My Paper

Past & Present

Tension. It is a word that is usually associated with race that include many thoughts, words, and emotions. The color of peoples' skin is the first thing that is noticed. Throughout history people have judged and mistreated because they were of the wrong  race. A prime example of this is the racial tension between blacks and whites. The driving force behind this tension is the past. For many years blacks were mistreated and abused based solely on the color of the skin. In Martin Luther King JR‘s "Letter from Birmingham  Jail", he uses references to the past and people of the past to strengthen his point. The actions in the past and present can affect the future.

In “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr. responds to the criticism he receives after the nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama. Because of the misunderstanding from his fellow clergymen, so his purpose in this essay is to clarify to them his reasons for engaging in the demonstration. He also shows his deep disappointment for the white moderate and several white churches that refuse to understand the freedom movement of the African Americans in the south. He refutes all the points that his fellow clergymen make by using logical reasoning and tell them about the unjust situation in Birmingham. It is an effective strategy that will persuade his letter’s readers to stand by him.

In the first paragraph, Martin Luther King, Jr. is using a front door approach. He remarks about “recent statement calling [his] present activities ‘unwise and untimely’” His intention is that his reader will be cognizant that this respond letter is mainly about refuting these two misunderstanding. This method will attract readers’ interest and they will pay more attention to what he is going to say. After introducing his main idea in the beginning of the paragraph, Dr. King starts to explain his main idea in the remaining paragraph.

Throughout the essay, King’s use of logical...