Martin Luther King Jr., one of the greatest speakers for the Black

civil rights movement, had written many great works in his time. Two of his

pieces stand out as his greatest works, Letter from Birmingham City Jail; a

letter written from a jail in Birmingham where he was arrested for

demonstrating peacefully, to clergymen who didn't agree with his views, and

I Have a Dream; a speech given by King in front of the Washington Memorial

at a huge civil rights tea party. Both works convey the same message: the

time has come where Black Americans will not stand for civil injustices any

longer. The way in which the works are written, however, are different, for

one is a letter, to be read by a few, and the other is a speech, to be

A Letter from Birmingham City Jail is exactly that; it is a letter

King wrote to a group of clergy members who disapproved of his actions in

Birmingham City. The fact that this is a letter is blatantly apparent right

from the beginning, King's use of first person clearly defines it as him

talking to the clergy members, not a convention, or a rally, nothing

In his first paragraph, King establish

By now, the clergymen may have their eyes wide open, but their

but by using a metaphor, he appeals to their auditory senses, metaphors are

vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law." Just in case this is

Some common words found in the essay are:
St Augustine, America Negro, Amongst Birmingham, Abraham Lincoln, Declaration Independence, Birmingham City, Address King, Emancipation Proclamation, City Jail, Paul Paul, birmingham city, civil rights, gettysburg address, parallel construction, letter birmingham, unjust law, letter birmingham city, birmingham city jail, city jail, emancipation proclamation, hundred negro, , hundred, life negro, breaks unjust law,
Approximate Word count = 1937
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)