Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Dr. King was protesting Jim Crow laws and racial violence, During this campaign he was arrested along with other members of the movement. Dr. King went to Birmingham jail and during his time he wrote a message titled “Letter from Birminghamjail”. In the “letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King uses the three rhetorical devices. Dr. King uses credibility, emotion, and fact/statistics. Dr. King uses these devices to strengthen the message that he wants to get across to the reader. Throughout this essay I will give examples of these rhetorical devices and prove how they strengthen his message. 

Dr. King uses Credibility to strengthen his message, Dr.king uses this on page 64 paragraph 2: “I have the honor of serving as a president of the Southern Christian leadership conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the south, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human rights...” In this quote Dr. King is informing the reader about his position at the Southern Christian leadership conference. Dr. King also states that they have eighty five affiliated organizations which is credible and definitely strengthens his argument because he's a credible source. Another example of Dr. king using credibility is on page 73 paragraph 31, “And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .”So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.” In this quote Dr. King quotes well known people such as John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. This is a great example of credibility, because he is using well known people to strengthen his argument. Dr. King uses other rhetorical devices such as logos. 

Dr. King uses statistics and facts to strengthen his message, Dr. King uses this on page 67 paragraph 14 Dr. King says, “ We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” In this quote Dr. King uses statistics and facts to emphasize how long the African American community have been fighting for their rights, and Dr. King's usage of statistics helps push his message across because 340 years is a long time. Dr.king uses this rhetorical device multiple times, another example of Dr. king using this is on page 65 paragraph 6, In this paragraph Dr. king says “In any nonviolent campaign there are four steps: collection of the facts to determining whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.” In this quote Dr. king provides steps to logically explain how to  nonviolently campaign. Dr. king uses statistics really good on page 67 paragraph 14 Dr. king says “when you see the vast majority of your tenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affuluent society;...” The use of statistics in this quote makes his statement so much stronger because twenty million is a very large number of people that are suffering in poverty, Dr King uses another rhetorical device to strengthen his message he uses readers emotion. 

Dr. king uses readers emotion to strengthen his message, Dr. king uses this on page 67 paragraph 14 Dr. king says “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to you six-year-old daughter why she can't go to 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, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct and answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “”daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” This quote really strengthens his message because it is extremely powerful as it mentions having to explain unexplainable things to your young children and seeing them cry and be discriminated against just because of their race. Another example of Dr. King using the reader's emotion to strengthen his message is on page  76 paragraph 44,  Dr. King says “I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old negro women and young negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old negro men and youngboys; if you were to observe them as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing out grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.” In this quote Dr. king describes how the African americans were being treated in the jail and it is really sad to think about the things he described such as young boys and girls being pushed by the cops and them being starved, it's just so messed up and is a great usage of the appeal to the readers emotion. 

I think Dr. King uses rhetorical devices to strengthen his message. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham jail” Dr. King uses credibility,  facts/statistics, and readers' emotion to strengthen his message. Dr. King uses credibility to inform the reader of his position at the Southern Christian leadership conference, Dr King uses facts/statistics to strengthen his message by providing numbers such as when he said “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.” The usage of the number 340 helps the reader get an idea of just how long African Americans have been fighting for their rights. And finally Dr. King uses The readers emotion to help them understand/relate to what the african americans were going through such as when he said, “When you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to you six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes”... This is a good example of readers' emotion because no kid should have to go through this just because of their skin color. This quote can also help the reader really understand how the African Americans felt and were being treated.