INTERPRETING LOGICAL APPEALS—“Letter from Birmingham Jail”

During non-violent demonstrations for racial equality in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and jailed for eight days. He wrote this letter to white clergymen to explain his actions and to answer those people who urged him to call off the demonstrations he had called for. He responds to his critics who claim that he and other African American should wait for the federal, state, and local governments to make change.

King’s letter creates all three persuasive appeals- logical, emotional, and ethical. Logos loosely translates to “logic.” A logical appeal depends on reasoning and evidence, appealing more to the audience’s intellect than their emotions. Logical reasoning depends on the following:

  • Deductive reasoning
  • Reliance on authority
  • Facts as evidence
  • Research
  • Tradition (precedent)
  • Cause/effect
  • Effective metaphors

King writes the following using a logical appeal:

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. . . Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.

A concession is an expression of concern for the feelings of those who may disagree with the writer’s position. Using concession is a good way to overcome the reader’s resistance to a controversial position. And concession shows the writer to be both a logical thinker (one who knows and understands what the other side believes) and a concerned, fair-minded person who realizes that every argument has two sides. Using a concession takes away the major weapon of the opposition.

1. Which sentences in King’s speech make up his concession?

______

A concessionis one part of another persuasive device called a counterargument. A counterargument consists of two parts:

  • Concession
  • Refutation (asserting that an opponent’s arguments are wrong an arguing against them.

2. Which two sentences in King’s speech make up his counterargument?

______

Deductive reasoning is frequently stated in a three part statement called a syllogism.

Here is one example:

  1. (general statement) The Declaration of Independence proclaims that all people have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
  2. (particular example) People of color and women are people.
  3. (conclusion) Therefore, no one should enslave another,women should be allowed to vote, etc.

3. King develops a syllogism in the second paragraph. Write out the parts. You will have to change King’s wording somewhat. Here is your general statement:

a. Laws that degrade human personality are unjust.

Now you add the rest of the syllogism:

b. (particular example) ______

c. (conclusion) Therefore, ______

4. King develops another syllogism, this one more implicit, which justifies his breaking the law. Try writing out the three parts of this syllogism. This time you are given the conclusion.

a. (general statement) ______

b. (particular example) ______

c. (conclusion) Therefore, King and his followers have a moral obligation to break the laws of segregation.

Reliance on Authority

King cites two authorities highly respected by educated and moral people. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. Ask permission to research both men on the web or in a reference book for more information. One of St. Augustine’s statements is quoted above by King. Find another statement that Augustine wrote that would support King’s position. Write one of St. Thomas Aquinas’ statements that would support King’s position.

5. St. Augustine: ______

6. St. Thomas Aquinas: ______

7. Explain in a sentence or two why King would use these two men as references. ______

Facts as Evidence

King argues that two types of laws exist: just and unjust. He further states that he advocates “obeying just laws.”

8. Cite two laws which to you seem just, and explain why you think they are just.

a. Just law ______

Explanation ______

b. Just law ______

Explanation ______

9. Now cite two laws which you think are unjust, and explain why they are unjust.

a. Unjust law ______

Explanation ______

b. Unjust law ______

Explanation ______

INTERPRETING EMOTIONAL APPEALS—“Letter from Birmingham Jail”

King’s letter uses all three persuasive appeals—logical, ethical, and emotional. An emotional appeal is an appeal to PATHOS, which in Greek loosely translates to “pain.” Most people respond to emotion, but the writer must be careful to use this appeal wisely and fairly. The writer’s aim should not be to manipulate the reader through emotions but to appeal to needs that all humans have in common:

-Physical Needs (life and health)

-Psychological Needs (a person’s need for love and respect)

-Social Needs (the need for freedom, for respect, for acceptance)

With great skill, King uses an abundance of rhetorical devices that have the potential to overwhelm the audience effectively.

CONTRAST (antithesis)

  1. King employs antithesis in the second sentence. Outline the pairs of contrasts.
  2. Places: ______and ______
  1. Moves like ______(first place) and ______(second place)
  1. Gains ______(first place) and ______(second place)
  1. In a sentence, explain King’s rhetorical purpose in employing these antithetical places and ideas.
  1. Find another example of antithesis in this paragraph. In a sentence, analyze the rhetorical effect.

METAPHOR

  1. The antithesis in the second sentence contains two metaphors. Identify them and explain their effect in the sentence.
  1. The passage contains other metaphors in addition to the two already mentioned.
  2. Identify as many metaphors as possible
  1. Find a pattern in the types of metaphors King uses.
  1. In a well-developed paragraph, connect the pattern you see to King’s rhetorical purpose.

ANAPHORA

  1. Identify similar wording repeated at the beginning of the clauses. Analyze the rhetorical effect of repeating this phrase nine times.

ALLITERATION

  1. Find at least four more examples of alliteration in the passage. Write the words or phrases in which alliteration is used; then write a sentence or two that explains the effect of the alliteration.
  2. Alliteration ______

Effect ______

  1. Alliteration ______

Effect ______

  1. Alliteration ______

Effect ______

  1. Alliteration ______

Effect ______

IMAGERY

  1. Identify the types of imagery listed below and write a sentence that explains the emotional effect of each one.
  1. Sight
  1. Sound
  1. Touch

INTERPRETING ETHICAL APPEALS—“Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Ethos in Greek loosely translates to “character.” In effective argumentation, effective writers not only possess good character but also argue in ways that reveal that good character. How a politician addresses opposing views, for instance, and how a persuasive essayist makes claims can reveal whether or not the politician or essayist argues from the sound base of personal integrity. Therefore, writers must establish credibility with the audience. Persuasive writers must convince the audience that that have the audience’s best interests at heart. Controlling diction (choice of words,) which controls tone is one way to appeal to the audience. Skilled writers avoid inflammatory language and use appropriate language for the occasion. Writers who use inflammatory language will not persuade anyone and may, in fact, any readers not already on their side. Study the following paragraphs from Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” paragraphs in which he employs an ethical appeal to convince his audience that his actions are moral and just.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." 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. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

  1. Discuss with your group the way King uses the following techniques for developing an ethical appeal:
  2. Restates opposing view(s) accurately and fairly

Notes: ______

  1. Associates self with relevant authorities

Notes: ______

  1. Makes relevant allusions

Notes: ______

  1. Uses first-person plural pronouns to establish a relationship between writer and audience

Notes: ______

  1. Uses reasonable language, avoiding an inflammatory tone

Notes: ______