Crafting an Argument: A Rhetorical Analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail

Questions on Rhetoric and Style 1. What is King’s tone in the opening paragraph? How might you make an argument for its being ironic? Consider that when King wrote “Letter,” he was not the icon he is today. He was well known, certainly, but he was not universally admired and, in fact, was under FBI investigation. Thus, to read the opening paragraph with the iconic King in mind is to see clear irony in the distance between the clergy and him, and also because he is writing it from jail. In the opening paragraph, King has a very sarcastic tone but with some respect tied to it. He incorporates sarcasm because the audience knows that he does not have secretaries helping him and the only thing he can do is answer. He includes respect in this very sarcastic paragraph by saying that he does not answer many of his letters but they are “men of genuine good” so King feels it is necessary to respond. Even though he describes the clergymen like this, later in the letter this statement is contradicted as King provides details of the men hurting the civil rights movement, instead of helping it.King's tone is also slightly sarcastic because of the way he was addressing the reader of the letter. He restatess the original clergyman letter, "calling my present activities 'unwise and untimely" He also asserts himself in having no shame in his actions. 7. What rhetorical strategies are used in paragraph 25? Identify at least four. King asks a series of rhetorical questions crafted with a parallel sentence structure and repetition of “Isn’t.” He alludes to Socrates and biblical events. In each of the rhetorical questions, he draws an analogy. He repeats the word “precipitate,” in two cases “precipitate violence,” to emphasize his cause and effect argument. His final sentence is an example of antithesis. 8. What are the chief rhetorical strategies used in paragraph 31? Identify at least five. King uses several rhetorical strategies to point out the irony in using the term “extremist” as a pejorative. He asks a series of rhetorical questions that use a parallel structure of an interrogative followed by a quotation that implies an answer. He cites the authority of biblical figures, a theologian, a literary figure, and patriots. He repeats the word “extremists” so often that it becomes as ordinary as he is claiming it is. The final sentence is an understatement, which emphasizes the irony. 12. Considering the final three paragraphs as King’s conclusion, discuss whether you believe it is rhetorically effective. After many paragraphs of complex syntax and elaborately built arguments, King returns to a tranquil tone reinforced by simpler syntax and positive language and images. Paragraph 48 has its irony as King points out that had he not been confined in jail, the letter might not have been so long, yet the irony is gentle, as he depicts himself “alone in a narrow jail cell” where he has time to “write long letters, think long thoughts, and pray long prayers.” In the penultimate paragraph, he offers a nod to an offense he might have given to the clergy, “beg[ging] them to forgive” him. But then he makes the main point of his entire letter, which is that he is acting out of commitment to a higher law that should govern everyone’s behavior, certainly that of the clergy. I would also like to add that the final paragraphs of the passage also end with another burst of false deference that ultimately celebrates the power of the just individual to change society. In many ways, Dr. King’s apologies feel strangely placed, as he seemingly retreats from the confrontation of the previous paragraphs. And yet in apologizing for having potentially gone too far, he turns the judgment not to the men he ostensibly apologizes to, but instead to God. In effect, he does not care whether they forgive him; they have lost their right to judge whether his cause is just. Instead, he ends with a rather ministerial optimism, a “hope…[that] the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over this great nation.” What this language in the closing means, however, is that such a future is not certain. As he makes clear earlier in the “Letter,” there is no inevitability of justice; individuals must force it into life. Having only paragraphs before celebrated the “real heroes” of the South, a number of which includes not only famous Civil Rights icons like James Meredith but also nameless people who have stood up for justice, he reinforces that these “radiant stars” will come to pass not through good will or moderation, but through the tireless efforts of those who will fight for it (185). And it is telling that he does not end the “Letter” by begging the clergymen for anything but their “hope.” For he does not need them (or, if he did, he would not end the "Letter" by acknowledging it). King concludes with figurative language of “dark clouds” and “deep fog” passing away as “radiant stars . . . shine” in their place. He also ends by stressing their collegial tie, that of “brotherhood,” brothers who work together in “the cause of Peace.”