Essay Sample on Letter from Birmingham Jail: MLK's Rhetoric Tactics

Introduction

Dr. Martin Luther King in the year 1963 April 16, wrote a letter which was called Letter from Birmingham Jail or The Negro is Your Brother (Pierre-Luise, 2015). The use of rhetoric language is evidenced where Martin Luther employed logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade individuals. Logos are used in the work where Martin Luther evokes the emotions of people by saying that they are being oppressed by unjust laws of which they were to fight. Pathos is also seen in where he invokes the individuals to gang against unfair laws. Even the aspect of racism employs pathos. Ethos is exhibited where many people receive the message and published on numerous platforms. This clearly shows hoe credible Martin Luther King was. Minus his credibility, the message was also received by many people.

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Dr. Martin Luther King employed rhetorical tactics in writing and conveying his message. In his later, he uses antanagoge. Antanagoge is where a person criticizes something but then complements it to lessen the effect of criticism. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther employs this element where he starts he alter by wanting to address the criticism he is posed upon (Pierre-Luise, 2015). He later says that if he addresses those criticisms, his secretary will spend the whole day on criticism work which will make him flee other constructive action, but he then says that the criticism he was to address is essential too. This portrays the use of antanagoge, which plays a critical role in his message delivery.

In the piece, Dr. Martin Luther also uses amplification as one of rhetorical tactic to convey the message effectively. Amplification under normal circumstance plays a vital role in delivering the message. It emphasizes the words which should be understood well. In his work, freedom and racism are reiterated to portray his negative indications of racism in the country effectively. The allusion is also another tactic that Martin Luther King employed in his letter. He uses the prophets of the eighth century to communicate injustice that was in Birmingham. Also, the allusion is exhibited where he uses Apostle Paul in his letter to show how willing he was to fight for freedom. Through the use of prophets in the eighth century also brings the aspect of analogy. He uses the prophets to explain the injustice in Birmingham. (Pierre-Luise, 2015) The strategies helped him to convey the message effectively.

Dr. Martin Luther's intention of writing the letter was to communicate the importance of implementing nonviolent strategies resistance towards racism. The letter encouraged people to seek their rights by taking the initiative to mitigate unjust laws which harm individuals more so in the sector of racism. He said that people should wake up and fight against unfair laws. Dependence on courts for justice on such unjust laws could take a lot of time; hence, people could suffer longer while waiting. People taking the responsibility to fight against unfair laws could save them (King Jr, 2017).

Dr. Martin Luther's later was arguing on the perspective of unjust laws, which were oppressing individuals (King Jr, 2017). He was proposing for liberty, which could only be achieved through peoples' effort. He said that waiting upon the judiciary to react to unjust laws could take a lot of time; hence, people could continue to suffer. Many people received his message, and it was published virally.

References

Letter from a Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr. (2019). Retrieved 29 August 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATPSht6318o

King Jr, M.L. (2017) "BrainyQoute.com. the Expert from April 16, 1963, Martin letter from Birmingham jail. Retrieved March 19.