Get custom essays. King was imprisoned by Bull Connor, a police chief in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s for not having a license to parade or protest. Anaphora is a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Other religious figures, as well as American political figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, might be called extremists for their unorthodox views (for their time). King says, I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The letter uses a deliberate choice of words intended to evoke emotions in the audience. Bloomsbury Press, 2013. It is also a well-known defence of the notion of civil disobedience, or refusing to obey laws which are immoral or unjust, often through peaceful protest and collective action. The use of anaphora emphasizes the meaning and adds rhythm and emotions as a rhetorical style. (1992). The most evident aspect states, when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people (King Jr, 1963). King points out that the newly elected mayor of the city, like the previous incumbent, is in favour of racial segregation and thus wishes to preserve the political status quo so far as race is concerned. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. An anaphora is a rhetorical device that consists of repeated phrases or words in the beginning of neighboring clauses (not to be confused with just simple repetition). Term. Anaphora is a rhetorical device that repeats the same word or phrase at the beginning of sentences, and it is often used to imply importance or emphasis. King answers each of the clergymens objections in turn, laying out his argument in calm, rational, but rhetorically brilliant prose. Kings use of religious knowledge gave him the tools he needed in order to not only castigate the stance of his opposition, but to show them that they lost the meaning of the religion they devoted their lives. LitCharts Teacher Editions. But Letter from Birmingham Jail is also notable for the thoughtful and often surprising things King does with his detractors arguments. An unjust law degrades human personality and contradicts the moral law (and Gods law). King structures his language that conflicts with the oppression against human rights. King uses anaphora in paragraphs three and four. King likens this to the tension in the individual human mind which Socrates, the great classical philosopher, fostered through his teachings. He had dedicated his life to bringing liberty to people of color and making the United States a truly 'free' nation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" 10 terms. This can also be viewed as anaphora because he repeats that phrase seven times when he refers to the seven extremists. Kings commendation of these allies is strategic, however, as he then condemns the majority of the white church leaders who have not made the same small concessions that Reverend Stallings did. 1 / 26. allegory. The merchants disingenuous dealings with African American leaders only exacerbates that humiliation. When Marting Luther King calls God an extremist he goes on saying the question is not whether we will be an extremist, but what kind of extremist these two follow after one another because some not all people think it is insane to love your enemies, to bless them because they are bringing you down but people go by it because it is the right thing to do so with that being said Martin Luther King Jr. is claiming he might be considered an extremist now for doing something out of the ordinary but soon his extreme actions will no longer be considered extremebut will be considered doing something good. This appeal to logos proves historically that extremist causes are not always wrong, and can bring about positive, much needed change. He now commends some of the white people who have supported the cause of racial equality in even the smallest ways, such as the Reverend Stallings. This is important, as the white authorities have attempted to portray the protesters as extremist law-breakers. . By inspiring sympathy through strong emotional appeals, King brings hope for positive change that the white clergymen reading his letter will begin to understand the overlying problem and work for change. While in jail, King received a letter written by eight Alabama clergymen who pleaded for African Americans to stop protesting and wait for segregation to happen on its own. By continuing well assume you board with our cookie policy. Phylon (1960-), 36(4), 411-421. In a letter, well known as the [], On August 28,1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a public speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. King explained that there will never be a right time for change in this society with bringing equality and justice to us all. One is Christian examples: Jesus, St. Paul, and Amos, the Old Testament prophet, are all mentioned, with King drawing parallels between their actions and those of the civil rights activists participating in direct action. The emphasis throughout is non nonviolent action, or peaceful protest, which King favours rather than violent acts such as rioting (which, he points out, will alienate many Americans who might otherwise support the cause for racial integration). 1,342 Words Signing off, King re-positions himself for his critics one final time: he is like them, a religious leader looking to spread the gospel of peace and community. The papers are not supposed to be submitted for academic credit. The speaker protests for conformity asking for equality without violence. Lewis purpose is to argue that the Civil Rights bill must include Title III to prevent the mistreatment of African Americans from police. April 16, 1963. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 7(1), 37-51. King addresses how the Negroes have always been told to "wait" throughout all these extensive amount of years. