(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

             In the passage "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King the practices of segregation and discrimination is addressed to the audience. He states, "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights" to instill hope for those in need and fear to those who suppress the idea of equality for all humans in order to address his direct opinion on the subject. His use of metaphors throughout the passage helps to win the audience over in order to help him stop the racial injustice he and other African Americans have endured. .
             King uses forceful metaphors in his speech to show his opinion of the subject of racism to the reader. He states, "Perhaps it is easy for those of you who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait"," in order to describe how horrible racism is to the white community and how they could never truly understand the pain and strife African Americans go through. He describes the hate racist white people bring on themselves in the following sentence as well, " see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people." This quotation shows how racism is a viscous cycle. Hate demonstrated by the white community cause hate shown by the black community.
             King address the fear that African Americans endure in the following sentence, "Where you are hurried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe pace." He uses "tiptoe pace" to describe how African Americans must always be aware of what might happen to them or their families. Another instance where King addresses the African American fear is when he describes African Americans at a speed that they should not take.


Essays Related to Letter From a Birmingham Jail

1. The Relevance of the Letter from Birmingham Jail

s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is still relevant today. ... The life of a Negro was very hard in Birmingham because little to no one was on their side of the argument to desegregate. ... If someone were to shout a racial slur at a Negro on the streets in Birmingham in 1963, there was more of a possibility of it becoming a group activity. ... Police brutality is the most relevant topic in Letter from Birmingham Jail today, it has remained a very constant issue over the past fifty-two years. ... In Birmingham, the police force used violence to stop the nonviolent protesters; they woul...

  • Word Count: 724
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Civil Disobedience and Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Unjust laws and unjust governmental systems are a common theme in Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. ... In King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail he outlines the reasons for the need of the demonstrations in Birmingham. King notes that civil disobedience is necessary for the case of the city of Birmingham. The most obvious influence on King from Thoreau's writing is King's unwillingness to stand back and watch injustice. ... Thoreau served a very brief jail sentence for refusing to pay his taxes, which ...

  • Word Count: 446
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Letter From Birmingham Jail

'Letter from Birmingham Jail' Rhetorical Analysis In April of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama for his efforts in the civil rights movement. ... From his prison cell, King replied not only to the ministers' letter but also to an educated, white, middle-class audience, by writing his response in the margins of the newspaper and on toilet paper (Albert and Hoffman 141). "I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well timed in the view of those who have not suffered from the disease of segregation," King, wrote in what was later...

  • Word Count: 1903
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Letter from Birmingham Jail

Letter from Birmingham Jail "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (King 571). Martin Luther King Jr. uses this statement from the "Letter from Birmingham Jail." ... King in his letter. ... King, though did not go too far in his letter. ... In conclusion, I do not think Martin Luther King Jr. went too far in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." ...

  • Word Count: 334
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

5. letter from a birmingham jail

For my final essay, I chose a literary analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. ... King's letter is very persuasive because he makes people imagine themselves in a similar situation. ... Marin Luther King also addresses people's feelings on the issues that are surrounding Birmingham. ... One of the biggest things King is able to accomplish in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is his reason for using civil disobedience. ... I found Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to be a wonderful example of the author's calm nature and powerf...

  • Word Count: 533
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. A Letter from Birmingham Jail

Katie Uhas September 26, 2014 Letter from Birmingham Jail Change is something that a lot of us are terrified of. ... " As a response, M.L.K. wrote a letter from his cell defending his actions. ... The opening line of the letter goes "While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail" which is already an attention getter. ... I think that the biggest thing to take away from this letter is the way that King talks about the white moderates that we have in society still today. ... The letter that he composed from the Birmingham City Jail is one that will live in infamy due to his...

  • Word Count: 892
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Letter from Birmingham Jail

"Letter from Birmingham Jail" Written documents reflect what has happened. ... Martin Luther King Jr., whose main philosophy on civil disobedience revolved around nonviolence, wrote a "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to eight clergymen informing them of the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, in April of 1963. In this letter King discusses how a law can be appear just, and when applied be unjust. ... Martin Luther King Jr. decided to spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. ... King compared the injustice of the situation in Birmingham to a similar event in ...

  • Word Count: 831
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Letter From Birmingham Jail

"Letter from Birmingham Jail" Written documents reflect what has happened. ... Martin Luther King Jr., whose main philosophy on civil disobedience revolved around nonviolence, wrote a "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to eight clergymen informing them of the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, in April of 1963. In this letter King discusses how a law can be appear just, and when applied be unjust. ... Martin Luther King Jr. decided to spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. ... King compared the injustice of the situation in Birmingham to a similar event in ...

  • Word Count: 831
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Racism and Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr. went through many hardships and even did time in jail for the cause he was trying to overcome. ... King went to jail for his cause he wrote his famous "letter from Birmingham". The letter reveals King's strength as a leader and his extent of learning. ... Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is addressed to numerous clergymen who had written an open letter disapproving the actions of Dr. ... Towards the end of the letter Dr. ...

  • Word Count: 732
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Letter from Birmingham Jail

., "Letter from Birmingham Jail,"" p. 900 Throughout Martin Luther King Junior's Letter from Birmingham Jail, it is made evident that time is a constant theme necessary to reference. ... Thus, a majority of the letter is dedicated to expressing a mood of necessity-- specifically how timely his actions truly are. ...

  • Word Count: 433
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question