Rhetoric Letter from Birmingham Jail

Make inferences from the following two excerpts. What is Dr. King's feelings toward the members of the clergy whom he addresses in his letter?

•           He has a very close relationship with them and works with them on a regular basis.

• He is disappointed in their willingness to avoid supporting what is morally right.

• He is fearful of their power to strip him of his leadership position.

• He has a great deal of respect for them because of their stance on social issues.

Based on the rhetoric Dr. King uses in his letter, his intended audience are clergymen who are —

• confused by his efforts

• unfamiliar with his efforts

• disapproving of his efforts

• undecided about his efforts

Which statement best explains how Dr. King’s introduction of the four steps of a nonviolent campaign in paragraph 6 serves his argument?

• It justifies the need for nonviolent action.

•           It shows the power of nonviolent action against segregation.

• It suggests that nonviolent action can bring about negotiations.

•           It clarifies why nonviolent action is as effective as violence.

Read the sentence from paragraph 6. Based on context in this sentence and the paragraph, what is the meaning of gainsaying?

• Explaining

• Concealing

• Contradicting

• Resolving

Reread paragraphs 12–14. Which two statements best express Dr. King’s rebuttal to the opposing claim that his action in Birmingham is untimely?

•           The new city administration would be as unresponsive as previous ones.

•           The Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools in 1954.

• People must oppose unjust laws because they are used to oppress minorities.

• African Americans have waited in vain over 340 years for freedom.

•    There are four steps in organizing nonviolent campaigns.

Throughout paragraph 14, Dr. King mostly supports his argument for immediate action by —

• using logical appeal

• using emotional appeal

• establishing his authority

• establishing his credibility

Which two excerpts from the letter are the best examples of concessions?

• Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically elected? (paragraph 18)

• How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. (paragraph 16)

• The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. (paragraph 11)

• You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. (paragraph 15)

• You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. (paragraph 10)

What purposes do paragraphs 21 and 22 serve?

• They provide evidence to support a claim.

• They develop an opposing claim.

• They add emotional appeal to a claim.

• They use parallelism to amplify a claim.

In the letter, who does Dr. King identify his ideas with to acknowledge the improtance of his movement as well as his own importance to that movement?

• great religious figures

• political leaders

• men who suffered because of their convictions

• All of the above

Which of the following sentences from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an example of antithesis?

• My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking.

• One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely.

• My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure

• We know through painful experience that freedom is never

  voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.