Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis

Submitted By mad32795
Words: 1335
Pages: 6
Open Document
Madison Davis
Fleming
English 102
10/13/2014

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was put into imprisonment and while he was imprisoned he wrote a letter while he was in Birmingham jail. After the letter came out it and became published, millions of copies were sold nationwide. His letter was trying to persuade and educate clergyman about the injustice and harm done to blacks. Martin Luther King tried to persuade his audience by using different kinds of arguments such as, pathos, logos, and ethos. These arguments help him build his views, and creditability throughout his letter. Pathos is one kind of argument that is used to persuade an audience. This type of argument is an emotional state of the audience, meaning the audience's perspective. There are a few examples of pathos King uses throughout his letter. One example he gives is him trying to explain to his six year old daughter why she can not go to the public amusement park (pg 158). The amusement park was closed to colored children and the little girl had tears starting up in her eyes. King wrote that there was a build up of bitterness in his daughter's face towards white people (pg 158-159). With this example, it gives a sensibility of how the little girl felt when she was told she could not go to the amusement park. Children or adults should be treated the same no matter what color. He gives examples of blacks everyday life to put the audience in their shoes. An example Martin Luther King gives is the police kicking, cursing and even killing people of the black color (pg 158). King makes an example about how they have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights (pg 158) . He also makes another pathos example, that a five year old boy asked why do white people treat colored people so mean? (pg 159). When you are traveling and trying to stay at a motel and will not be accepted because they only take white people, this makes the people trying to stay some where humiliated and the audience can image how they might have felt (pg 159). Pathos is an emotional connection to the audience. Logos is the second kind of argument he makes in his letter. This argument shows many examples, and draws conclusions. King makes a clear distinction of the definitions of just and unjust laws (pg 159). Unjust and just laws are two types of laws King wrote about. He wrote that he would obey just laws. St. Augustine stated that an unjust law is no law at all (pg 159). "A just law is a man made code that corresponds with the moral law or the law of God." (pg 159). This means that a just law is a law that someone made up that has to do with what is right and what is wrong. Unjust law is a code that is out of order with the moral law (pg 159). In the letter, King wrote about St. Thomas Aquinas and he said ''that an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.'' (pg 159 - 160). The essay states that any law that raises human personality is just and if any law degrades human personality is unjust (pg 159). An example of unjust law is segregation because it damages human personalities (pg 160). Segregation is an unjust law because it is a human law but it is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. King gives examples of immoral or unjust laws, for example, Hitler's laws (pg 161). He also refers to Hitler and how things were legal and illegal (pg 161). He quotes that if he could live in a communist country where Christian faith was suppressed, that he would disobey that country's anti religious laws (pg 161). King meant that if the Christian faith was not allowed in a communist country, he would disobey the law. One example of an unjust law is voting, only certain people are allowed to vote (pg 160). This is an unjust law because there are results of being denied the right to vote because of a person's minority. When King was trying to make a point between just and unjust laws, people who break unjust laws with the
Show More

Related Documents: Martin Luther King Rhetorical Analysis

Paper One

country, Durham North Carolina seemed to be our common place. It was where our heart resided until our heart no longer had a beat but that didn’t change a thing, the distance didn’t change the fact that we were a family nor did it change our love for one another. They are the reason why I am the person I am today because of their teachings and wisdom they have instilled within me. My family taught me faith, how to love, and overall what a real family was all about and with that being said, I strongly…

Words 1131 - Pages 5

Article Paper One

Article Paper One. C’aira Vasquez Texas Woman’s University Most people don’t often think about it, but without working memory, we wouldn’t be able to perform most of our daily tasks. In fact, most people has the faintest idea of what working memory truly is. What most aren’t aware of is that our working memory is what allows us to store and manage information that is needed in order to carry out daily complex cognitive tasks. Amongst these tasks are things such as learning, comprehending, and reasoning…

Words 1261 - Pages 6

Shrock paper one

Sean Baas Shrock 412 paper 1 28MAR15 Burglar on the Job Throughout the novel Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Beak-ins, the authors Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker study the interactions of those who are within the subculture of being burglars and how, why and who they commit these offenses toward. Within this paper we will be discussing the relationship of Merton's anomie theory and how this theory correlates to the acts and motivation of the individuals to accomplish the ability…

Words 1753 - Pages 8

week 2 paper one

wants to sale it for this is called equilibrium. If, the company does not agree to all terms and conditions of offering and making the product or service this will throw off the equilibrium affect and this will make the whole business decision shift to one side or another. In this process the company could experience a shortage of supply and may cause the company the raise the price which will make competitors open up and fill in the blanks. The other ways to help the supply is to make sure there is an…

Words 655 - Pages 3

Apollo one paper V1

THE APOLLO ONE CATASTROPHE; NASA’S FIRST SAFETY FAILURE Paul J. Burke Embry Riddle Aeronautical University ASCI 611 Aviation and Aerospace System Safety 7 October 2014 Abstract In January 1967, America’s Manned Space Program stood at the pinnacle of success. The recently completed Mercury and Gemini missions had been spectacularly successful. NASA’s only rival, the USSR’s space program, had been left far behind. NASA was now poised to take the first steps towards fulfilling…

Words 1170 - Pages 5

One Day Research Paper

One of the things that made me laugh so hard I cried or maybe cry so hard I laughed. Sitting on the bed in a lavender painted room one second and lying on the floor the next, breathing becoming harder and laughter becoming louder. Renaming PE, dancing around in the kitchen, and constant reminders saying ‘Hey, remember…

Words 492 - Pages 2

One Running Research Paper

target and benefit different parts of the body, and bring whoever is working out closer to the goal they want to achieve. One…

Words 1813 - Pages 8

Prg 211 Week One Paper

of data versus data encapsulation • How object-oriented methods are similar to procedural modules * Code reuse in more than one program * Closing * References Introduction This paper will discuss the difference between procedural modules and object-oriented methods. How both methods work and some of the pro…

Words 922 - Pages 4

One Day Driving Research Paper

Every teenager wants to one day drive his/her parents car. Well for me, it was the exact same. I had an older sister, but she doesn't knows how to drive. I was very anxious to join the Alamo Driving Program. I signed up for the program and I started to attend the classes. I found the class to be very easy. I completed the program in two weeks. After that, I went to the DMV to take the knowledge exam. My confidence level was very high, because I was studying very hard in order to pass the exam.…

Words 508 - Pages 3

One Child Policy Research Paper

The One Child Policy The overall cause behind the founding of the One Child Policy in the country of China was to slow down the quickly climbing rate of population. During the time when this policy was first being conceived and thought about by government officials the population growth of the mid 20th century was 400 million. This means that 400 million new people were being added to the country’s population during this time period. The increase later lead to the introduction of the “later, longer…

Words 714 - Pages 3