parallelism in letter from birmingham jail
In his letter King effectively manipulates language and tone to strengthen his argument against the complaints of the clergyman and successfully address the white people. He writes of his own problems that may apply to the daily struggles of the abused African, Parallelism In Speech From Birmingham Jail, Throughout the speech, another scheme King uses frequently is parallelism, the strategy of repeating similar clauses, several times. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. He uses a large number of rhetorical devices in his letter to reach his goal, including point of view, imagery, and rhetorical questions. Both works utilizes the persuasive techniques of pathos in Dream and logos in Birmingham. Both of the works had a powerful message that brought faith to many. With this addressed, his audience was truly the population of the United States, especially Birmingham, with a focus on those who withheld and complied with the oppression of African American citizens, even if not intentionally. Martin Luther leading peaceful Birmingham protest, AP News. Glenn Eskew, Bombingham: Black Protest in Postwar Birmingham, Alabama, 1997. He is placing hope among the Negro community and assuring the white superiority that one day, they will share the same rights as their nation distinctively promised a hundred years earlier. This evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. Martin Luther found himself arrested on the twelfth of April 1963 after leading a peaceful protest throughout Birmingham, Alabama after he defied a state courts injunction and led a march of black protesters without a permit, urging an Easter boycott of white-owned stores (Jr., Martin Luther King). Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were both two African American civil rights activists who were very prominent throughout history. Martin Luther King, more than any other figure, shaped American life from the mid-"'"50s to the late "'"60s. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and . He takes up for his cause in Birmingham, and his belief that nonviolent direct action is the best way to make changes happen. King implies that one day, all, I Have a Dream, however, played a major step into changing it. Lloyd Bitzer describes rhetorical situation as, a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action to bring about the significant modification of the exigence (6). He displays a great amount of pathos, logos, and ethos in his speech. Parallelism/ Juxtaposition. An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and King goes on to write that he is disappointed that white moderates care less about justice and more about order. Parallelism In Letters From Birmingham Jail 172 Words1 Page 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. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments. Dr. King brought people up and gave them hope that one day everything will be taken care of and we 'll all be happy, he said that one day we 'll have peace and love among each other. By stating the obvious point and implying that moderates act as though this was not true, he accuses them of both hypocrisy and injustice. He uses parallelism by repeating I had hoped to ironically accuse his attackers. In this way, King juxtaposes the unscrupulous principles of the clergy with his righteous beliefs to highlight the threat of injustice, which he seeks to combat with hope. In this way, King asserts that African-Americans must act with jet-like speed to gain their independence. During a civil resistance campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was arrested. 808 certified writers . Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. Divided there is little we can dofor we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder." - John F. Kennedy, "1961 First Inaugural Address" Later in the letter, parallelism is used to contrast just laws and unjust laws. There may have been advantages to broadcasting this message similarly to his I Have a Dream speech, which touched America deeply, due potentially to the accessible, instantaneous, and widespread coverage in American media. In paragraph 15 of his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King uses parallel structure to compare just and unjust laws. Whether this be by newspaper, flyers, or restated by another in speech, the spread of information is slower and potentially more controllable. Dr. Kings goal of this letter was to draw attention to the injustice of segregation, and to defend his tactics for achieving justice. Martin Luther Kings "letter from Birmingham Jail" strives to justify the desperate need for nonviolent direct action, the absolute immorality of unjust laws together with what a just law is. Lloyd Bitzer describes rhetorical situation as, a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action to bring about the significant modification of the exigence (6). His Letter from Birmingham Jail was the match. These two techniques played a crucial role in furthering his purpose and in provoking a powerful response from the audience that made this speech memorable and awe-inspiring. Active Themes. Correspondingly, King urges the clergy to reconsider the horse-and-buggy pace of their methods of action through his logos. is undeniably effective at responding to the rhetorical situation at hand. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims. He writes how the white church is often disappointed in the African Americans lack of patience and how they are quick to be willing to break laws. King wants to bring to the readers realization the fact that laws are only to be followed when they are rightfully just and correct. Overall, King is saying that we need to fight against injustice anywhere we see it,, In April of 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an influential letter defending his anti-segregation protests. Although Kings reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. In each writing, he uses the devices for many different purposes. A seminal text of the Civil Rights Movement, King's, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, justifies the measures that brought about his arrest, and asseverates that the segregation laws against blacks in the south must be repealed. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust(Barnet and Bedau 742). 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. In paragraphs 33 to 44 of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s response to A Call for Unity, a declaration by eight clergymen, Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), he expresses that despite his love for the church, he is disappointed with its lack of action regarding the Civil Rights Movement. Magnifying the differences between two things and repeating statements with similar structure brings about emotion to realize the wrongness of the injustice of civil. It was during this time that Dr. King, refusing to sit idly by, wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, one of the most inspiring documents in history. This exigence is rhetorical because it can be improved if enough people are socially cognizant, whether that be in legislature or the streets of Birmingham, through creation and enforcement of equitable laws and social attitudes. The Letter from Birmingham Jail addresses many problems, including the slow action occuring to stop racial discrimination. Engels . Lastly, King is constrained by his medium. Letter from Birmingham Jail; McAuley ELA I HON. Found a perfect sample but need a unique one? Ultimately, he effectively tackles societal constraints, whether it be audience bias, historical racism, or how he is viewed by using the power of his rhetoric to his advantage. King was the figurehead of the Civil Rights movement, infamous for his I Have a Dream speech and substantially impactful rhetoric promoting social and political change, peaceful indignation, and calls to awareness. They were arrested and held in . Therefore, as King fabricates antithetic parallelism, he constructs logos and persuades the audience to take prompt action against injustice through the careful juxtaposition of inverse statements. In Kings letter, he states, We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Funny thing is he had lots of time to think about and write this letter. Letter From Birmingham Jail One of the most famous documents in American history is the 1963 letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. In this way, King juxtaposes his perspective with that of the clergy to demonstrate the depravity of his oppressors. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and, Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. Greater importance is placed on his tone, choice of words, choice of argument, and credibility, for better or for worse, and he must carefully make rhetorical decisions, not only because of his race. Furthermore, Dr. King had four steps to achieve his goals by collecting facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct, Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a response to Dr. King's follow clergymen criticism. Take for instance when the part of the letter when Dr. King talks about different men, both biblical, Martin Luther King Jr.s goal in Letter From Birmingham Jail is to convince the people of Birmingham that they should support civil disobedience and the eventual end to the segregation laws in Birmingham. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. He goes on to add; I am in Birmingham because injustice is here (King 1). . Order can only be held for so long whilst injustice is around. Parallelism, in the way King uses it, connects what seems like small problems to a larger issue. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." MLK uses both ways to gain the attention and agreement of the audience but, he uses pathos not just more, but in a more relatable way in order to appeal to his audience. The concept of parallelism in letters from birmingham jail by martin luther king jr.. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-concept-of-parallelism-in-letters-from-birmingham-jail-by-martin-luther-king-jr-Q1aX8ugT Be sure to capitalize proper nouns (e.g.