Analyzing Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'

Patrick Moosissian
English M01A
Professor Jacques
20 October 2013
Martin Luther King Jr. Reading through the commentaries of George E. Carter and Keith D. Miller, another perspective of Martin Luther King Jr. was exposed to me, that I was unaware of when first reading his famous works such as, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and his famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. Both men offered a different side of their views on MLK, providing analysis on his rhetorical writing styles as well as his influences in his writings. Transcendentalism can be seen in works of Martin Luther Kings, but his influences in his writing reach much further than that ranging from his Christian roots all the way to his findings while reading works of Gandhi. George
Miller illustrates the rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his literature through his commentary. Miller states that, “King’s social gospel directly reflects the theology of his father, his grandfather and Borders.” (76 Miller). Miller goes on to support his reasoning when he explains, “Their non violent protests- not his reading of Thoreau, Gandhi, Nelson, or Wofford-provided his initial and most significant lessons in nonviolence.” (76 Miller). Miller continues on to analyze King’s rhetorical strategies when addressing the issue of repetition. Martin Luther King Jr. uses reputation throughout his “I Have a Dream” speech. Miller discusses that repetition is an effective tool when preaching a message; he does this when he states, “it helps ensure congregational participation.”(76 Miller), and also when he explains, “A homilist develops authority by embracing well-loved disclosure, creating a voice by melding it with those of previous speakers.”(76 Miller). MLK uses repetition as a way to embed the message in the audiences’ head so it wont be forgotten easily, repetition was also used to show significance in the message being delivered. Another main point of repetition was the audience had a sense of unity because they were aware of the hymn that was drawing them into the preaching. Miller also speaks on the rhetorical strategy that is known as “voice merging”. King Jr. uses voice merging to allow the audience to draw personal connections when he is preaching. Miller illustrates when Martin Luther King Jr. uses voice merging when exclaiming, “In ‘I Have a Dream’ he merges his voice with that of ‘Amos’ (‘We shall never be satisfied till justice rolls down like waters…’) and with those of Isaiah and Jesus (‘I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…’).” (78 Miller). Keith D. Miller’s commentary provided me with information on different rhetorical strategies used by Martin Luther King Jr.; he effectively illustrated ways