Shakari Paige

12/8/16

What would you do if someone tried to take away your right of

freedom to make themselves feel more superior? To make you feel like
you were nothing and they were only doing it for your own good?
Doing it to create a ‘more organized,just nation’? Martin Luther
King Jr. was faced that question and he fought for what he believed
in. He fought against the injustice that was placed in some people’s
beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. fought peacefully and respectfully,
protesting and having sit ins and that ended with him being placed
in jail. Martin Luther King Jr. did what he had to keep fighting
against the injustice that was in Birmingham so he wrote. He wrote a
letter to the fellow reverends with appeals to pathos, logos, and
ethos. To try and get them to see how things were through the eyes
of the oppressed and try to change how unjust living was for them.

King builds ethos by writing “I have the honor of serving as

president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an
organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in
Atlanta, Georgia.” This increases his credibility because he’s
giving reasons as to why the fellow clergymen can trust him and
believe in what he’s doing in Birmingham. ​Additionally​ he says “But
since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your
criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your
statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” This
increases his credibility because he’s complimenting the audience
and easing them into trusting him more easily by calling them “men
of genuine good will.” when the author compliments the audience that
pulls them in more to the piece, and gives them a sense of faith in
the author.

“But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mother and father at
will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen
hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers
and sisters.” is an appeal to pathos. King is appealing to his
audience’s sense of sympathy because he’s trying to make them feel
something for what is happening to their brothers, sisters, mothers,
and fathers. This is convincing because he gives an example of
something that really happens and he tries to get the audience to
understand the struggles that they go through and make them feel an
emotion where they would sympathize for them and change what’s
happening in certain places around the world. ​Not only​ does he give
this example ​but also​ “When you suddenly have your tongue twisted
and speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old
daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just
been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes
when she is told Funtown is closed to colored children.” This as
well as the example before evokes a sense of sadness. This is
convincing because it’s to do with a child, and a parent would do
anything the keep their child safe, happy and respected as an equal.

“We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and
God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet
like speed toward gaining political independence,” is an appeal to
logos. King uses logic to prove that African Americans have been in
waiting for a very long time for rights that should have been
granted a long time ago. This appeals to an audience that likes to
hear the facts, real evidence and not so much experiences, stories,
or self-accomplishments. ​In addition​ King uses logical examples to
back up his argument about just and unjust laws. “We should never
forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and
everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was
“Illegal.” It was “Illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s
Germany.” King uses this fact to maybe set an example that the
audience can understand more clearly and not use one that is one
sided, and tells only an African American’s experience, which is
something that they can’t really relate to in a full extent.

In the light of ​the analysis of King’s letter given in this essay

about how King develops and refines his claim to advance his
purpose. King uses a different kinds of appeals to pathos, logos,
and ethos to get his point across about the injustice that is
happening in ​not only​ in Birmingham ​but also​ in other settings in
the United States. He appeals to his audience of fellow clergymen
through their feelings, their sense of logic, and by building up his
trust in their minds. This is important because this letter was
written when a stand against injustice didn’t work, and was made to
try a different approach of getting people to see the injustice that
was happening to African American people because of the color of
their skin.