shortstackgirli
Apr 25, 2011
Book Reports / Rhetorical Analysis of "Letting From Birmingham Jail" [2]
Hi everyone,
It's been seven years since I was last in an English class and could use all the help I could get.
The prompt for the class is as follows:
You have become a faculty member at Prestigious University. Among your other duties, you are part of a committee that decides which texts should or should not be taught to first-year college students. However, Dean Horatio Humperdink wants to exclude "Letter from Birmingham Jail" because "the civil rights movement is over" and therefore the "Letter" has no effectiveness as a teaching tool. It is your job to write the letter responding to the Dean's statement, explaining to him why the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is still relevant. What, if anything, can students still learn from King's writings"
I know my draft is very rough, but it is just to get my main points down first then flesh it out. I appreciate any feedback.
Thank you
Short
ESSAY:
Dear Dean Humperdink,
This letter is in regards to your recent decision to exclude "Letter from Birmingham Jail" from the first-year curriculum. While King's letter was set and written in the 1960's, it is still prevalent today. Martin Luther King was not only a civil rights activist for Blacks, but his logic and rhetoric is to be admired. I feel it is our duty not only to read King's letter, but to use it as an educational tool. The letter, by King, is well written and a great example of how to write a letter formed essay. Ignoring the fact this letter was being written during the civil rights fights and protests in the 1960's, it was written by a well-educated and well known man who is respected and admired.
King begins his letter in a polite address to accusations delivered to him, "But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will..." (214) He takes politeness to a degree that it becomes an art form. Not once does he use an offense word or phrase that would offend the audience of his letter. King's logic is also to be commended. The Letter began with King's reasons of being in Birmingham and he explains it in a way that you feel like you should agree with him.
The different types of rhetoric that King uses are perfect for the intended purpose. His play on pathos, or our emotions, is so that you really have to pay attention to discover it. The best example of his play on pathos is when he describes an even with his son, "Daddy, who white people treat colored people so mean?" (218) It is not the point that the son was asking about racial mistreatment but that it was a child asking his father. When you imagine an innocent child asking you a question about fairness your heart opens up because children, on many occasions, can cause a person to lower their guard. With your guard lowered, you emotions can be affected. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly," In this quote he tries to tie everyone together to put everyone on an equal level. Then he follows that statement with an argument of logic, "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds." Which hammers out that everyone in the United States are one people and equal.
King also plays on our pathos when he mentions people from history. To play against our sense of right and wrong, he used Hitler as an example. "We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'..." (220) Everyone knows that what Hitler did was wrong and was a blight on human history. He mentions Hitler while working with the idea that his protest of unjust laws was not breaking the law. It shows an extreme situation with following laws and shows that his protest was not a malfeasance but a necessary action. King also quotes Abraham Lincoln "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free" (224) and Thomas Jefferson for a positive spin on the situation, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." (224) When King inserts these quotes at the perfect times it emphasizes his ideas.
Rhetoric is King's plaything throughout his letter. He is able to propose violent situations without making it look like a threatening statement. "The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides..." (224) King was stating the obvious and it both a warning and a fact.
King also makes it obvious, through his rhetoric, that he is constantly disappointed with his fellow clergymen, "Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic." (226) The way he states his disappointed has a positive, polite spin upon it. While reading this, you never feel him threaten his audience and the way he speaks you feel compelled to keep reading and keep understanding what he is saying.
Dean Humperdink, I implore you to not disregard what Martin Luther King's letter can do for our students' education. It is an excellent example of what timeless rhetoric and logic can do for education and to inspire us. Not only is the letter well written and full of such beautiful writing, it does press upon an issue that is still prominent today. Racism is not forgotten, it is still around today, people just choose to ignore it. Racism is not just between Black and white anymore now also against other races. This letter can help us understand how to approach racism in a nonviolent way.
Sincerely,
Member of the first year Curriculum Committee.
Hi everyone,
It's been seven years since I was last in an English class and could use all the help I could get.
The prompt for the class is as follows:
You have become a faculty member at Prestigious University. Among your other duties, you are part of a committee that decides which texts should or should not be taught to first-year college students. However, Dean Horatio Humperdink wants to exclude "Letter from Birmingham Jail" because "the civil rights movement is over" and therefore the "Letter" has no effectiveness as a teaching tool. It is your job to write the letter responding to the Dean's statement, explaining to him why the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is still relevant. What, if anything, can students still learn from King's writings"
I know my draft is very rough, but it is just to get my main points down first then flesh it out. I appreciate any feedback.
Thank you
Short
ESSAY:
Dear Dean Humperdink,
This letter is in regards to your recent decision to exclude "Letter from Birmingham Jail" from the first-year curriculum. While King's letter was set and written in the 1960's, it is still prevalent today. Martin Luther King was not only a civil rights activist for Blacks, but his logic and rhetoric is to be admired. I feel it is our duty not only to read King's letter, but to use it as an educational tool. The letter, by King, is well written and a great example of how to write a letter formed essay. Ignoring the fact this letter was being written during the civil rights fights and protests in the 1960's, it was written by a well-educated and well known man who is respected and admired.
King begins his letter in a polite address to accusations delivered to him, "But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will..." (214) He takes politeness to a degree that it becomes an art form. Not once does he use an offense word or phrase that would offend the audience of his letter. King's logic is also to be commended. The Letter began with King's reasons of being in Birmingham and he explains it in a way that you feel like you should agree with him.
The different types of rhetoric that King uses are perfect for the intended purpose. His play on pathos, or our emotions, is so that you really have to pay attention to discover it. The best example of his play on pathos is when he describes an even with his son, "Daddy, who white people treat colored people so mean?" (218) It is not the point that the son was asking about racial mistreatment but that it was a child asking his father. When you imagine an innocent child asking you a question about fairness your heart opens up because children, on many occasions, can cause a person to lower their guard. With your guard lowered, you emotions can be affected. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly," In this quote he tries to tie everyone together to put everyone on an equal level. Then he follows that statement with an argument of logic, "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds." Which hammers out that everyone in the United States are one people and equal.
King also plays on our pathos when he mentions people from history. To play against our sense of right and wrong, he used Hitler as an example. "We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'..." (220) Everyone knows that what Hitler did was wrong and was a blight on human history. He mentions Hitler while working with the idea that his protest of unjust laws was not breaking the law. It shows an extreme situation with following laws and shows that his protest was not a malfeasance but a necessary action. King also quotes Abraham Lincoln "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free" (224) and Thomas Jefferson for a positive spin on the situation, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." (224) When King inserts these quotes at the perfect times it emphasizes his ideas.
Rhetoric is King's plaything throughout his letter. He is able to propose violent situations without making it look like a threatening statement. "The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides..." (224) King was stating the obvious and it both a warning and a fact.
King also makes it obvious, through his rhetoric, that he is constantly disappointed with his fellow clergymen, "Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic." (226) The way he states his disappointed has a positive, polite spin upon it. While reading this, you never feel him threaten his audience and the way he speaks you feel compelled to keep reading and keep understanding what he is saying.
Dean Humperdink, I implore you to not disregard what Martin Luther King's letter can do for our students' education. It is an excellent example of what timeless rhetoric and logic can do for education and to inspire us. Not only is the letter well written and full of such beautiful writing, it does press upon an issue that is still prominent today. Racism is not forgotten, it is still around today, people just choose to ignore it. Racism is not just between Black and white anymore now also against other races. This letter can help us understand how to approach racism in a nonviolent way.
Sincerely,
Member of the first year Curriculum Committee.