Effective Argument

Read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" in your yellow Seagull Reader book. It's kind of a lengthy one, but it's a good read, I promise. Go ahead—I'll wait.

Done? Ok, now that you've read it, I want you to do some analytical thinking. Who's he addressing? What is he addressing? What is the tone he's using to address these people? Taking all that together—audience, purpose, tone, context—what in it is effective? What's ineffective? Where does he utilize logical fallacies (they're in there, I promise) and where does he make sound logical arguments? How does he balance the ethos, pathos and logos parts of his argument?

And, perhaps most importantly, how can you utilize any of this in your paper?

He's addressing more than just the titled clergymen. He's addressing the whole human species. He makes references to Thomas Jefferson stating that "...all men are created equal"; Abraham Lincoln about segregation; etc. The tone that he is using a diplomatic and objective tone. He isn't speaking only with his heart, he's speaking logically and politically correct. He speaks with factual information and leaves out unnecessary information. He could easily cuss out the whole white race, but he simply wants them to understand and visualize what they are doing to the minority. The effective speech derives from how he is directly speaking to the clergy about biblical phrases and stories. He is what we call "calling them out" on their own fallacies.

He is ineffective when he speaks of the Negroes being there before everyone else and wondering why they are exploited out of the church and society. Yes, they were there and there's no argument for that, but what society is doing now and how to reach a solution is what's important.

He utilizes the three appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos when talking about the church. The church is supposed to be the most non-judgmental place one can go and in the South in that time period-it wasn't.

Logos.

refute, and should make up the bulk of your argument. WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT BIBLICAL STORIES.

Appeal to logic. An argument based on facts and reason. This is the hardest type of appeal to

Ethos.

everyone subscribes to the same belief system, thus making determination of what is “right” and

what is “wrong” very subjective and harder to assert successfully. WHEN THE CHURCH WAS TURNING THEIR BACKS ON THE BLACK POPULATION.

Appeal to morals/ethics. An argument based on what is right or wrong. Remember that not

Pathos.

pull readers in and make a connection, it is less persuasive and much more subjective than logically

based arguments. WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING OUT ABOUT HOW THE NEGROES WERE THEIR FIRST DOING ALL THE "DIRTY WORK".

I can utilize all of these things in my paper, but the most important aspect is to remain objective instead of subjective. Appeal to emotion. An argument designed to play on the reader’s feelings. While good to