How Is Ethos Used In Letter From Birmingham Jail

The majority of the sentences in King’s letter can be connected to logos, pathos or ethos and his incorporation of appeals is masterful.

Throughout his letter, King also uses literal and historical analogies as well as theoretical language, also known as logos, in order to conjure a cognitive, coherent reaction in his readers. His use of logos helps is arguments strength and irrefutability. King states facts that cannot be argued, facts that are accepted by all as true. He states that fact that he is in jail “because injustice is [in Birmingham]” (King, 10), a statement that is nonnegotiable. He continues to say that Birmingham is “probably one of the most segregated

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King responds to the clergymen’s criticism on his non-violent actions being “unwise and untimely.” In his introduction, King uses front loading to provide a preview and background of what his letter will discuss. As he justifies why his actions were not “unwise or untimely” King addresses the bigger issue of the black community suffering injustices and the need to take action for justice. To convey his arguments King effectively uses quotations, allusions and pathos to support his argument and to refute what his opposition is saying.

In, “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, King writes about the criticisms placed on him by the Clergy and to all the white Americans who believe they are superior and do not wrong. For example when King writes, “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 3), King is speaking to the clergy who dislike his motives and actions. King is stating his innocence and that he is doing nothing wrong and that action needs to be taken in order to initiate a change. The purpose of King’s letter is not all to inspire a change in America and just address the criticism towards him and his actions but it is also a call to action. King takes on the time of a courageous, righteous, and disciplined man who

He begins his letter by stating that he is writing this letter “while confined here in the Birmingham City Jail” (King 2). However although one in such conditions for being wrongly convicted and forced to write this within small jail walls would be expected to be hostile, King’s tone is instead calm and patient. He addresses his attackers as “my dear fellow clergymen” (2). And even apologized that they expressed different opinions (3). This, to an open audience, gives

King made several references to Christian Biblical stories, especially from the Gospels, in "Letter From Birmingham Jail". King's letter takes on a religious, almost-grandiose proportion with King likening his quest for racial equality to a Christian mission: "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the eighth-century prophets left their little villages...I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown" (1).

Every writer needs an inspiration to craft a brilliant literary piece. Whether this inspiration is tangible or intangible, it is still necessary. Some forms of inspiration come as passionate love while others appeal as injustice. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was a response to "A Call for Unity" by eight white clergymen. His inspiration for writing the letter was the clergymen's unjust proposals and the letter allowed him to present his rebuttal. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively crafted his counter argument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen, and then using logos, pathos, and ethos to refute his opponent's statements and present his own perspective.

“A Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. was written in the margins of a letter posted by the clergymen of Alabama at this time that sparked his interest and while he inhabited the jail cell for parading around without a permit. This time allowed him the ability to respond wholeheartedly to this cynical oppressing. King’s letter addresses specific points presented in the Clergymen’s and this direct response distinguishes King’s strong points through his powerful writing.  Unethical and immoral mentions came to the attention of the Minister through the letter, and he expressed his differing views and defended his ideals and actions through Aristotle’s three rhetorical devices, ethos, logos, and pathos.

Martin Luther King created an archive that might start the defining moment of the Civil Rights development furthermore provides of the battle for genetic equity. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” aims to defend those who are frantic for peaceful immediate action, the outright shamelessness for unfair laws is very disgraceful and it needed to be exposed for what it really was. Also the expanding likelihood of falling back on amazing confusion and fighting, the utter frustration for those who lie within the chapel who, in King's opinion, required not to live up to their obligations as individuals for the lord. Those activities of the African-American race needed aid and support as the lord required demonstrated in King's Letter. Likewise, King explains, “past promises have been broken by the politicians and merchants of Birmingham and now is the time to fulfill the natural right of all people to be treated equal”. Secondly, King's solution for those clergymen's declarations that separating the law may not be the path to accomplish the effects the African-American is searching for. King feels that the chapel has bypassed its responsibilities to the African-American people, concealing behind “anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows”. King sums up his letter by making a side point that he trusts that the chapel will view its duty and intend as Concerning illustration individuals of the lord and comprehend to have immediate action, those who support unfair/one sided laws and the looming risk of the African-American climbing dependent upon Previously, savagery if they would not listen. King does this all in a diplomatic, ardent

