to love and be loved, and from thence, deliberates that there is a universal Gospel of Freedom and Justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that there are universal principles justifying what actions are morally right and wrong, just and unjust.