Matthew Ross WA The rhetoric of the Letter of Birmingham is logos, ethos, and pathos.

He uses all three throughout his letter to justify his actions of why he is in jail. He uses the emotional appeal, statistical strategy, and the persuasive view to example himself. For this letter of Birmingham Martian Luther King uses logos for a persuasive view in the letter that brings everything together by basically stating why something happened and the reason for it. For an example: He said If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. Then he goes on to apologize about not being able to respond to all of them but he wants to try to answer everyone criticisms. The ethos of his speech is when MLK uses Gods authority to justify his action and saying that it is injustice that put him in the slammer. For an example he compares his views and actions to those who were authoritative figures in the past. Like Jesus, Paul, and so on. This is a quote from his letter; Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. This is how he justifies his actions through the letter. The Pathos of this letter is where MLK is trying to get the emotional appeal of the hard lives of Negros. He used cases of injustice in the past of Negros. Such as unsolved Negro bombing, police brutality, in humane ways of treating Negros. He uses these examples to try and back up what he is saying about how it is unjust that he is in jail now. MLK did a great job of using pathos, logos, and ethos to explain himself. Each one plays an important role in the way the letter portrays to the reader.