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Letter from Birmingham Jail - Coggle Diagram
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Means of Persuasion
Logos
"Just and unjust laws."
Civil Disobedience
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Jews in Nazi Germany
"A higher moral law was at stake"
Pathos
Stories of racial injustice "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"
"Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"
Ethos
Establishes Credibility "President of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, eighty five affiliated organizations."
Rhetorical Situation
The Writer's Purpose
"To carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town."
The Writer's Audience
White moderate "I have been gravely disappointed by the white moderate..."
Eight Clergymen "My fellow clergymen"
The Context
"Moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
Defend protesting. "We see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood."
The Writer
Martin Luther King, Jr. Imprisoned for fighting racial injustice.
The Question
"Why I am here in Birmingham..."
Rhetorical Strategies
Organization
Refutes opposing arguments "In your statement you assert that..."
Concludes with calls for justice and unity. "Let us hope.."
Evidence
Other "extremists" who obeyed a higher moral authority. e.g. John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, the Apostle Paul
Thesis
"I am in Birmingham because injustice is here"