This study analyses the civil disobedience that is reflected in the tone, rhetoric style, persona of the language, of the letters written by Martin Luther King Jr. in response to a letter published in the newspaper.
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Running Head:ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” Name of the Student Name of the university Author Note
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1ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” Martin Luther King Jr. was popular for his active participation in the civil rights movement from 1954."Letter from Birmingham City Jail" was written by him when he was inside the bars in the year 1963.This study analyses the civil disobedience that is reflected in the tone, rhetoric style, persona of the language, of the letters written by him in response to a letter published in the newspaper(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). The tone of the language used revealed his understanding of the civil disobedience. The tone in the phrase “The sacred values of Judaeo-christians” indicated his determination for the reestablishment of democracy, moral values, social justice back in America (King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). Again, the tone in the phrase- “..the dark cloud of racial prejudice will soon pass away”reflected his protest against the racial discrimination by the servants of the government. Again,“I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department” was also an evidence of his hatred for the civil servants (King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). The ornamentation in his writing style reflected in the phrases-“Fear- drenched communities”(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264).Again, the phrase “alone in a narrow jail” indicated that he was alone in his struggle to bring the democracy back in America.The phrase-“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed ” (King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264)was another evidence of the style of ornamentation.These phrases also indicated that he wanted to evoke a fire of protest in the minds of the oppressed people (King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). One of the examples of persona reflects in the phrase-“Its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed non-violent Negroes”(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264).This can also be considered as an example of the use of metaphor. Here the use of the word “dogs” signifies
2ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” author’s grudge to the civil servants.Another example of the use of persona as well as metaphor reflected in the phrase-“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny”(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). There are some statements contains rhetorical effects. One such statement phrase “the prophets of the eighth century B.C.” (ll. 34-35) and “the Apostle Paul” (l.37) was indicative of the concept that Christians committed to establish justice when there is injustice in the society(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264).This was not only an evidence of the citation ofa religious reference but also bore the rhetoric tone indicating his nonviolent movement to ensure civil rights to all the sections of American society.Another phrase-“But more basically, I am in Birmingham, because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the Eighth century B.C.left their village and carried their “thus saith the lord”(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264)far beyond the boundaries of their home towns”(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264)also consist of a rhetoric tone signifyingMartin’s determination to join the civil rights movement and carry on a non-violent protest just like the prophets of the Eighth century. A part analysis revealed that in the first part of the letter he stated his purpose of writing- how the issues of social injustice and racial discrimination influenced him to join the movement. Next he dreamt of bringing democracy back in America and expressed his determination to bring the sacred values of Christianity back. Later parts of the letter he justified his civil disobedience through statements, which were again ornamented with metaphors and similes. Such a poignant writing style casted upon an impact on the mind of the oppressed or victims of social injustice. His call to join him in the non-violent revolt continued in the next parts. In the next parts of his letter he made sarcastic statements to point out people who are ignorant of the existing social injustice in America. This is evident in the phrase-“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement…
3ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations”- (King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264). The next parts in the letter described the distress anddiscriminations that faced by the people of his community with the help of literary instruments.His writings also revealed that the dark people are unable to raise their voices against the government, the knowledgeable people were indulged into corruption, all these instigated him to carry on the movement(King, Martin Luther and Vivian 254-264).Finally, he apologised for writing a long letter and blamed his loneliness inside the jail for it. Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be stated thatMartin Luther was a true activist who did not stop his revolt even after being imprisoned. He wanted to find out a way to carry on his movement against discriminations, social injustice and corruption by the government when he was inside the bar and continued protesting through his pen. Hence, the"Letter from Birmingham City Jail" was also suggestive of his rigid and determined nature and his dedication for establishing equality in the society.
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4ANALYSIS OF THE “LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL” References (King, Martin Luther, and C. T. Vivian. "Letter from Birmingham jail."Arguing about law(2013): 254-264.) Bibliography Burrell, Kristopher B. "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Greater Vision: Manually Bending the Arc of Time Towards Justice.". Dyer, Justin Buckley, and Kevin E. Stuart. "Rawlsian Public Reason and the Theological Framework of Martin Luther King's “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”."Politics and Religion6.1: 145-163. Foner, Eric. "The Tyranny of Inaction: an Analysis of Letter From a Birmingham Jail." (2016). King Jr, M.L. "BrainyQuote.com.excerptfromApril16,1963 Martinletterfrom Birmingham jail."Retrieved March19. Moore, Noah D. "Moderate Resistance in" A Call for Unity": A Historical Perspective on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Prison Epistle."Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato18.1 : 4. Pierre-Louis, Gabriella, et al. "Rhetorical Analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Panel Discusion." XIONG, LI. "American Thought Embodied in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”."DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Sciencemeit.