Ethos Pathos Logos
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an emotional letter about the trials and tribulations of the African American people. He wrote this piece to fellow clergymen to address their concerns regarding the 1963 nonviolent direct-action demonstrations in Birmingham, AL. In Dr. King’s letter he talks about the injustice that is proceeding with the ordeals of the segregation. All three appeals are employed in this letter and I seem to be drawn towards the emotional appeal, pathos, more than the rest due to the immense amount of emotion he projects. While reading this letter it almost left me breathless, I immediately felt empathy for everyone who had to endure such injustice. Dr. King writes the clergymen and places them into his reality multiple times. One emotional appeal stood out to me more than the rest, “when you finally find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your 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,” to only image the picture he has painted breaks my heart. The fact that the world was so unjust then to the point where it affected not only adults in the African American race, but children also, really hurt me. Dr. King states “when do 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?’ ”. The emotional appeal in this letter was very strong and nearly had me in tears reading it that I almost felt guilty by the mere virtue of being part of what Dr. King describes as the “oppressor race”. The way Dr. King wrote this paper it really puts you into his role and has you support his unjust situation. Dr. Kings will to not give up on the fight for equal rights, and to stop the injustice that is happening around him shows him to be of very good, and strong