Question

MEDAL AND FAN!! How does Martin Luther King, Jr. use structure to help form his claim in “Letters From Birmingham Jail”?

Answer 1

I saw a similar question/answer but it didn't exactly tell me what I need to know. Please help/point me in the right direction! Thanks :)

Answer 2

During Dr. King's letter, "Letter from Birmingham Jail", he uses many rhetorical strategies to prove his point to the reader(s). One of the main rhetorical strategies he uses, in my opinion, would be allusion. He uses allusion when he is using the Bible as a reference to his work and purpose. The reason he chooses to refer to the Bible is because, one the Bible is the considered "Holy" and everything in it the truth, second almost everyone has read the Bible or knows at least of the stories in it, third his audience is a audience of preachers who value the Bible as a sacred piece of material that they have devoted their life to teach to other people. I think adding the allusion to the Bible in the letter really adds not only a personal connection, showing that, like them, he is a devout man of god, and it shows that if his work can be related so closely to the work done in the Bible, that to frown on his work and disapprove of his work is to disapprove and frown on the work done in the Bible. As men of God they should see that their assumptions and actions are wrong and they should take a second look at the work Dr.King is doing.