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One of the most important letters he wrote was while he was incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama. The letter was to eight fellow clergymen that were from Alabama. The “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was in response to some criticism from the clergymen. King calmly tries to state his purpose for his crusade for civil rights in the south. He uses three rhetorical strategies in his letter like: facts, allusions, and questions to inform the clergymen about what he and his people are dealing with as a whole “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” said King in his letter (page 317). King asks his readers questions about him and his people’s actions and then answers them in an intelligent and strong willed manner. He asks, “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” (page 318). King asked the questions that the clergymen would have asked him. By asking those questions, then he can answer the questions that are main points in his letter that clarify some of the actions that have been enforced in the south. This was a strong rhetorical strategy for King to persuade his King being a very intelligent and wise man knew how to approach all the different kinds of clergymen he wrote to in the letter. One of the rhetorical strategies he used while writing this letter was the allusions. He used incidents that had in one way or another affected the clergymen’s denomination or family history as a whole. When King refers to “the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar.(page 321)”, he is referring to the Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman. He states that “early Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. (page 321)”, he focuses this statement to the other Christian clergymen. King finally uses a reference from our countries past, the Boston Tea Party. This reference demonstrates the struggle for freedom that we had a couple hundred years ago and this comment is directed to all the clerymen . By using this approach of writing, King can better demonstrate why he is doing what the clergymen are questioning. The examples he used are perfect references that civil disobedience has worked and turned out for the better on earlier believers of the church, whatever denomination. Facts are a definite way to persuade a person in a letter, that is his third rhetorical strategy in this letter. King includes some worthy facts to proclaim his reasons for the hard civil rights movement. He states that the church is one of the most important assets needed behind the civil rights movement. Although, he finds that the church is surprisingly against the movement, even though he thought it would be the opposite outcome. King states that “there have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any other city in the nation.(page317)”, that is a unbelievable fact that proves without a doubt that there is injustice in the south. Finally, King declares what Jefferson said many years ago, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal (page 325).” This fact was one of the declarations our country was founded on and it is not taken seriously enough in the south. Jefferson’s fact, that King states is one of the ways to prove the rhetorical strategy he uses in his letter. Giving facts as examples is a solid way to persuade peoples opinions on King used the rhetorical strategies such as facts, allusions, and questions almost as perfectly as can be used in a letter. He made his reasons concise and straight to the point. Do I think he could have written a better letter? Not at all, that was the best letter I have ever seen in my life. Martin Luther King Jr. was a well educated man of great promise a couple more years. This letter was an excellent account of his powerful words that he can produce and a good example of his extreme intelligence. I am going to leave you a question to think about. How could the country as a whole have been different with Martin Luther King Jr. around this world a couple years longer? Bibliography: The Dolphin Reader- Lee Sulton 1997 Word Count: 779
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