Letter from Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Devices

St. Thomas Aquinas

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Parallelism

1954 Brown vs. Board of Education

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action” and “the disease of segregation”

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed”

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.”

• Allusion

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“Was not Jesus an extremist for love... Was not Amos an extremist for justice... Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel…”

• Allusion

• Juxtaposition

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

• Allusion

• Juxtaposition

• Repetition

• Parallelism

"Will we be extremist for hate or love"

• Allusion

• Juxtaposition

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“sacrificial spirit”

• Alliteration

• Juxtaposition

• Repetition

• Parallelism

“Is organized religion to inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?”

• Alliteration

• Juxtaposition

• Rhetorical Question

• Parallelism