Logos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King’s argument “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written in 1963 in a time African Americans experienced segregation and fought for equal rights. In response to criticism for the actions of his movement, Kings expresses his purpose to defend his work and to justify their nonviolent demonstrations as necessary actions. Although, King addressed the letter to the clergymen he had the “white moderate” in mind. He adopts persuasive tones to appeal the sense of urgency to end the unjust treatment. He achieves this effectively using Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.
King uses Ethos at the beginning of the letter writing “My Dear Fellow Clergymen”. He quickly points out that he is a religious leader of equal status, establishing his credibility as an honest and trustworthy man. Also, addressing the clergymen as “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” he gives a sense of friendliness and non-aggressive approach. King continues to prove his credibility “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia”. He addresses to the readers that he is an educated man of authority. King expresses his responsibility to his beliefs when he relates himself to Apostle Paul “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid”. …show more content…
“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of facts to determine whether injustice exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham.” He appeals to the patience emotion of the audience by admitting that his presentations were not “unwise and untimely”. He explains these steps to influence the clergymen to understand his purpose. Kings four basic steps convey a reasonable tone that he took proper measurements for his nonviolent
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