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After reading "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", ask your students to do a scavenger hunt using the storyboard creator. While there were consistent and impactful efforts made by various groups for equality throughout the civil rights era, the proximity between the public release of the letter, found nation-wide by late 1963, and the passing of the Civil Rights Act in early July 1964 shows the direct impact the letter had on social attitudes following its publicization. Both lincolns Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech are similar in that they both express the concept of freedom to achieve their purpose. The rhetorical choices referenced above are riddled with pathos, also known as language utilized to persuade the audience emotionally. Who was he truly writing for? He seeks to make them see the logic behind their protesting and make them feel ashamed and embarrassed by the way that they have been treating the African Americans. But the strongest influential device King used was pathos. One example of parallelism he uses is, But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity (Barnet and Bedau 741). Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. Analysing a rhetorical situation clarifies why a text was created, the purpose in which it was written, and why the author made specific choices while writing it. He wanted this letter to encourage and bring up a people that will start a revolution. The audience of Letter From Birmingham Jail was initially the eight clergymen of Birmingham, all white and in positions of religious leadership. In short, Martin Luther King Jr. includes rhetorical devices in his writing. 50 Years Later, King's Birmingham 'Letter' Still Resonates King has explained this through many examples of racial situations, factual and logical reasoning, and . You can order a custom paper by our expert writers. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust(Barnet and Bedau 742). Active Themes. Finally, King uses antithesis one more time at the end of his speech, when he writes when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands. The pairs he mentions are all the direct opposites of each other, yet he says that they will all join hands together and be friends. This use of parallelism draws on the emotions of personal experiences to persuade that segregation is a problem in a myriad of ways. Here are more examples of parallel structure within "Letter from Birmingham Jail" that I find especially powerful. To truly understand the effectiveness of this letter, one must rhetorically analyse the contents. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos and parallelism frequently throughout Letters from Birmingham Jail, to persuade the clergyman to support his actions in the civil rights movement. Amidst the intense Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and put in solitary confinement for peacefully protesting racial discrimination and injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. Letter to Birmingham Jail is a response to a group of Birmingham ministers who voiced negative comments and questioned the civil rights demonstrations Dr. King was leading in Birmingham. MarkAHA. King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. King uses parallelism to add balance and rhythm to his rhetoric. All of these factors influence each other to shape rhetoric, which Bitzer describes as, pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself (3), with Martin Luther Kings Letter From Birmingham Jail being a shining example. In terms of legacies, Martin Luther King Jr. is an example of someone whose legacy has left an impact on a great many fields. Consequently, Birmingham became the core of the Civil Rights movement, pumping the life-blood of social change into the rest of the country. Parallelism is useful to emphasize things and ideas to the audience, which, like all the other tropes and schemes. Pathos, Logos, Ethos in Letter from Birmingham Jail - GradesFixer Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. Why was the letter from Birmingham written? - Wise-Answer Both influential speeches rely heavily on rhetorical devices to convey their purpose. Order original paper now and save your time! King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. Martin Luther leading peaceful Birmingham protest, AP News. Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. The letter from the Birmingham jail of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Both their speeches, I Have a Dream and The Ballot or the Bullet may have shared some common traits, but at the same time, differed greatly in various aspects. His audience ranged between those who his message empowered, a radical positive force, and those who disagreed, made up of southern states, extremist groups, and the majority of American citizens stuck in their racial prejudices. Letter from Birmingham City Jail - eNotes and may encompass the audience, as seen while analysing Letter From Birmingham Jail. In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963, King's campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. The use of pathos is effective because it appeals to emotions and the issue of civil rights and civil disobedience. you can use them for inspiration and simplify your student life. PDF Letter from a Birmingham Jail: The Rhetorical Analysis He deliberately tries to make the audience feel as if racial segregation is both wrong and against basic morals. The Concept of Parallelism in Letters from Birmingham Jail by - Kibin The following well-known adage is an example of parallelism: "Give a . King goes on to explain how this right has not been kept, making it appear to be similar to a laid-back rule. In response to Kings peaceful protesting, the white community viewed [his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist, and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). Yes he does criticize the white clergymen but basically he is trying to tell them that they should stop this segregation and that the black are not to be mistreated. Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. Identify the parallel structure in paragraph 15. - eNotes.com Who was he truly writing for? Glenn Eskew, Bombingham: Black Protest in Postwar Birmingham, Alabama, 1997. On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a famous speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and freedom, this speech was called I have a dream. This speech was focused on ending racism and equal rights for African Americans during the civil rights movement. King addressed these communities as the primary groups wherein racial segregation is continuously proliferated (the white American political and religious community) and points much of his arguments to and for his fellow black Americans in the society. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. Dr. King uses his own words to describe what he wants the nation to look like in the future. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how Kings protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. The constraints surrounding Martin Luther Kings rhetorical situation include the audience, the rhetorical exigence of the situation he is responding to, Dr. King himself, and the medium, all of which are deeply connected. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a letter that illustrates oppression being a large battle fought in this generation and location. Comparison Of Letter From Birmingham Jail And The Perils Of Indifference Identify the parallel structures in the following sentences | Quizlet Repetitions help the writer give structure to his arguments and highlight important aspects. Its important to note that his initial readers/supporters greatly impacted the scope of his audience, spreading the letter through handouts, flyers, and press, in the hopes that others would be impacted for the better by the weight of the exigence at hand. Additionally, as he confesses to the clergy, King employs antithesis to create a rational structure that fosters logos: I agree I cant agree; small in quantity big in quality and shattered dreams hope (521 & 524-525). Letter from a Birmingham Jail (article) | Khan Academy In this example, King implements logos to create a cohesive argument that appeals to the rational side of his audience: Southern clergymen. Not only does he use pathos to humanize himself, but he also uses it to humanize his immediate audience, the eight clergymen. Although Kings reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. Repetition in "The Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Maddie Hawkins - Prezi He shows logos by giving a sense of hope to the people that better things will come in time.