Dr. King's Letter

Dr. King's Letter is in response to statements from Alabama clergymen encouraging its citizens to distance themselves from demonstrations by "outsiders" that were occuring at a time when the clergymen felt enough was being done and that a slow progress towards equality was being made. However, unlike most writers who would respond in a hoopla, defending themselves, their statements and actions, Dr. King writes a letter demonstrating one of his best uses of rhetoric. In his speech Dr. King particularly uses logos, ethos and pathos to appeal to his audience. Many of Dr. Kings arguments are based on facts such as statistics and events that have occured, such as the 340 yrs. African Americans waited for freedom and justice and the fact that Birmingham had more unsolved burnings than any other city. He establishes ethos early in the letter as the president of the SCLC and also when he compares his struggle to that of other biblical and historical figures. Dr. Kings appeal to pathos seems to be the most powerful in his letter. He talks of the pain it is to be called names other than that given to him by his mother and the difficulty of explaining racism to his young children. Dr. Kings statements are directly related to rhetoric in the real world where debate occurs each day, whether its among our country's leaders or ourselves. We use logos, ethos and pathos as methods of persuasion on issues such as war, the economy, affirmative action, etc.