Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” letter and “I Have a Dream” speech have two distinct styles. Both texts, though, are aimed at promoting American Civil Rights. The major differences are due to the different audiences King is writing for and the format of the actual writings themselves. These two works can best be compared using the idea of the rhetorical triangle. This model shows the relation between the text (logos), author (ethos), and audience (pathos) of any piece of rhetoric.
Before explaining the interactions of the text and author with the audience, the distinct audiences themselves should be fully explained. King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for parading without a permit during a non-violent protest in Birmingham, Alabama. He was locked in a jail cell and explains the length and comprehensiveness of his letter by stating, “what else is there to do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell other than write long letters, think strange thoughts, and pray long prayers?” This letter came as a response to a public statement directed to King written by eight Alabama clergymen. This correspondence, therefore, is much more personal as the audience is eight particular men. Furthermore, these men have all criticized King’s work and ideas. King claims:
If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work, but since I feel that you are men of genuine goodwill and your criticism are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
Clearly, King values the opinion of these men and is willing to respond to their concerns. This shows that the audience is educated, upstanding men. It can also be discerned that these men are of good faith and genuinely want to promote goodwill among humanity because of their positions as clergymen.
The audience of the “I Have a Dream” speech is far different than that of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King wrote perhaps his most famous speech intending for it to be delivered to the masses of his supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a key period during the American Civil Rights Movement. The audience for this speech itself is quite varied. Listeners were black, white, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, etc. Their tying bond, however, is the fact that these people all agree with King’s views and are already there to support him. This fact elucidates the main distinction between the audiences for “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “I Have a Dream” speech. In one case, the audience is opposing King’s views and he must use rhetoric to convince them of his cause, while the other work is used to raise the spirits and excite men and women that are already aligned with King’s Civil Rights views.
This major variance in audiences directly leads to differences in the author-audience relationship. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King is a peer to the audience he is writing to. This is clear from the very opening of the letter when he writes, “My dear Fellow Clergymen”. Most of the letter then goes on to explain King’s individual views. The audience he is writing to is not immediately concerned with the ideas of the masses. King is their figurehead, so he takes on the responsibility of explaining his personal standpoints as a black male struggling with segregation. King’s includes various examples of specific incidents where racial injustices affected his family personally. Perhaps the most emotionally-charged instance is King’s explanation to his six-year old daughter as to why she cannot go to the Funtown amusement park and her innate reaction to being told that segregation is the cause. King uses these personal images to try to connect with the clergymen from a poignant perspective as well as explaining his ideas using pure and simple logic. King’s main purpose for writing the letter is to change the clergymen’s standing on racial problems. Thus, the author-audience relationship throughout is sincere, yet firm, and defended with a multitude of historical and contemporary examples.
The “I Have a Dream” speech, on the other hand, has a much different author-audience feel to it. King is talking directly to his people, those that have supported him and he knows will continue to support him. The majority of the audience are people struggling with racial injustices along with King, so he repeatedly uses the first person plural pronoun “we”. King goes on to explain that the whites in attendance are also indirectly affected by segregation. He claims, “their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” King connects with his audience purely from an emotional standpoint. He has no need to explain his actions or provide a specific plan. His audience is already in political accordance with him, so he merely intends on inspiring them and uplifting their spirits.
The texts of both works are the physical link between the author and the audience. The text itself has a direct interaction with the audience and is therefore different depending on the particular situation and audience involved. In the case of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the author-audience connection is personal, as previously explained. The correct correspondence is therefore a personally written letter addressing the specific concerns of the clergymen. King organizes the letter in such a fashion that each topic is sub-headed and individually explained using examples, quotes, and logic. The simple fact that the letter was composed while King was incarcerated also adds to its impact and meaningfulness. King’s diction throughout the letter also establishes the specific text-audience relationship. King continuously uses scholarly words, many which the common man would be unfamiliar with. King’s attention to these types of details in his text help to prove his high level of academic prowess and make his arguments all the more legitimate.
The text of any speech is far different from written prose. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is no exception to this rule. Rather than using the text to establish himself as an intellectual, King uses the text of his speech to stir emotions and create a true sense of hope. King uses rousing symbols and makes strong statements rather than creating a sound argument or defending his ideas. Thanks to technology, the speech itself is actually captured on video (see YouTube video below). Viewing the fifteen-plus minute speech certainly adds to the written text itself. King’s intonation throughout “I Have a Dream” is strong and powerful, necessary elements for any good leader. In all, the emotional written words and delivery of the speech combine to create a complete text that goes down as one of the best orations in history.
The audience for a work of rhetoric plays an integral part in the author’s motives and intentions, as well as the format for the text itself. During Martin Luther King Jr.’s battle for racial equality, he continuously shifted roles between a political peer and movement leader. In doing so, the audiences he addressed also were always changing. King, a true master of rhetoric, however, was able to accurately recognize his audience and adjust accordingly. This ability led to effective, proficient works of rhetoric. In both the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “I Have a Dream” speech, the audiences varied completely. The styles of these texts, therefore, were markedly different as both the author-audience and text-audience relationships required different things in order to be successful. Overall, King’s lifetime work in rhetoric, although cut short, can serve as an excellent example for the need to write towards a specific audience. When the audience is identified properly, the three sides of the rhetorical triangle remain connected and any piece of writing benefits tremendously.
"I Have a Dream" Speech:
(Spring 2009): 40-48.
(Spring 2009): 49-51.
