Letter From Birmingham Jail (9th Grade)

Why does King write “Letter from Birmingham Jail”?

• to present his case to a lawyer who may get him out of jail

• to occupy his time while he is waiting to be released from jail

• to ask for volunteers who are supporters of the civil rights movement

• to make his argument to everyone who will read the letter after its

  publication

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According to “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” what is the main reason King and his followers are demonstrating and protesting in Birmingham, instead of negotiating with city leaders?

• because King is affiliated with certain organizations in Birmingham

• because King does not trust the white clergy to host fair negotiations

• because a significant political election has just taken place in Birmingham

• because Birmingham failed to keep promises made in earlier

  negotiations

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In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King cites T. S. Eliot’s observation about

doing “the right deed for the wrong reason.” How does Eliot’s observation

apply to actions that King describes in his letter?

• It applies to the “Negro sit inners and demonstrators” who show amazing discipline in their nonviolent protests, even when they face great provocation.

• It applies to those Birmingham police officers who show restraint in handling the demonstrators in public but treat them very harshly in the privacy of the city jail.

• It applies to the seventy-two-year-old African American woman who supports the boycott of Montgomery’s segregated bus system even though she is tired and oppressed.

• It applies to those Birmingham police officers who use legal, nonviolent means to handle demonstrators in public but do so to maintain the

  injustice of racial discrimination.

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According to “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” why is King “so greatly

disappointed with the white church and its leadership”?

• King believes that the leaders have become entirely absorbed in secular rather than religious concerns.

• King believes that the church has stolen and misused donations given by its poorest parishioners.

• King believes that the leaders have not stood up boldly in support of civil rights.

• King believes that the church has nothing relevant to offer to the youth of the 1960s.

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According to “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” why does King feel some pride

and satisfaction when he is criticized as an extremist?

• He knows that many great leaders in history were extremists.

• He knows that extremists are always violent and destructive.

• He believes in extremism as an alternative to violence.

• He believes in extremism as a guarantee of safety.

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In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” who is the “we” to whom King refers most clearly in this sentence?

We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.

• African Americans

• all patriotic Americans

• the police force in Birmingham

• “outside agitators” in Birmingham

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King expresses discontent with the “moderates” who sympathize with but take no part in the civil rights struggle, saying:

Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

Which statement best explains why King would rather face outright opposition than “lukewarm acceptance”?

• He believes that as long as the moderates stand passively aside, conditions cannot improve.

• He believes that those who oppose the movement may persuade the moderates to join them.

• He believes that because opposition is violent, it does much more harm than passive acceptance.

• He believes that moderates who play no active role in the movement are secretly working against it.

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Read this sentence from “Letter from Birmingham Jail”:

There are two types of laws: just and unjust.

Which statement best describes the distinction King draws, in the letter, between two types of laws?

• Just laws apply to deep-seated human prejudices, while unjust laws do not.

• Just laws can realistically be enforced in actual life, while unjust laws cannot.

• Just laws are rooted in universal principles of fairness, while unjust laws are not.

• Just laws vary in harshness according to circumstances, while unjust laws do not.

Near the end of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King says, “I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle. . . .” Which statement best explains why King feels so certain of ultimate victory?

• He senses that allies in other nations will soon rally to the cause of civil rights.

• He believes that he and his followers are stronger than those who oppose them.

• He knows that the civil rights movement is better funded than those who oppose them.

• He knows that the size of the movement ensures that it can elect candidates who will abolish segregation.

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Which of the following excerpts from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an example of an allusion?

• We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”

• But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

• I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation.

• If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me.

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