Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr.

Vocabulary y cognizant (adj) - aware y provincial (adj) - belonging or peculiar to some particular province y deplore (v) - to regret deeply or strongly y moratorium (n) - a suspension of activity y futility (n) - ineffectiveness; uselessness y lamentably (adj) regrettable; unfortunate y harried (v) - to harass, annoy, or prove nuisance y statutes (n) law, an enactment made by a legislature and expressed in a formal document y sublimely (adj) - elevated or lofty in thought y psalm (n) - a sacred song or humn y elegy (n) - a mournful, melancholy, of plaintive poem y complacency (n) - a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, of the like y sweltering (adj) - suffering oppressive heat y laxity (n) - the state or quality of being lax y infanticide (n) - the act of killing an infant y gladiatorial (adj) of or pertaining to gladiators or to their combats y inextricably (adj) involved, perplexing y scintillating (adj) - animated; vivacious; effervescent Rhetorical Devices y "Just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their 'thus saith the Lord' far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Taurus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ" (221). o pathos o throughout King's letter, he compares himself to biblical characters to increase the pathos of respect for his cause o by comparing his errand to the errands of the Lord's apostles, the audience feels the intensity of injustice because of his effort to bring the world the truth, just as Jesus and his apostles y "We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal' and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was 'illegal'" (227). o King is comparing American segregation to Hitler's cruel work o since most people believe what Hitler did was inhumane and unjust, this discussion leads the reader to feel that segregation is unjust as well y Apostle Paul o allusion o "just as he left his village of Taurus" o if King is wrong in his actions, then so are the Biblical characters y polite tone o answering their statement in "patient and reasonable" terms y diction o King uses strong and high-level diction Audience King had a wide audience in mind. His letter was written for national acknowledgement. Specifically, his letter was intended to answer his critics, especially white liberals who questioned the timing of his decision to initiate sit-ins, pickets, and marches following the electoral defeat of Connor. More generally, King hoped to explain the religious and philosophical foundations of nonviolent, direct action to all who shared his Christian beliefs.

Quotes y y y y y y y y y

y y y

y y y

"I am in Birmingham because injustice is here" (221). "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (221). "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly" (221). "In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action" (222). "There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation" (222). "The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation" (223). "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights" (224). "...living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of 'nobodiness'" (225). "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal" (226). "A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law" (226). "Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application" (226). "I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress" (228). "Actually, time is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively" (229). "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro" (230). "Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty" (237).