King Jr.
Kayla Wilburn
Instructor R. Miranda
English 1301.780SP
May 13, 2014
The Jail Letter
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), the author, Martin Luther King Jr., was written in response to a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in
Birmingham. His comparison would seem to indicate that he shares the same life as them. Martin Luther King’s work devoted to a single objective: the protection of civilization as a form of protest that the Civil Rights Movement could continue. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter he uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos. He starts off the letter with
My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. By him saying this, he is putting himself on the same “level” as the clergymen, sending the message that he is no less than them and they are no better than him. He then states, “I am here because I have organizational that ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.(792)
He is telling them that he has credibility on the matter of injustice, not because he is the hatred of white privilege, but because he is well aware of the subject. Martin Luther 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. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently, we share staff, educational, and financial resources with our affiliates.(798)
The purpose for the introduction is to make sure he establishes his credibility as much of a citizen of the United States of America. Martin Luther King Jr. then appeals by showing the trials his people have gone through. He does this by using lines such as,
“When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.”, and “when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even
Instructor R. Miranda
English 1301.780SP
May 13, 2014
The Jail Letter
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963), the author, Martin Luther King Jr., was written in response to a critical "Call For Unity" by a group of clergymen in
Birmingham. His comparison would seem to indicate that he shares the same life as them. Martin Luther King’s work devoted to a single objective: the protection of civilization as a form of protest that the Civil Rights Movement could continue. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter he uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos. He starts off the letter with
My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. By him saying this, he is putting himself on the same “level” as the clergymen, sending the message that he is no less than them and they are no better than him. He then states, “I am here because I have organizational that ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.(792)
He is telling them that he has credibility on the matter of injustice, not because he is the hatred of white privilege, but because he is well aware of the subject. Martin Luther 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. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently, we share staff, educational, and financial resources with our affiliates.(798)
The purpose for the introduction is to make sure he establishes his credibility as much of a citizen of the United States of America. Martin Luther King Jr. then appeals by showing the trials his people have gone through. He does this by using lines such as,
“When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim.”, and “when you have seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and even