Letter has to address several important questions:
1) As an outsider (Atlanta resident), what right did King have to lead a protest campaign in Birmingham?
2) What is nonviolent direct action?
3) When should nonviolent protest be employed rather than negotiation?
4) How does civil disobedience weaken the social order?
5) Why do blacks pursue “extremist” methods rather than patiently waiting for their rights?
King hoped that by answering these questions he could build support for the civil rights movement.
Underlying claim: The duty to obey just laws is subordinate to the duty to disobey those laws that conscience deems unjust.
Argumentative Strategy: anticipates the opposition’s questions, then answers in terms of his own philosophy.
Most Obvious Rhetorical Tradition: that of the books of the Bible that were originally letters, such as Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians and his several letters to the Corinthians.
He makes an emotional appeal in the form of a long list of injustices against the black community. This raises the reader’s consciousness as to the seriousness and extent of injustices, leaving the reader nearly incapable to rebut.
He makes logical appeals throughout that most readers would comprehend.
Tone: how the author sounds on the page, here of utmost patience with his critics. This is part of King’s appeal to ethos or character.
Allusion: an expression designed to bring something to mind without mentioning it specifically. King aligns himself with people whom history has vindicated though they were persecuted in their own days (Socrates, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jesus Christ).
Anaphora: repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses for emphasis.
Epistrophe: repetition of words or phrases at the end of successive clauses for emphasis.
Themes that unify the Letter: Outsider accusation, Time (“unwise and untimely), Patience, Extremism
Figures of Speech (metaphors, similes)
Rhetorical Modes
Transitions
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Kingnotes.docx
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