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Well write your essay from scratch and per instructions: even better than this sample, 100% unique, and yours only. Martin Luther King then proceeds to justify his cause for protest and establishes reasons for the advancement of civil rights. He uses the fact that he is writing from a jail cell to remind his readers of the injustice and absurdity of the situation. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. GradesFixer. This technique consists of repeating a specific word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or passages. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. Martin Luther Kings open letter written from Birmingham Jail is one of the most famous open letters in the world. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" built an empowering voice for his oppressed race over the unjust treatment given to them by the white men who discriminated his people's color. The civil rights movement spearheaded the advances and needs of African Americans and the black community. Need a Turnitin-safe paper onthistopic? He rejects this argument, pointing out that this kind of logic (if such it can be called) can be extended to all sorts of scenarios. Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? (King Jr., 1963, para. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arguably the most influential activist in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. This is the dominant theme. The letter is dated 16 April 1963. refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. This emotional and descriptive narrative combined with the use of the second person you have a very strong effect. Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary & Analysis Next Themes Themes and Colors Key Summary Analysis Martin Luther King, Jr. directs his letter to the eight white clergymen who publicly condemned his actions in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout the whole paragraph using this kind of sentence structure and a lot of imagery the audience starts to feel what it would be like to be in Kings position and feel the pain and troubles he had to go through. You can read the letter in full here if you would like to read Kings words before reading on to our summary of his argument, and analysis of the letters meaning and significance. Just as Kants magnum opus, Critique of Pure Reason, attempted to completely upend a previously accepted mode of thought, so also was Kings work devoted to a single objective: the protection of civil disobedience as a form of protest such that the Civil Rights Movement could continue in uncompromised form. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. Here he establishes a powerful example of an unjust law (how it was illegal to aid a Jewish person in Germany during Hitlers rule), and how he would have reacted to it (giving aid to his Jewish brothers). This served as one of the strongest points of his letter by allowing those who have wronged his people for so long to rectify their injustice. Kings letter is a response to those in the church who have critizied him, Yet, instead of apologizing, he stands strong for his cause and turns it around on them stating his own critisim. It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Over the course of Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), the author, Martin Luther King Jr., makes extended allusions to multiple philosophers, among them Aquinas and Socrates. No one should be restricted from rights and opportunities that others are given for that long. Recent flashcard sets. In Alabama, with its extreme racial injustice,, both white and some hesitant black Americans prefer allowing more time to . King asserts that the goal of the protests is to create an atmosphere of discomfort for whites in Birmingham. Anaphora In Letter From Birmingham Jail. Though disappointed, King still loves the church. While in jail Dr. King penned arguably, one of the most important documents of the civil rights era, and a classic work of American literature. Martin Luther King concludes his letter by arguing that he and his fellow civil rights activists will achieve their freedom, because the goal of America as a nation has always been freedom, going back to the founding of the United States almost two centuries earlier. The question of time comes up often in the struggle for civil rights, and King dedicates a large portion of his letter to responding to this issue from the African American perspective. (https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ejac.28.3.245_1?crawler=true). After being made aware of this statement, King wrote a letter in reply to the statement during his eleven-day incarceration., King used his letter to help with exploiting the discrimination opposed on the African community, that was protesting in Birmingham, Alabama. So instead of the view that law and justice are synonymous, Letter from Birmingham Jail is a powerful argument for obeying a higher moral law rather than manmade laws which suit those in power. He adopts an indignant tone in order to present unjust law that Clergymen were making. For a given word , choose the letter of the word that is most nearly opposite to it in meaning. Focusing on the larger picture, King reminds his critics that the segregation laws are unjust, as he has shown, and thus that there is no justice in upholding unjust laws. King's primary rhetorical technique in "A Letter from Birmingham Jail," a characteristic of much of his writing, is the highly creative use of metaphorical language to make an abstract concept. Another inspiration for King was Henry David Thoreau, whose 1849 essay Civil Disobedience called for ordinary citizens to refuse to obey laws which they consider unjust. . Let us write you an essay from scratch, Order a custom essay from our writers and get it on time, Pathos, Logos, Ethos in Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay, Letter from Birmingham Jail: the Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Depiction Of The Injustices Of Birmingham In Martin Luther King Jrs Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay, Application of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in The Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay, Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jrs Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay, A Comparison of "Civil Disobedience" and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Essay, Analysis Of Pathos, Ethos, And Logos In The Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay, "I Have a Dream" Rhetorical Analysis Essay, The Influence of Malcolm X on Ta-Nehisi Coates Essay, Fulkerson, R. P. (1979). The sentence has an extreme appeal to pathos, with such vivid imagery such. The preservation of order is not as important as the fight for justice. