Although the two essays were written during two very different times‚ there is a great deal of similarities between Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” and Martin Luther King‚ Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The style‚ technique‚ and reason that each author used were intentional towards their cause. During the middle of the 1840’s‚ abolitionist Henry Thoreau was placed in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax. He wouldn’t agree to a tax that he believed supported slavery and
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On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a peaceful protest against segregation. In his letter to clergymen‚ King conveys his urgency in changing segregation laws by using a series of rhetorical strategies‚ such as metaphors‚ antithesis‚ parallelism‚ personal anecdote‚ antimetabole‚ and ethos to strengthen his argument. In paragraph 13 King starts out by using a simple but effective method of using metaphors. “Disease of segregation” is used directly
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The general argument made by King in his letter titled “ Letter from Birmingham Jail” is that in order for Blacks to get their rights they must use non-violent resistance. More specifically‚ King argues that they must demand that they get their rights and he states that with time‚ the non-violent resistance will make situations which will force whites to negotiate. There are two distinct sides to this very complicated issue‚ and while King argues that non-violent resistance is the key to acquiring
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A preacher‚ an author‚ and a leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1950s‚ Martin Luther King Jr. defends the actions of the African American community in his essay “A Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King’s purpose is to prove why the negative “extremist” label that is slapped on the protesters does not accurately reflect the actions that are taken to fight for equality. He adopts a hopeful tone in order to connect to the rationality and humanity in his mainly white audience despite their
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Justice: The Cure for Racism Our world today is much different from the world Martin Luther King Jr. experienced. He had to go through some things that fortunately people my age will never have to face. Today we do not fight for the right to drink at certain water fountains nor do we have assigned seats on city buses. People do not worry about the Ku Klux Klan burning down their churches and killing their kids simply because they hate the color of that person’s skin. It is so sad to see how
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"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King‚ Jr.]" This letter is very powerful. He makes very good points about our rights. One part that stood out to me was when he spoke on just and unjust laws. He talked a lot about morality and what is really morally right and wrong pertaining to our laws. When he was speaking about unjust laws‚ I tried to imagine living in such a time like that. Seeing amusement parks on TV but not being able to go‚ being abused and taunted at school it all seems so farfetched
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In this letter‚ addressed to eight “fellow clergymen” from Alabama who collectively published a letter of criticism in a newspaper on the handling of protests by King and his cohorts in Birmingham‚ King gives a few different takes on the difference between a just and unjust law. They’ve all to do with‚ as King says‚ “difference made legal”; as to say‚ “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” It is necessary
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Tommy Bellone 7th hr 5/17/13 Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King wrote the letter on the 16th of April in 1963. He was responding to his fellow clergymen after they called him unwise and untimely. King was arrested for his civil disobedience in the protests and marches that he led. Martin Luther King’s audience in the letter were the clergymen who are men of religion. Therefore King alludes to religious figures in order to appeal to the clergymen. He speaks in a respectful tone
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Grammar Assignment Martin Luther King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Three paragraphs from pages 168-169 The topic sentence in the first paragraph‚ "Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application"‚ states a clear topic. It shows that the following paragraph will discuss the fact that while a law can appear to be just on its face‚ in its application‚ it really serves no justice at all. In the second paragraph the writer states that he does not advocate evading or defying
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however he was showing no fear during these arrests. He would write letters meant for whoever would read it such as the one from Birmingham Alabama Jail and it had purpose to it. The purpose which was the
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