This special lyrical and parallel structure helped get his main points across and allows a large audience to understand simple but powerful words (Layfield) . Black Americans were forced to sit behind buses and kids were to use old books and uniforms of White Americans. Parallelism is a figure of speech in which two or more elements of a sentence (or series of sentences) have the same grammatical structure. Who was he truly writing for? Introduction. In Martin Luther King Jrs I Have a Dream speech he effectively uses ethos, diction and powerful metaphors to express the brutality endured by African American people. In Kings letter, he states, We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Funny thing is he had lots of time to think about and write this letter. Wiki User 2013-03-13 02:55:46 Study now See answer (1) Copy "One has not only legal but moral responsibility to obey just. Parallelism takes many forms in literature, such as anaphora, antithesis, asyndeton, epistrophe, etc. Whether this be by newspaper, flyers, or restated by another in speech, the spread of information is slower and potentially more controllable. Yes he does criticize the white clergymen but basically he is trying to tell them that they should stop this segregation and that the black are not to be mistreated. The following well-known adage is an example of parallelism: "Give a . The "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written by the African American hero Dr. Martin Luther King in Birmingham back in 1963, addressing the issues that the African Americans faced back in that time. Saying it that way magnifies the imperative difference between the two types of laws. Its important to note that his initial readers/supporters greatly impacted the scope of his audience, spreading the letter through handouts, flyers, and press, in the hopes that others would be impacted for the better by the weight of the exigence at hand. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims. He is a firm believer that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (262). Despite his support, Martin Luthers audience is one of the largest constraints in his rhetorical situation. Within the article, the clergymen provide nine different critiques that asserted how Kings protest are invalid, uneffective, and simply unintelligent in the fight for obtaining justice and equity for individuals of color. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. King wants to bring to the readers realization the fact that laws are only to be followed when they are rightfully just and correct. In order to do this, Martin Luther King uses several techniques in paragraph thirteen and fourteen of his letter such as repetition, personification, as well as allusion, to support his claim that racial unity has taken too long. He hopes that "[o]ne day the South will know that [the Negroes] were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream" (47), and that "the evil system of segregation" (46) will come to an end. Although Kings reply was addressed to the Alabama clergyman, its target audience was the white people. In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. The letter was written April third, 1963, it was published for the public in June of the same year, a slower spread than a nationwide address on television or radio. With this addressed, his audience was truly the population of the United States, especially Birmingham, with a focus on those who withheld and complied with the oppression of African American citizens, even if not intentionally. To summarize, Martin Luther Kings rhetoric is effective and ultimately changed the course of the Civil Rights movement for the better. The biases of the audience go hand in hand with the rhetorical exigence of this letter, another large constraint in the effectiveness of his message. Writers commonly use parallelism when there is a pair or a series of elements, or in the headlines or outlines of a document. Firstly, and most daunting, is the constraint of the letters audience. Order original paper now and save your time! King has explained this through many examples of racial situations, factual and logical reasoning, and . This evidence, revealing MLKs use of pathos, was used to reach out to the emotional citizens who have either experienced or watched police brutality. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist that fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. A seminal text of the Civil Rights Movement, King's, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, justifies the measures that brought about his arrest, and asseverates that the segregation laws against blacks in the south must be repealed. In Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King responds to the subjectivity of law and the issue he paramounts by using precise and impactful rhetoric from inside of his jail cell. African Americans have been waiting to have there civil rights of freedom, but the social courts has requested them not protest on the street but to take it to court. Good uses of similes, metaphors, and imagery will act on the reader's senses creating a false sense of perception. These circumstances lead us to our next rhetorical focus: audience. The letter goes on to explain his choice to act directly and nonviolently, stating, For years now I have heard the word wait. It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. Initially, the eight Birmingham clergymen are the audience and while they were not overtly racist, King uses rhetoric meant to have them understand his urgency. While this fight had been raging for nearly 10 years, the release in 1963 was shortly followed by the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The first to come to mind for most would be civil rights activism, as he was an instrumental figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important figure in gaining civil rights throughout the 1960s and hes very deserving of that title as seen in both his I Have a Dream speech and his Letter from Birmingham Jail letter. