Birmingham Level Stuff
Reading Response: “Letter From Birmingham Jail” In the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr. King’s thesis is to answer other peoples criticism in what he hopes will be patient and reasonable terms. The reason he provides to support his thesis is that the people that criticism him see to be “men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth”. This is his reasoning to answer their criticism for what happened. Dr. King explains that he is in Birmingham because there is injustice there. He first explains that the SCLC and the Alabama Christina Movement for Human Rights are affiliates and that he was invited to Birmingham to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if deemed necessary. He then goes on to talk about how he cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He then tells his readers of some of the injustices that had happened to the people of Birmingham such as the broken promises of the merchants to unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches. Then Dr. King goes to explain that they had no alternative except to prepare for direct action. Martin Luther King Jr. uses many examples of pathos in his letter. One example of pathos is “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. “We were the victims of a broken promise” is another great example of Dr. King using pathos in his letter. Another good example of Dr. King using pathos is, “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” These are 3 examples of Dr. King using pathos in his letter. There are three examples of logos in his letter with the first being “But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” Another one would