On a "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Having never read any of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches before, I now see why many consider him a great rhetorician. Poulakos says that "rhetoric is the art which seeks to capture in opportune moments that which is appropriate and attempts to suggest that which is possible." He also refers to Aristotle’s ideas of rhetoric which maintains that along with knowing "what one ought to say…it is necessary also to know how one ought to say it." We can all admit that there are many who have mastered the art of argument, those who may speak well, write well, and yet have no real personal stake or interest in what they are arguing. (And then I suppose there are just as many who are passionate about a certain something and have no real way of expressing it in a way that is influential and lucrative.) However, what impresses me most is the genuine earnestness of King’s writing. What he possesses goes beyond mere power of persuasion. His arguments rest on a foundation of honesty and hope. What he argues is that which he believes most certainly and most desperately, and therein, through the power of the pen, lies the authority of what he intends to communicate. Therein lies not simply his compulsion or his obligation but his dream, his motivating factor in trying to prove his argument. As far as rhetoric goes, he meets Poulakos and Aristotle’s criterion. His letter is timely and necessary. He grabs his reader’s attention and sustains credibility throughout his entire letter by addressing any possible allegations. He anticipates previous or future countering arguments and uses those possible concerns or objections to further address and substantiate his points. He incorporates vivid images of the past and present and intertwines a series of renowned men (Paul of the Bible, Socrates, St. Augustine, T.S. Eliot) whose lifestyles, ideas, or writings served as points of reference. And, most importantly, he moves his audience/reader "from the vicissitudes of custom and habit [to]…a new place where new discoveries and new conquests can be made"— to a place made ready for change.

Melody Fowler