Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was placed in Birmingham Jail in the 1960’s. During his time there, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after an open letter that was given to the public saying that the fellow clergymen were criticizing and saying that his present activities were “unwise and untimely.” King answers these charges in a careful crafted analysis by stating the opposing argument, and then contrasting it with his own argument. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” it exposes the mind to the idea of prioritizing laws. Refusing to obey the laws and demands of government, it criticizes the American institution of government at the time and is also defined as a text to live by. Thoreau uses rhetorical strategies to establish …show more content…
Thoreau starts by using parallel structure in the beginning of his essay. For instance, Thoreau starts by writing “I heartily accept the motto,-“That government is best which governs least;”and then clarifies that his true belief is “That government is best which governs not at all.” (Thoreau 224). Thoreau states that government is nothing but an imaginary idea that people choose to live by, yet this imaginary thing we call government is easy to manipulate, that one person can easily bid the government to do their will. While we believe that government is made to serve the people in which it governs, it is mainly used as a source to gain power. Thoreau gives examples of slavery practice and the Mexican-American war to establish his point further. He asserts that the government itself becomes an obstacle between achieving its purpose, the purpose for which it was created. However, Thoreau makes it clear that he is against abolishing the government, …show more content…
For instance, King describes his disappointment in the church, “The judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”(King 234). Through pathos, King conveys a sense of urgency to the audience by suggesting that the once almighty Church could falter without changes in behavior by people. Additionally, the phrase “judgment of God” is associated with fear of the power of God, causing the audience to feel fearful and to feel a need to change in order to avoid God’s wrath. In addition, King also writes “an irrelevant social club,” King is disrespecting the Church to imply his point and to demonstrate the future of the church if none is going to take action. Calling it “an irrelevant social club” can leave the clergymen and other readers angry, forcing the clergymen to realize that id they are irritated by a rude reference, and then they will have to take action to prevent the
King uses many forms of rhetorical devices in his letter in order to effectively make impacts on his audience. In his counterargument against the praises towards the Birmingham police force, King brings new lights of the police force to the public eye. He uses parallelism to target his audience and change the public opinion on the police force “I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes ... if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together”(King 561-570). King counter the praises that states the police kept “order” for the public and prevented any violence to take place,
In “Letters From Birmingham Jail”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. appeals to his audience by the use of antithesis throughout the text. In response to King’s protest in Birmingham, Alabama, several clergymen wrote a letter condemning the King’s actions during the protest as “unwise and untimely”. Because King held on to an inexorable message, the walls of confinement did not blockade his writing of “Letters From Birmingham Jail” as a retort to the clergymen’s letter. As a civil rights leader, it was crucial for King to appeal to his audience in order to help rid the country of racial injustice. Antitheses are employed as a rhetorical maneuver in this text to induce critical thinking and reduce the consequences of unexamined acceptance among his audience.
In 1963, King was arrested and sent to jail after protesting blacks’ rights in Birmingham, Alabama. In jail, King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which was towards the clergymen that believed that blacks should not be allowed to protest for their rights. This letter was filled with reasons why the blacks should not be told to wait for their change, which is why the strongest paragraph in King’s letter would be on page 6 when King mentioned that the blacks are always told by white leaders that if they wait, they will finally gain their rights. The blacks had believed them when they said this and yet, nothing happened after waiting. They tried their best to keep it professional by not bringing any violence which led them to protesting, however,
Acting civil, but disobedient, is a way to non-violently protest things you believe to be unfair. Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay called “Civil Disobedience” which has been used by many such as Martin Luther King Jr. to help fight injustice. King was a pastor and renowned speaker who headed the Civil Rights movement. Dr. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was based on concepts he read in Thoreau's “Civil Disobedience”. While both writers discuss ways to be civil yet disobedient, they convince the readers in opposite ways.
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a very famous argument that was written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 after being arrested for protesting in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama. His letter is a direct response to criticism from southern white religious leaders about King’s actions. Martin Luther King Jr. was a black Minister and one of the most famous activists of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement is defined as the major protest by blacks to fight unfair laws and promote equal rights for all. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written during a time period of social change in America.
The parallelism at the end of King’s sentence strengthens the idea that the church is focusing more on the skin color of a person’s body, not on their moral spirit or soul. By strengthening this idea through
While in solitary confinement for nearly 8 days, reverend and social justice activist, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the criticism he received for his non-violent protests. Several clergy who negatively critiqued King’s approach of seeking justice, wrote A Call for Unity, arguing that his protests were senseless and improper. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how King’s protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments.
He reveals his hope that the church will make changes to its current attitude, while at the same time expressing his disappointment. Furthermore, King prefaces this section with a statement that he is a man “who loves the church,” (34) and “was nurtured in its bosom” (34) in order to establish his credibility and appeal to ethos. He suggests that he knows the church
The key to deconstructing Thoreau's argument is to understand his hierarchy of government and the individual. Thoreau's ideal communion between the individual and the state is manifest by the individual as a "higher and independent power". This relationship is entertained in Civil Disobedience in the analysis of Thoreau's 1846 imprisonment, in which Thoreau demonstrated freedom as an internal and subjective
Ty’ Keylah White Ms. Edwina Mosby English Composition I October 31, 2017 Rhetorical Analysis: Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary/Assessment: In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is responding to a few white religious leaders who stated that his nonviolent reveal against segregation was “unwise and untimely” (1). Dr. King had to be really upset at the clergymen because he rarely acknowledges criticism of his work. He states that since they brought up “outsiders coming in”, meaning that they went to the city of Birmingham to start a conflict.
Birmingham, Alabama was a tough place to live as an African-American in the early 1960’s due to social injustice and segregation. Violent crimes against African-Americans occurred regularly, and they happened with few people standing up for African-Americans. Shortly after arriving in Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. found himself in Birmingham Jail after standing up for African-Americans by peacefully protesting segregation. There were many critics of Dr. King at the time, and a few of them were clergymen who wrote an open letter criticizing the civil rights demonstrations. Dr. King responded to those clergymen from his jail cell in a persuasive manner.
Thoreau 's views on the government by comparing the government to a machine. He states, ”When the machine was producing injustice, it was the duty of conscientious citizens to be ‘a counter friction’ (i.e., a resistance) "to stop the machine.” The two major issues being debated in the United States during his life was slavery and the Mexican-American War in which were major reasons he wrote his essays. In the mid to late 1840’s slavery has been indoctrinated into American society in which caused rifts between Americans.
A government should only be present as a safety net and not be controlling of the people. Thoreau believes the power should be “in the hands of the people” and protect the country for the benefit of the people. When Thoreau
In his essay Resistance to Civil Government, it largely relates to the modern American Dream. Henry David Thoreau and the philosophies that he followed in his life, mostly embodied the ideas of self-discipline and finding one’s unique individuality
Henry David Thoreau throughout his works uses many different levels to his writing. Lines even phrases from Thoreau’s writings can be taken in many different directions. Thoreau’s topics ranged from our inner thoughts, the environment and the political landscape in his time. All of these areas have substantive material and the way he phrases and styles his writing the reader can take his meaning in several different directions. Thoreau uses double meanings numerous times in his essay “Walking.”