Letter from Birmingham Jail Assessment Answer

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

What is the meaning of idly in the following sentence?

Savannah gazed idly out the window, neglecting the book that lay open on her knee.

• in a concentrated, fierce way

• in a puzzled, confused way

• in a cheerful, happy way

• in a lazy, passive way

If Tasha decides to postpone an appointment with Katie, which of the following must be true? Base your answer on the meaning of postpone.

• Tasha and Katie will meet at an earlier time than they had planned to do.

• Tasha and Katie will meet at a later time than they had originally agreed.

• Tasha and Katie decide to cancel the project they had considered.

• Tasha and Katie change the agreed place of their appointment.

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.

Read this sentence from Letter from Birmingham Jail:

[T]here 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.

Which excerpt from Letter from Birmingham Jail best supports the answer to the previous question?

(The previous question asked:

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

The answer choices were:

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

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

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

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

• Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws.

• Segregation . . . substitutes an "I it" relationship for an "I thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.

• For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade.

• I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy.