Martin Luther King Letter Rhetorical Analysis - 710 Words

In a letter by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader uses various rhetorical devices to justify his actions for the nonviolent actions. His primary audience throughout the letter was to the clergymen who made accusations against Dr. King. He justifies his cause and argues the necessity of immediate action using rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos and logos. By using these various devices, Dr. King can gain the support needed for the Civil War Movement from his audience. The opening greeting â€Å"My Dear Fellow Clergymen† immediately begins the letter with the use of ethos, which is an appeal to authority. He is sending a message to the clergymen that he himself is not better than nor less than them. Dr. King also†¦show more content†¦Through the use of dark and enraging diction such as â€Å"vicious†, â€Å"kill† and â€Å"drown†, Dr. King is able to appeal to the emotions of the readers. He successfully gives a vivid image in which the audience can begin to feel the pain and problems of what it would be like to be part of black community as an everyday life. Dr. King’s primary goal was to persuade the audience to hear about these outrageous acts and adds on to justify his cause in response to the clergymen’s letter against King. The use of pathos helps arouse emotions in the audience to take action and end the racism and hate that has caused a lot of pain and loss. Dr. King continues his letter in which he also uses the rhetorical tool logos, an appeal to logic. By doing so, Dr. King strengthens the argument by adding commonsense statements. The appeals to logos help explain how segregation is unjust which is a rational conclusion since not everyone had equal rights and were treated differently just because they had a different skin color. King appeals to logos in, â€Å"We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights†¦Whatever affects on directly, affects all indirectly†¦Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds†. This quote demonstrates through logic that any person has every right to disapprove injustice.Show MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr s Letter From Birmingh am Jail1499 Words   |  6 Pagesgenre, and rhetorical situation. When reading critically we become acquainted with these concepts therefore become better writers ourselves. While learning about rhetorical writing and composition we have analyzed Billy Collins â€Å" Commencement Address at Choate- Rosemary Hall† , Martin Luther King Jr’s â€Å"letter from Birmingham Jail† and Lloyd Bitzer’s essay on â€Å"Rhetorical Situation†. 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