Worksheet for Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
English 120
2.5 pts.

Your Name: ______

Open this document in Word and type your response to each question below. Be sure to save your work as you go. When finished, post to the Bb assignment area.

Please use a font style or color distinct from what is used for the questions. This will make it easier to read your responses.

  1. What is the rhetorical situation in King’s letter? That is, whom is he addressing, and why? What's going on, or what prompted this letter? (Brief paragraph.)
  2. What is his thesis or angle? That is, what is he MAINLY claiming, or what is it he wants his readers to believe? You should be able to complete this sentence: "King is mainly claiming that______." Be sure to state his primary, over-arching point—not a minor claim.
  3. What is his rhetorical stance? That is, how would you describe his general approach, tone, or attitude to the whole issue and to his audience? Support your response. (Brief paragraph.)
  4. What general kinds of support or rhetorical appealsdoes King use to make his argument? Where, specifically, do you see appeals to:
  5. ethos? (Where or how does he seem to be appealing to his own good character, fair-mindedness, personal experience, and credibility? Provide summaries or quotations and explain your response.)
  6. pathos? (Where is he appealing to emotion—fear, pity, anger, love, hope? Appeals to feeling can be made through emotive language and style, personal stories, sensational examples, etc. Provide summaries or quotations and explain your response.)
  7. logos? (Where is he appealing to logic? Appeals to reason can include outside sources, ethical principles, scientific or factual evidence, and eyewitness accounts. Provide summaries or quotations and explain your response.)
  8. How well does King acknowledge counter-views and opposing arguments? Where, specifically, do you see him do this? Name and discuss at least 2 examples in a well-developed paragraph.
  9. King uses a certain broad organizational pattern in his argument. Do you see this pattern? What strategy does he use over and over? (Hint: good places to check are paragraph transitions and the first sentence or two of paragraphs.) You might present this pattern in outline form.
  10. How effective, overall, is King's argument? Where you convinced that his thesis was correct? Why or why not? (Well-developed paragraph.)

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