reading response 4

The article I chose is “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr. The author of this piece is Martin Luther King Jr., and he was a Christian reverend in the 1960’s. There are several aspects of the writer’s life that affect the writing in this letter. First the writer is a Christian reverend and he writes to and about the church of the time. Next the author is black and at the time segregation was a major problem and that is the whole reason that he is writing this letter. Another aspect that affects the writer’s writing is the time that he was writing in, black people had been freed but the white people of the time still practiced segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. is addressing a lot of people in this letter though he is primarily writing to the clergymen that have written a letter against his non-violent protests. He is also is writing to “white moderates” who he says are worse than the people that are outright against non-segregation. This has a major effect on the writing because he is writing. The author is trying to convey many things to the reader. He is writing to inform of the conditions that the black community of the time were living in. He is arguing that now is the time to act for racial equality. He is also writing to persuade people that would be fine leaving the situation alone to act for the greater good of the society. King uses several strategies to reach his intended audience. For the white moderates he uses gilt and comparison to greater evil. For the church goers and clergymen he uses a spiritual and moral appeal and to complacent blacks he uses a life can be better appeal. The time and place of the writing of this masterpiece is the major reason for the writing, the voice, the arguments, and everything else in this letter from a man in jail for doing the right thing.