Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. In his letter, King really focuses on the difference of just, and and unjust laws.

King uses logos throughout the the letter to backup his counter argument against the the clergymen. The last rhetorical appeal King uses is logos. King uses a imagery within his letter to make the the pathos much stronger to the reader. King’s main adjective for this letter is to persuade the the reader into seeing his point of view of the wrongdoings of the whites.

This is a good example of pathos because it appeals to emotion and has enough power behind it to work someone's nerve and allows the reader to choose a side to King’s argument. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping 'order' and 'preventing violence'”(811). A prime example is when King writes, “ Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists”(809).Īlong with using ethos, King also uses pathos. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. King also shows he is reasonable that he points out that him, being who he is, is not perfect himself! “I am in a rather unique position of being the the son, the the grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers. He shows he is moral through bringing to to the reader's attention, “I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church who was nurtured in its bosom who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen”(809).

He also shows his knowledge by comparing the events to Hitler, “.never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything that the the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany”(805). He shows he is knowledgeable by knowing Socrates, “Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half- truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal” (802). King uses ethos in his letter demonstrating how he is reasonable, knowledgeable and moral.

Mlk birmingham letter