Monday, August 25, 2008

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” 5

In the long sentence in paragraph 14 (Beginning with “But When you have seen….”), why does King arrange the “When” clauses in the order that he does? Try repositioning them and discuss the difference in effect.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

In the long sentence, the "When" clauses function as anaphora to underscore the legitimacy of MLK's struggle for justice.
The method he used is the cascade of developing emotions. As he repeats the phrase "when [...]" every time, the reader is emotionally pulled by the pathos of these words.
The clauses, most effective in its current position, can also be the climax of the essay. It states the apex what African-Americans en masse struggle, which include: lynching, racism, injustice, and prejudice.

MinJae Lee said...

Throughout his letter to the clergy, Martin Luther King Jr. starts by justifying his unwise and untimely cause through various points proven basically through ethos and logos. Although it seems knowledgeable and just, it does not attach the reader to what he is trying to portray about his actions. The paragraph 14's long sentence is the main point Martin Luther King Jr. justifies everything he is doing for the equality he seeks. As it being a pathos driven part it opens the reader to actually see his motives. As the other methods of rhetoric, pathos captures the audience in a powerful way. With the way he wrote the letter it brings the audience to convey his actions firstly by what they want justify as rightful and then let them feel why he does it.

Norberto said...

In this long sentence we find ourselves with a road of pathos. It is a long difficult road that the African American society had to face, and it led to suffering and pain. King set up this specific order of "when's" because it goes according to what hurts a person most. First, how they torture your family, then how they die, and finally how their children, who are blameless are the ones that cry the most. Children are gems in families, and watching their spirit break apart and their personalities dampen, is the worst thing about this road.

bigdicknigga11 said...

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