Stella Erimia

12-8-16
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” analysis essay:

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King uses rhetorical appeal to help
develop his claim. The claim that King makes is that he should be in Birmingham fighting
injustice rather than being held in a jail cell. The letter was written to fellow clergymen on April
16, 1963. Rhetorical is using writing in an effective way. Rhetorical appeal consist of ethos,
pathos, and logos. King builds ethos, appeals to logos, and appeals to pathos to help develop
his claim to an advance.
Firstly, the letter, King builds ethos to help his claim. Building ethos is giving credibility a
person. King builds ethos when it states, “ I have the honor of serving as president of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference…” (Paragraph 2). This quote helps to build ethos. It
builds the idea that Martin Luther King is an educated man. It gives a background that he is
president of an organization. The letter also states, “We have some eighty five affiliated
organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human
Rights.” (Paragraph 2). This statement also builds ethos in the letter. This builds on the idea that
Martin Luther King had connections all over. It shows that he has business to do. It also shows
that he is educated. To sum up, this King builds his credibility in the letter.
Secondly, King appealed to logos to help develop the claim. Appealing to logos is
appealing to someone's logical thinking. King states “The answer lies in the fact that there are
two types of laws: just and unjust” (Paragraph 15). This quote appeals to logos because it
shows the logic behind laws. An unjust law is a law that gives power majority to one group
rather than another. A just law is a law that a minority follows and is willing to follow itself. “Isn’t
it like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money predicted the act of
robbery?” (Paragraph 25) is an appeal to logos. This appeals to logos because it shows
someone logical thinking. The evidence gives an example of condemning a robbed man
because his possession of money predicted robbery. This shows illogical thinking that the
whites had.
Finally, King appealed to pathos to help develop that claim that he should have been
fighting injustice in Birmingham. An appeal to pathos is appealing to someone's emotions.
“When you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and
sisters...” (Paragraph 14) is an appeal to pathos. The evidence appeals to pathos because it
gives an emotion of sympathy. It makes the audience feel sympathetic because it shows how
brutal the people of color were treated by the police. In that case, it would make the audience
feel sympathetic towards people of color. The letter also states, “When you have to concoct an
answer for a five year old son who is asking: ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people
so mean?’” (Paragraph 14). This is also an appeals to pathos because it shows a sympathetic
emotion. This shows sympathy because the actions of the white have not only impacted adults
but younger children as well. This shows how King used pathos to help develop his claim.
To conclude with, King used rhetoric in his letter to help build his claim that he should
have been fighting injustice. By using rhetoric it helped make the writing of the letter become
more persuasive. King built ethos by giving himself credibility that he is a president of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King appealed to logos by giving logical thinking.
Finally King appealed to pathos by making the audience feel sympathetic toward the subject.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” -Martin Luther King.