Running head: LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM ANALYSIS 1 Letter from Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis Luis Audelio Unzueta The University of Texas at El Paso
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM ANALYSIS 2 During the civil rights movement Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set himself as a leader for equality. During his involvement in the movement Dr. King lead many peaceful and nonviolent protests like marches in order to make the issue of discrimination known. This made many Americans uneasy either for the hate of change or the belief that his actions were not helping the overall issue. While in jail for one of his protest King wrote a response to an audience of white religious leaders from the south who issued statements of public concern and caution towards Dr. King and his supporters. In the letter he used the three rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos and logos, in an attempt to explain his actions and change the opinions of his audience. The biggest rhetorical appeal Dr. King uses is logos. Logos is the argument that deals with logic and the evidence that is given to support it. In order to persuade his audience King uses examples and facts all over his letter that the audience can relate to and understand more easily. Towards the beginning of the letter he is explaining why he is in jail and the reasoning for going all the way to Birmingham to protest. He states: Just as the eight century prophets left their little villages and carried their thus saith the Lord far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of the freedom beyond my particular hometown. (King, 1963, p 1) Dr. King is saying that he is not just going around the country causing problems but he is going around spreading the idea of freedom. Since King is writing to religious leaders he is attempting to appeal to the audience s knowledge of famous religious characters and their actions. Since one
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM ANALYSIS 3 can assume the audience has a strong religious mindset based on their positions, relating actions similar to those praised by the religious community can have a strong persuasive appeal. In another paragraph King begins to explaining why he is leading marches and other demonstrations when negotiating would be a much better approach. He agrees that negations are a much better way but explains they are not available at the moment because the issue is just ignored. Because of this, King says that his nonviolent actions seek to create a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront this issue (1963, p 2). What Dr. King is doing here is he is agreeing to the audience s suggestion of negotiating and adding the facts of the real issue in order to justify why he is doing it his way. By supporting his decision with the fact that the community refuses to pay attention to their cause and that non violent protest make a big impact, the audience can be reasoned into agreeing that his actions are the best approach. Another of the rhetorical strategies that Martin Luther King uses in his letter is ethos. Ethos relates to the credibility of the writer and whether or not he is in a position to be trusted. A big issue with Dr. King s audience is that they see him and his supporters as outsiders just coming in and causing trouble. They don t believe they have any reason to be going into their cities and causing problems. King challenges that belief by stating that he is President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and that they are an Organization operating in every southern state (1963, p 1). What Dr. King does here is show that he is leader of a religious organization like them and it makes him have more in common with the audience and be more trustworthy. Along with that, he has shown that the organization is so large it is present in every southern state. He also goes on to add, in his letter, that they share staff and resources whenever
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM ANALYSIS 4 possible. By adding this information Dr. King has just given himself a reliable reason for his actions and has given his audience more reason to agree with him. The last rhetorical appeal Dr. King uses is pathos. Pathos relies on emotions and attempting to influence to the audience s emotions. If used correctly it is a very effective strategy and King uses it to his advantage. In the very first paragraph of the letter King writes about his encounter with the statements of the audience. He explains how he rarely answers criticism because he receives many and is too busy, but since his audiences are Men of genuine good and [their] criticisms are sincerely set forth, [he] would like to answer [their] statement in what [he] hope[s] will be patient and reasonable terms (King, 1963, p 1). What Dr. King does here is he compliments the audience in order to make them feel important and set a friendly environment between them. He then goes on to say that he will make reasonable terms causing the audience to feel a little sympathy for him taking time to think out and respond to their statements as well as setting a little bit of credibility for himself. By making this the very first paragraph of his letter, Dr. King has just set a friendly comfortable environment between himself and the audience. Now instead of seeing him as an outsider with bad sudden ideas causing problems, the audience sees Dr. King more as a friend and is more open to what he has to say for the rest of the letter. In his letter response to his audience of religious leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes great use of the three rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos and logos. Dr. King uses facts and examples to justify his actions, he defines himself as a leader in order to seem more trustworthy, and he sets a friendly environment between himself and his audience so his ideas are better understood. With his use of these tools Dr. King is able to write a strong and convincing letter that can be very effective changing his audience s opinions to agree and support him, his actions, and the issue of civil rights he fights to correct.
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM ANALYSIS 5 References King, M. L. (1963, August). Letter from Birmingham jail. The Atlantic Monthly, 212, 78-88.