MLK Letter Response

MLK is an excellent rhetorician for the following reasons:
He varies his sentence structure and length. This keeps the reader's attention and emphasizes the points he is making. For example, his short sentences are strong and succinct summaries of big ideas and are excellent quotes, easily remembered. His long sentences, one in particular that lasted almost an entire paragraph and was describing the abuse experienced/endured by African Americans, portrayed the agony that had gone on too long.
He employs allegory. This allows the reader to understand his point of view, and to easily adopt another perspective. It also makes the material accessible to different levels of readers. I especially enjoyed his simile of thermometers vs. thermostats.
He quotes and refers to well known, respected, ancient and modern philosophers and leaders. This strengthens his argument, providing evidence with which the majority is familiar and unable to refute.
He relates his case to his individual experiences, immediate/local, past/distant, and to the bigger picture, the US as a whole and other countries even.