Writing Homework Help

Now that you’ve read and analyzed the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” I want you to discuss the rhetoric you saw Martin Luther King, Jr. using, and once you’ve posted your notes, reply to one (1) other student’s post. 

To do this, you can fill out an argument map (with at least one column discussing a claim, evidence, strategy, audience, and effectiveness), or you can simply write your notes in paragraph form.

You should discuss: 

1. Project: 
   • Topic, Purpose, Method of Delivery
2. Argument: What is his main (overall) argument?
3. Claim: list at least one claim he use to support their argument. Provide a quote from the text.
4. What claim is he responding to in the letter from the clergymen?
5. Evidence: for the claim you have listed above, what type of evidence did the clergymen use? (historical example, numerical, anecdote, etc.)
6. Did King use evidence similar to the clergymen?
7. Strategy: for the claim listed above, what type of strategy did the clergymen use? (one of the appeals, identification, compare & contrast, prolepsis, etc.)
8. Did King use a strategy similar to the clergymen?
9. What tone did King use? Did he keep that tone throughout or did he vary his tone? How was his tone compared to that of the writing in the letter from the clergymen?
10. Who was his primary audience?
11. Do you think the type of evidence and the strategy King used effectively convinced the audience? Why or why not?

Joshua Chase

The topic of this letter is a response to the letter regarding the cease of protesting in Alabama, and the purpose is for King to convey his opinions on what was in the letter. The main argument is respectfully disagreeing with the comments made in the original letter, and King explains why he disagrees in the letter. One claim that King makes is that it is okay to protest against unjust laws. He explains what unjust laws are, and then gives an example of this in his own life: “For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.” A claim King responds to is the claim that protesting is wrong. The clergymen used examples in Alabama in which violence is wrong, but not specific examples in which this stemmed from the protests. King, however, used very specific examples, both from his experience and those of others. The clergyman tried to appeal to emotions to get his claim across, and while King somewhat did the same, he also used lots of logic in his evidence. King was very respectful in his letter, and aimed more towards educating his reader than scolding them. He led off the essay by stating that he knew the clergymen’s heart was in the right place, which means he is simply trying to help him out. His primary audience is the clergymen, but he also seems to be aiming to educate anyone with similar views. He means to explain how unjust segregation is and show why we need change. I think King was very effective in his writing, as he explains his claims very well and doesn’t let his own emotions ruin the authority of the letter.

Reply to one

Devid Petrus

1. Project:

– Topic: Addressing the Alabama clergymen’s letter

– Purpose: To show that the protests are not unwise and untimely, but they are very

Much needed for the human rights of African American people.

– Method of Delivery: letter

2. Argument: the overall argument is that the claims the clergymen are making are not accurate as MLK and his fellows protestors are fighting for the human rights they deserve as any other human being.

3. Claim: “I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of ‘outsiders coming in’.”

4. He is responding to the claim he is an “outsider” as stated by the clergymen.

5. Evidence: the clergymen did not directly and specifically support the claim of him being as an “outsider” other than just considering him as one. The only evidence they use is when they stated “And we believe this kind of facing of issues can best be accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area white and [African American], meeting with their knowledge and experience of the local situation.” However, the evidence for this claim is not effective since they are considering MLK does not have the experience needed to solve this issue.

6. No, King did not use similar evidence as he used much better and effective evidence than the clergymen. The evidence King used were facts about his role as he mentioned “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.” In addition, he added two religious facts in order to match their role and their level as he mentioned “Just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Graeco-Roman world, I too am complied to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town.”

7. Strategy: the type of strategy used by the clergymen would be considered as “logos” by the clergymen, but it is not that much of “logos” as it is not accurate. In addition, it will not be considered credible “ethos” even though they consider it credible as it coming from their own source.

8. King used much better strategy that was effective; he used logos and ethos by referring to the Bible in addition to logos about his own role. Moreover, he used prolepsis as he brought up the objection from the clergymen and refuted it.

9. His tone remained professional, respectful, and matching their level. His tone was more respectful than the clergymen; he did not make claims without evidence to maintain his credibility.

10. the main audience were the clergymen who wrote the letter about the protests in Alabama

11. Yes, the evidence used by King were absolutely effective as he used credible sources for his argument; in addition, he used a source that is very important to the clergyman, and that source was the Bible.?