Response to Martin Luther King Jr.

In Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “ King talks about his reasons for nonviolent direct action and how that method best suited his purpose of acting against racism. I found it interesting because, to me at least, his rhetorical audience seemed to be not only his followers and his opposing white supremacist groups, but further directed to the “white moderate.” I found this so intriguing because he wanted to spread his message to the average white person, of whom somewhat agree with his beliefs, who have sat around and let this treatment go on without opposition. When King says, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will,” his tone towards his audience is anger. This quote sums up what I find interesting about this particular work. In addition, I admire his ability to write and be able to speak to so many different types of people and have them all understand what he is trying to say. This ability is what makes him so intelligent, in my own opinion at least. Of all the examples that we have read in class, this one provides the best example of how to acknowledge a rhetorical audience.