Writing from the heart, expressing feelings, having a strong emotional impact on ones audience, using an appeal to emotion and logic, using facts and presenting arguments in a professional way, to the enlightenment of one's viewers; Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail; consists of three Rhetorical Strategies throughout his letter that is known and taught around the world as ETHOS, PATHOS and LOGOS. An appeal to ethics, a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader (ethos), an appeal to emotion, and a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response (Pathos), and finally, an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason (Logos); these three Rhetorical Strategies are used countless times throughout Martin Luther King’s Letter for Birmingham Jail.

Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was arrested and placed in Birmingham jail after leading a non-violent march to protest racism in the streets of Alabama- a highly segregated state at the time. There he received a newspaper containing “A Call for Unity,” which was written by eight white Alabama clergymen criticizing King and his movement’s methods; this prompted King to write a letter in response to the critics. Martin Luther King Jr. employs ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade and demonstrate to the critics and other readers the many injustices of segregation.

In Martin Luther King’s Jr essay “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” he uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his argument. First, let’s establish what all these means to the reader. Ethos gives the writer credibility, Logos is establish to the reader at what is logical, and Pathos is established with sympathy. When you think of Justice for all, we tend to think of your constitutional rights for all walks of life. But King is saying that this is not the case for the African American race back in early history. Some may think that King was only fighting the rights of the African American people, but the truth of the matter, he was fighting for all walks of life.

King did not hesitate to declare his distaste for a certain group by stating “the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice” (80). In this statement, King was acknowledging the way many whites who claimed they were in the movement to assist, were really there to shut the noise up and avoid conflict. In so many words King stated, he could not sit idly and allow injustice to be swept under the rug by these so-called peacemakers, and believed the white moderate was hurting more than helping the forwarding of the movement. King was also frustrated with people within the group he so lovingly was fighting for. King spoke about having two upsets when it came to African Americans. “One is a force of complacency… The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously closed on advocating violence” (81). These statements were used to point out that some blacks were accepting the fate placed on them by the superior whites to be impoverished and denied rights while others were so furious with the system in its current state they were willing to go further than the peaceful protests currently held and take justice into their own hands through violence, King was hurt by the current state of his people and felt something needed to

We are explained the difference between just and unjust laws. He asks the government why its okay to obey some laws, and disobey others, specifically the ones that make it illegal to segregate against blacks. A just law in King’s words is a “law that uplifts human personality”. Thus meaning, all laws that prevent blacks from gaining their civil rights are unjust. By degrading the human personality, they are wrongfully preventing others from receiving their owned rights, they are going against what is a just law. They are allowing those being oppressed believe that they hold no superiority whereas the oppressors hold all of it, and that is morally wrong in Kings ideas. Segregation isn’t limited to just being politically, economically, and sociologically wrong but more importantly, morally wrong and sinful. King wasn’t asking the public to disobey laws just for the fun of it, rather he’s asking them to disobey the segregation ordinances implemented simply because they were wrong and equivalent to committing a

King explains to the clergymen, whom the letter is written to, why it is important to protest peacefully as he has been doing across the United States. Dr. King says “Just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home town, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to … I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town” (King 3). Dr. King refers to the Bible in the very first page because the primary audience of this letter is many Caucasian clergymen and a rabbi who criticized his being in Birmingham and his leading peaceful protests in the city. The clergymen decided among themselves that Dr. King’s protests and calls for action were annoying and unnecessary in the world they lived in. Because of this, Dr. King needed to explain his movement in a way that the clergymen would be able to understand and agree with. The Bible is something that they cannot argue with due to their religions and they are likely to listen to the argument that Dr. King wrote in his jail cell if it was deeply rooted in what they all believed in.