Letter From Birmingham Jail Essay

Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay
Stella Ginyard
3rd
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. uses many rhetorical strategies to make
his purposed known to the clergymen that segregation laws should be abolished. Some of his strategies
are used the most in paragraphs thirteen and fourteen, when he argues for the urgency of changing
segregation laws. A few strategies that he uses are: diction, repetition, and Aristotelian appeals. “There
comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the
abyss of despair.”
King’s diction, or word choice, is obvious and blunt in these two paragraphs, especially when he
says, “when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and
sisters.” The fact that he brings up physical abuse being brought upon his people should be enough to
persuade the clergymen that what he’s doing isn’t wrong. He’s simply being a good American and
standing up for people’s rights that have been taken away from them due to the color of their skin. “We
have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional God-given rights.” The constitution says that
all men are created equal, right? All men meaning, black, white, brown, purple, blue, maybe even green,
but if they’re an American citizen they should have those rights
King’s use of repetition in these paragraphs is quite obvious, the repetition of the word “when.” I
feel the repetition is there to emphasize his reasoning on time. The paragraphs are about time and waiting,
so perhaps he uses a word like “when” to let the readers see that he will wait when they have felt the pain
of segregation that he has. He could also be using this to refer to exaggerate his impatience and
frustration. I mean this guy has been through so much and he’s been as nice and patient as he possibly
can. Then, these guys still won’t cut him a break. So he’s using the politest way possible to let them know
that he’s waited too long.
To me, Aristotelian appeals are a HUGE rhetorical strategy used in these two paragraphs.
Especially when he says, “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as
you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go the public amusement park that has
just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is
closed to colored children.” Now reading that would certainly bring out one’s emotional feelings, so I can
only imagine what it did to the clergymen. It makes you feel sad for the poor innocent little girl not being
able to fulfill out her true childhood due to some crazy segregation law. It also makes you feel sorry for
the parent also who has to tell their child something like this and having to deal with the pain of tears
running down their child’s face. He also says, “When you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old
son who is asking, Daddy, who do white people treat colored people so mean?” What type of answer
could you concoct to that question? Tell him oh, because it’s the law or oh, because they’re just being a
good American? I think not. Also, when he says, “Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the
stinging darts of segregation to say, Wait.” The strong metaphor he uses there to compare a dart stinging
in your skin to segregation. Showing the deep pain and hurt it causes. You can only imagine how these
word choices made the readers think, which is exactly what King wanted them to do. Also, at the
beginning of paragraph thirteen, King throws a quick ethos at the reader. He uses some American terms.
He says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights.” Now
most good Americans, as King would expect, would really connect with that comparison. It’s like he’s
saying that if we were impatient on constitutional and God-given rights, then what’s wrong with being
impatient on wanting to end segregation. The rest of the two paragraphs contain slight ethos with the race
card because if you were a African American person at the time, I’m sure they could relate to at least one
thing that King said with one of his “when” statements. Using this ethos helps King connect with the
reader on a more personal level.
King sums up these two paragraphs with this one statement: “I hope, sirs, you can understand our
legitimate and unavoidable impatience.” By using repetition, diction, Aristotelian appeals, and other
rhetorical strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. backs up his argument in hope only that the clergymen will
hear him out.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay

but if they’re an American citizen they should have those rights

that he’s waited too long.

reader on a more personal level.

hear him out.

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