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MLK appeals to his own credibility in this article during the opening paragraph about his secretaries and how he wants to answer their statements. His good character is also shown throughout the letter as he is calm and makes sure he is accurate with information.

He appeals to the clergymen's emotions explaining the struggles he has gone through and making them rethink their statements towards the end. He talks about the police force not being praiseworthy hoping to make the clergymen more aware of the effects of injustice. MLK appeals to logos using facts and reasoning while he talks about the police “preventing violence” while treating African Americans very badly. He also uses facts talking about the heroes of the south from Alabama as they stand up for themselves.

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A few adjectives to describe the tone of the letter would be calm and respectful. As he is responding to the clergymen's statements, he calmly tells them his side and does not get angry. Although this group of men was discriminating against his actions he says “I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.” The tone of the letter is also respectful because MLK does not agree with the clergymen he is respectful of what they have to say. At the end of the letter MLK is respectful by saying, “If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me.”

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S: Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter and he was a social rights activist who helped lead the civil rights movement during the 1960’s.

O: MLK was writing this while he was in jail for being part of a protest against the treatment of African Americans in Alabama. It was a response to a letter a group of clergymen wrote to him on April 16th, 1963.

A: His main audience was the group of clergymen who wrote about their criticism of protests happening in BIrmingham and as the letter became more popular many others read it.

P: MLK wrote the letter to the clergymen to explain why he is a big part of the rights movement and protests. He wants the group of critics to rethink some of their statements.

S: The main idea of the letter is to highlight the importance of the protests giving citizens their rightful freedom.

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This letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. highlighted the differences in opinion of MLK and the clergymen about the protests going on in Birmingham, Alabama. The letter responds to the clergymen's ideas that MLK is wrong for protesting because the state government has tried to fix the issues even though at the time segregation and racism was very prevalent. MLK is explaining the past hope for freedom in the country and how protesting is a way to get that freedom. He explains why he protests to the clergymen and hopes they can agree on the problem needed to be solved. MLK throughout the letter also shows his reasoning behind breaking laws like protesting rather than wait on the courts to fix racial prejudice.

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Martin Luther King Jr. uses an anecdote to show the significance of African Americans in the south giving the audience an idea of what people have gone through as a result of racial segregation. An example of a hero in the south giving a small story of what people have done, “They will be the James Merediths, courageously and with a majestic sense of purpose facing jeering and hostile mobs.” MLK includes the audience using pronouns such as us, “let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away” and “we will win our freedom.” MLK uses rhetorical questions a few times throughout his letter to emphasize his points, “In this sense they have been rather publicly “nonviolent”. But for what purpose?”

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-Pronouns to include the audience: "We urge the public to continue to show restraint should the demonstrations continue, and the law enforcement official to remain calm and continue to protect our city from violence."
- Parallelism: "We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could properly be pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed."
-Pronouns to exclude the audience: "...however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems."

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Ethos- The speaker used ethos when showing they were knowledgeable in what they were talking about.They mentioned the resolution they had written for the Civil Rights issue in January, which proved they were speaking with some insight.
Logos- The speaker used logos when referencing their past work. Not only that, but they also showed the benefits of a different approach to racial progress.
Pathos- The speaker used pathos by appealing to the emotions of the audience by saying they recognize the need for social reform. By doing this they aligned themselves with the beliefs of the black community, and showed that they understood their frustrations.

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Letter to Martin Luther King from a Group of Clergymen

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Letter to Martin Luther King from a Group of Clergymen

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This letter expressed the opinions of a group of clergymen towards MLK's methods to achieve social justice and racial equality. They felt that his methods were very extreme and led to very violent measure being taken. They declared that not only were MLK's actions untimely, they were also unwise and rooted in violence. The solution the Clergymen came up with was to gather members of the black and white community to discuss any digressions. Not only that, but they also proposed that the black community should meet peacefully (rather than to rally peacefully) with local leaders.

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1. Arrogant- a group of Clergymen who have never experienced any sort of racial oppression trying to tell the black community the best way to handle their issues: "And we believe this kind of facing of issues can best be accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area, white and Negro, meeting with their knowledge and experience of the local situation."
2. Critical- it insisted that the methods the black community was using was the reason they were being met with violence before looking at any other causes: "When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets. We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense."

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The group of Clergymen voiced their opinion of the Civil Rights Movement and the methods the black community was using to make progress. While the letter was addressed to MLK, I believe it was written on the behalf of many members of the white community. The goal being to reach out to other people with similar views to not only unite against the changes being made by MLK's following, but also to dispassionate them. To do this the Clergymen tore into MLK's approach to racial problems suggesting that the method the black community was using to achieve peace were premature.