Martin Luther King, one of the greatest speakers for the black civil right movement, has written many persuasive essays in his life time. One of the pieces stands out as his greatest work, "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"; a letter written from the jail when he was arrested for his work on civil rights on April, 1963. It is a letter that King wrote to a group of clergy members who disapproved for his movement in Birmingham. The letter consists of both religious impulse and argument that persuade people to support his work for civil rights. As for me, the most convincing part is the refutation of opposing views. King demonstrated his premises step by step and finally made his conclusion to prove his point of view. Now, Im going to explain where King does this effectively, how and why King's refutation of opposing views useful to him. .
In the letter from the group of clergy members, they distinguished King is an outsider. King justified himself the present in Birmingham in the second paragraph by the objections against "outsiders". He told them that he was responsible and obliged to lead the nonviolent movement and stated, "I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham"(11). He continued to explain that "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here"(10). He also justified it by alluding to bible such as "the Apostle Paul" and "Paul" did the same as King by carrying the gospel to others. He continued to support his point of view by stating, "Never again we can afford to live with the narrow, provincial outside agitor idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider within bonds"(11). Not only is this a show of intellect, but it is also sensible to his audience. He had justified his action using the clergymen's term.
On the fifth paragraph, he had stopped using rhetorical device and tried to go straight forward to the injustice in Birmingham.