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and, Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. Letter From Birmingham Jail One of the most famous documents in American history is the 1963 letter written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. His Letter from Birmingham Jail is a work that he wrote while incarcerated in the Birmingham City Jail in response to criticism from Alabama clergymen. King implies that one day, all, I Have a Dream, however, played a major step into changing it. His expressive language and use of argumentation make his case strong and convincing. To minimize the possibility of being deemed invalid due to his race, he must choose what he states and how he states it very precisely which correlates to the constraints Martin Luther himself has on his rhetorical situation. While there were consistent and impactful efforts made by various groups for equality throughout the civil rights era, the proximity between the public release of the letter, found nation-wide by late 1963, and the passing of the Civil Rights Act in early July 1964 shows the direct impact the letter had on social attitudes following its publicization. Specifically he targeted the clergymen who made laws at that time. Specifically, King's letter addresses three important groups in the American society: the white American political community, white American religious community, and the black American society. Its important to note that his initial readers/supporters greatly impacted the scope of his audience, spreading the letter through handouts, flyers, and press, in the hopes that others would be impacted for the better by the weight of the exigence at hand. Ethically most people believe that it is necessary to keep a promise. King establishes his position supported by historical and biblical allusions, counterarguments, and the use of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos. He is placing hope among the Negro community and assuring the white superiority that one day, they will share the same rights as their nation distinctively promised a hundred years earlier. King does this in an effective and logical way. Pathos are present more often in the I Have A Dream speech, mainly because he is bravely facing a crowd, speaking from the heart, rather than formality. King organized various non-violent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in his arrest. His letter has become one of the most profound pieces of literature of the 20th century, as King uses vivid examples and eloquent rhetorical devices to counter all nine arguments. Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at its peak in the South. Despite this, the clergy never questions whether or not segregation is unjust. As campaigning, King uses it in his speech in order to express all his points. Dr. King responded to criticism that was made by clergymen about calling Dr. King activities as "Unwise and Untimely". We believe that King states in the first sentence himself that he does not usually comment upon the criticism of his work. The clergymen along with others are addressed in an assertive tone allowing them to fully understand why his actions are justified. Martin Luther King responds to the subjectivity of law and the issue he paramounts by using precise and impactful rhetoric from inside of his jail cell. Kings goes on to say how racial equality can not be achieved until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream (King). In Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring of 1963, King's campaign to end segregation at lunch counters and in hiring practices drew nationwide attention when police turned dogs and fire hoses on the demonstrators. Martin Luther utilizes powerful rhetoric to define his exigence. Civil rights is an emotional subject for those who were affected by it, and MLK is proving his argument on civil disobedience. In Letter From Birmingham Jail, the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. This wait has almost always meant never (King 2). From the very beginning of it , King brings his crowd back to the origin of America when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, that freed all slaves and gave hope to the former slaves. the exigence is the continued condemnation, segregation, and prejudice afflicted against African Americans since the emancipation of the slaves in 1863. Original: Apr 16, 2013. But the strongest influential device King used was pathos. Martin Luther King Jr. uses both logical and emotional appeals in order for all his listeners to be able to relate and contemplate his speeches. Here, King offers disparate hypotheticals to illustrate the necessity for brevity in his acts. King uses tone, literal and figurative language to establish structure and language in his letter. He uses these rhetorical techniques along with a logical argument to demonstrate why his methods were right., Martin Luther King, Jr. a civil rights activist that fought for the rights of African Americans in 1963. Find step-by-step Literature solutions and your answer to the following textbook question: Identify the parallel structures in the following sentence from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and explain their effect. Furthermore, exterior events regarding the movement could ultimately reflect on his influence and polarize the audience further. In Kings speech he says, Its ugly record of police brutality is known in every section of this country (King Page 6).