How Martin Luther King developed - Essay Example

The letter was written in protest to the law that segregated people on racial bases. The letter was intended to persuade his audience on the need for a nonviolent but direct action to eliminate the unjust laws. The intended audience was the critiques who were opposed to his activities in down town Birmingham, Alabama. This essay focuses on why Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's Letter from a Birmingham Jail stands out as a model of how to write a powerful argument. The essay will demonstrate what Martin Luther does to make his writing so persuasive even in the contemporary readers.

Writing persuasively is not easy since it requires one to be able to coerce an audience that could be partial or impartial towards your ideas. It requires one to make the audience trust you and perceive your arguments, proclamations, or judgments as truthful (Jacobus 210-213). In case Martin Luther’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he had to convince his audience that racism is evil and should be eliminated for the good of all. He starts his letter with the words “My dear fellow clergymen” (King 115).

This enables him establish a connection with the intended audience. Luther manages to earn the readers trust and induces them to view him and his ideas as intelligent. The Letter to the clergymen is precise but clearly addresses different aspects of racism expressed towards African-American people, particularly in Birmingham during the time of the writing. The letter is realistic and unbiased. Dr. Martin wrote this letter on Aprils 16, 1963 while he was imprisoned. Leading Martin Luther’s letter evoked a sense of patriotism even in me.

The letter was addressed to eight clergymen who were opposed to Luther’s work on civil rights. Martin Luther employs Aristotle’s persuasion appeals, which include ethos, pathos, and logos. In his writing, Luther appeals his own reputation, arouses emotions in the readers mind, and supports his claims using credible citations from influential thinkers. By making use of pathos, Luther is able to connect and invoke emotions such as anger, sympathy, patriotism, love, and empathy from the readers (Jacobus 225).

The readers sympathize with him when he says, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (King 116). This clearly addresses the question of his intentions, which had been posed by his critics. Additionally, he establishes his role as the right person to promote civil rights when he claims, “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference” (King 117). He reminds his opponents, who were clergymen that he is entitled to promote the rights of his community and is not any lesser than the eight clergymen are.

Additionally, this demonstrates use of ethos to establish his credibility. He builds his credibility when he repeatedly compares himself to biblical characters who had suffered for telling the truth (Jacobus 213-217). By so doing, the reader understands and appreciates Luther’s grounds as truthful. This is depicted when he states “Just as the eight-century prophets left their little villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their home towns” (King 115-116).

This statement convinces the readers that his course is genuine. He continues to claim that “Just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Graeci-Roman world,