Analysis: Letter from Birmingham Jail

A detailed Summary of Analysis: Letter from Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr. states his arguments in one of three different ways: one, he states the opposing argument then contrasts it with his own argument, two, he quotes his adversary then either disagrees with his opponent and explains why, or he agrees with his opponent twisting his adversary's argument to fit into his argument, or Martin Luther King Jr. shows his side of the argument in a positive light by displaying the opposition's argument in a negative light. The final augmentative style is the one that I will discuss in my analysis of paragraphs number twenty-three in King's Letter from Birmingham jail.

This paragraph begins with a very subtle yet strong statement about King whom wants to "confess that over the past few years [he] has been gravely disappointed with the white moderate." The imagery used in his topic sentence: "honest confession", gives you the impression that he is opening his deepest and most heart felt emotions up to you, subsequently; when he is disappointed "gravely", as he said, by the white moderate's reactions to his direct action, you begin to feel a prejudice towards them from the very start. This imagery is continued when King states his "regrettable conclusion" about what the real obstacles

King also equates the white moderate's main argument, the idea that direct action is not necessary and that all problems are resolved over time, with an unrealistic image, a myth. King states that the white moderates actions or inactions are guided "by a mythical concept of time" which leads the white moderate to believe that there is a "more convenient season" which must be on a later date. This argument also ties into an argument made in a later paragraph (26) that "such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills." It comes to King's attention that these members of the white moderate are not of ill will, but he argues that this in essence is worse than being of ill will because "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will." In this argument Martin Luther King Jr!

Not only does Martin Luther King Jr. give the white moderate a negative connotation but he also, when told "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action" he equates the white moderate's argument with a father telling a child to wait for he wants. The white moderate "paternalistically believes that [they] can set a time table for another man's freedom". This argument is subtle yet effective because the idea is a paradox, in that you cannot be paternal in relation to a man, someone who has reached manhood or maturity, so trying to enforce a tim

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Approximate Word count = 1064
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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