Blog # 7 "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

First off I just want to say , wow!  Martin Luther King, Jr. is an amazing writer.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading his letter and agree with his statements.

Now for the analysis:

Doctor Luther appealed to the reader through emotion, logic and ethics frequently throughout his letter.  He gets the reader on his side form the very first paragraph with some emotional appeal when he talks about all the criticism he deals with regularly. The way in which he incorporates this information doesn’t sound like a childish complaint, instead he calmly acknowledges his hardships and makes them known to the reader.  With this he appeals to the reader ethically as well.  Stating that he generally doesn’t respond to criticism but choses to ignore it to pursue more important matters sets himself above though criticizers.  He elevates his respectability and maturity in the readers mind.  It has an inverse effect in the mind of the reader for the character of the criticizer, giving a mental image of immaturity.  He often uses logic appeal as well. For example: starting with the last paragraph of the one hundred ninety-ninth page, until the second paragraph of the two hundredth page, Doctor Luther shows examples in history when civil disobedience was just.  He mentions Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago who disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar; the early christians who disobeyed the unjust laws of the Roman Empire; Socrates; and their very own ancestors disobeying England during the events now known as the Boston Tea Party.  Mentioning the Boston Tea Party was brilliant.  This is an event that Americans are proud of that in essence is the same issue being dealt with.  It is the same “disobedience” that Doctor Luther had committed and was imprisoned for.
Another instance where Doctor Luther demonstrated ethical appeal was when I wrote about taking responsibility for his actions.  He disobeyed these “unjust laws” knowingly and with a smile on his face.  He was happy to comply with the consequences.  This builds an even more respectable reputation for him in the readers mind.
Another instance where Doctor Luther uses emotional appeal is found in the second paragraph on the one hundred ninety-eighth page.  He writes of the difficulty in telling your six-year-old daughter that she can’t go to the local amusement park because she is black.  Not only is it difficult to tell her that, but it is more difficult to know that her self esteem and self respect is slowly diminishing.  It is harder to know that over time it will likely waste away entirely.  The reader can most likely relate, whether black or white, to the relationship between parent and child.  This is a very effective way off bringing a white reader to the realization of the emotions felt by the suppressed Negros.  He further attacks this point with another parent child situation and then later with a husband wife situation.  This paragraph was powerful for me, an unmarried childless male, how much more powerful would it be to those with wives and children that they love?
There are several other instances where Doctor Luther uses appeal to logic, emotion or ethics to convey his feelings and ideas to the reader.  He is a very talented writer and obviously his writing and speaking have been very effective rhetoric.