Maia Riekstins

6/19/2015
English 3
Cadag
Mind Control: Tool for World Peace?

In April of 1963, segregation enforcement had reached an extreme. Historical icon, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was being detained at the Birmingham City Jail in Birmingham, Alabama.
He had been arrested for protesting against black discrimination and segregation. In the single-
paragraph letter he wrote in jail, King tremendously influenced his readers using imagery and
the rhetorical strategy: pathos.
The second evidence of racial abuse that is given in the letter hits the reader hard.
Giving an immediate contrast to the afore non-violent introduction, King reasons for he and his
followers impatience with segregation and discrimination that [he has] seen vicious mobs lynch
your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim. He uses fierce
words that have strong imagery to allow all readers to relate to seeing the same brutal scene
which King describes.
Kings daughter wants to go to an amusement park she has seen advertised on
television. Her father is dismayed when he sees tears welling up in her eyes when she is told
that Funtown is closed to colored children. Once again, imagery is used to provoke sympathy in
the audience. A young girl crying is a sight most would hate to see.
Tying his closing statements to the introduction of his letter, King again makes an
analogy to the common cup of coffee. King concludes his letter: 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. This quote serves as a public announcement that means the black community has
become filled-to-the-brim with dejection and are now bursting at the seams- on the verge of
explosion.
Dr. Kings short and potent letter proved very successful. Syntax was used to carefully
create each sentence to have high emotional impact on the reader, whether it is delivered
through analogy, literal language, or imagery. King cites people, images or objects that are
universally relatable to gain the sympathy and support of the readers. His Letter From
Birmingham Jail is a great example of the effectiveness of correct use of rhetorical strategy.