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. By reiterating that the only time is now, King pokes holes into the argument of the clergy, in an effort to make them understand the importance of now. The other is examples from American history: Abraham Lincoln (who issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War, a century before King was writing) and Thomas Jefferson (who drafted the words to the Declaration of Independence, including the statement that all men are created equal). Rev., 26, 835. He also includes examples from American history, thus placing his critics in the place of historical villains, such as the British. Do we blame a man who is robbed because his possession of wealth led the robber to steal from him? Gradesfixer , Rhetorical Analysis Of The Letter From Birmingham Jail., Rhetorical Analysis Of The Letter From Birmingham Jail [Internet]. Dr. [], During the peak of the Civil War Movement in America, on April 12th, 1963, eight Alabama clergymen released a public statement condemning Dr. Martin Luther King's protests in the streets. King now turns to the question of law-breaking. King again compares the protesters to the early Christians, creating a moral and ethical connection between the two groups. He explained why the protesters were civilly infringing racist laws and city ordinances; why the protesters had truth and justice; and how he was thwarted with the clergyman and white moderates in the South who said they supported his cause. King described the physical pain of seeing vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim (King 895). He also uses this rhetorical question, So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kinds of extremists we will be. The purpose of this letter was to effectively respond to the eight clergymen attempting to suppress his activism. Dr. King might of showed a lot of emotion and compassion while he was pushed to inspire his fellow activists and black followers. He states, Was not Jesus an extremist for love: Was not Amos an extremist for justice: Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: Was not Martin Luther an extremist: Was not John Bunyan an extremist.Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremistWas not Thomas Jefferson an extremist (King Jr, 1963). He persuades the audience that he also makes the list of the extremist depending on what he will champion. 20 terms. For instance, King Jr (1963) repeated the phrase was not to lessen the word extremist by pointing to historical figures. One word in the following group of words is misspelled. In this published letter, the clergymen expressed their strong disapproval of the civil rights demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. King and his followers are preparing for direct [], The Letter from Birmingham Jail played a very vital role in the civil rights movement. (2009). Paragraph three discusses the logic of the clergymen claiming that protests produce violence, saying Isnt this like condemning a robbed man, because his possession of moneyIsnt this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth Isnt this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never ceasing devotion to Gods will precipitated The use of repeating the phrase isnt this like provides emphasis on the fact that this has happened many times before, and to people whom only wanted peace. Kings stance unapologetically censures the message from the church, asking if it is the true will of God. On page 289 paragraph 31 Martin Luther King Jr. is referring to the clergymen letter of calling himself an extremist King proclaims But although I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremistWas not Jesus an extremist for love: your enemies, bless the, that cure you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use and persecute you. If you fit this description, you can use our free essay samples to generate ideas, get inspired and figure out a title or outline for your paper. The overall tone of the last section is very emotional and he urges the readers of the letter to adopt the same sense of concern. He also made them aware that adults and children alike were, King does however use a lot of one rhetoric device within his writing, which is Pathos. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. 2023 gradesfixer.com. Please check it and try again. When these leaders praise the police for preventing violence, they are only concerned about violence against white citizens. After all, Malcolm X became Coates favorite writer. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. He is disappointed in te church and his disappointment is worse because he feels so strongly for the church, as is evident through his tears. Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. Letter from Birmingham jail. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. This speech would go on to be known as the most famous speech in history, the I Have a Dream [], The entirety of Coates letter writing and consciousness in Between the World and Me shows the influence of the provocative writings and speeches of Malcolm X.