MLK Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”Background April 16, 1963

• During non-violent demonstrations for racial equality in Birmingham, Alabama, MLK was arrested and jailed for eight days.

• He wrote this letter to white clergymen to explain his actions and to answer those people who urged him to call off the demonstrations.

• He responds to his critics who claim that he and other African-Americans should wait for the federal, state, and local governments to make changes

Emotional Appeal: Pathos

• An emotional appeal is an appeal to “pathos,” which in Greek loosely translates to “pain”

• Writers use this appeal because most people respond to emotion

• Wise for writers to only through emotions that appeal to needs that we all have in common– Physical (life and health)– Psychological (person’s need for love and respect)– Social (need for freedom, for respect, for

acceptance)

EmotionDon’t overdo emotion or people won’t take you seriously, but a little bit of emotion will probably help if carefully reasoned and honestly presented.

Illustrate or dramatize an ideaFor example, if stiffer measures are needed against drunk drivers, find a place to include a description of the face of a child who was injured in a drunk driving accident. OR tell the story of a driver who caused several accidents because the individual’s license was never revoked.

Careful word choiceDrunk or intoxicated drivers a menace or a concernThrown into jail or incarceratedTeach them a lesson or make them aware of the consequences of their actions

EthicsThe best way to put ethical appeal in your writing is to “build a strong, healthy relationship with your readers. Convince them that they can trust you to be fair, honest, well-informed, and well-intentioned. Then having established that trust, don’t betray it.”

http://www.powa.org/argument/appeals.html

1. Gain your audience’s trust.

ActivityLetting 10 represent the highest and 1 the lowest,

rate the following public figures for their appeal to character. Of course, you’ll be considering more that just writing, but the activity should still give you some insight into what ethos is and how it affects credibility. When you’ve finished, compare your ratings with those of a partner. Discuss the reasons for your scoring.

a. Abraham Lincoln b. Adolf Hitlerc. Michael Jackson d. Madonnae. George W. Bush f. Bill Gatesg. Ann Landers h. Jay Lenoi. Sandra Day O’Connor j. Bill Clinton

Deductive reasoningThinking begins with general and moves toward specifics by taking a general principle that you know to be true and use it to understand a specific situation.

For example, bad weather reduces business for outdoor restaurants. Today is cold and rainy. From this knowledge, you can say Business will be slow today at the outdoor restaurants. This is deductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoningThinking begins with specifics and moves toward a generalization.

If you were to taste several green, plump grapes and then draw the conclusion that all green, plump grapes are sour, this is inductive reasoning.

In writinghave you examined the evidence carefully?does the evidence justify your conclusion?have you given enough specific evidence to make readers

believe your thinking is sound and conclusion is true?

ActivityRead the following statements and comment on their

use of informal reasoning. What details would you need to see in order to be convinced? Can you find any unstated assumptions that need to be examined?

a. Coach Ratcliffe should be fired because a coach’s job is to win ballgames.

b. I know he’s popular because he drives a Corvette.c. The President hasn’t done anything about welfare

reform, so he has no sympathy for the poor.d. Too much smoking ruins a person’s health, so you

know Louisa’s in bad shape.e. Today’s prisons are practically like country clubs.f. Imported cars are higher in quality than American

cars.g. Mr. Price got the contract, so you know he paid a

few people off.

Activity 2Look over the following examples, fill in any missing

links in the reasoning chain, and comment on the uses of informal logic:

Claim: Coach Ratcliffe should be fired.Link: A coach’s job is to win ballgames.Data: The team had a 4 and 6 record this year.

They had a 3 and 7 record last year.They had a 1 and 9 record the previous year.

Claim: Omaha has an outstanding school system.Link:Data: The buildings are well-maintained.

Most schools have computers. Several new schools have been built in the

past few years.