Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

The two texts, “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr, are both argumentative and use strategies to develop their arguments for the reader. They happen to use some of the same strategies, these being their credibility, and having deep emotions within their writing. While that makes them similar, they differ when it comes to the letter having logic to support its emotions, which the book lacks in this. While they are both good pieces of text, the article develops a better argument and gives the reader a better understanding due to the persuasion of its many strategies. Having multiple strategies in a piece of text helps connect it to the audience to have them agree with your argument. …show more content…
MLK is in Birmingham, and while there he receives pushback from people, but he argues that as an American he belongs anywhere in America. It states, “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” This demonstrates the development of MLK’s credibility since he is being told he doesn’t belong. In TTTC, O’Brien writes the main character as a soldier who carries his memories with him. The book says, “By telling stories you Steele aims to share your own experience. You separate it from yourself.” This also shows Tim’s ability to be credible, and the development of this. He reflects on his storytelling and what it has done for him, using it to cope. The texts use the ability to be credible to their advantage when persuading the reader, it instills trust in their arguments. While both of these texts have aspects to them that show credibility, they also have emotions within them, but MLK pushes his argument with the logic behind this. MLK uses logic to back up the emotional aspects of his arguments. It says in the article, “We have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent …show more content…
Tim, in the book, describes his own experiences, without basing it much on others. He says, “Right now, I’m not dead. But when I am, (...) I guess it's like being inside a book that nobody's reading.” This doesn’t have logic to develop the argument because he is just explaining his feelings rather than using any logistics. MLK has the added advantage of using logic to back up his emotions, while O’Brien is storytelling which only showcases emotion. Having the ability to use logic develops a text that gives the reader facts rather than opinions. The texts have compelling arguments, but the article achieves the capability to persuade the reader more powerfully. MLK states in his letter, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This has both logic and emotion that would impact the audience's opinions due to the multiple strategies. MLK has emotions when expressing that people will continue to have injustice, and he showed logic when he showed the repetition of the effect of

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Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis Letter From Birmingham Jail