Within "the Letter"
Vocabulary
Rhetorical Devices
Rhetorical Appeals
Random History
100

Who, specifically, was King addressing in the letter?

The clergymen

100

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interelatedness of all communities and states.

To be aware of

100

"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny" is an example of...

Figurative language

100

This rhetorical appeal deals with logic and reasoning.

Logos

100

What is the name of the civil rights group for which King served as president?

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference

200

King says that he usually doesn't respond to criticism of his work or ideas.  Why does he respond to the clergymen?

He believes they are men of "genuine good will" and their ideas are "sincerely set forth."

200

"History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily."

Special rights

200

"...the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon us" is an example of...

Alliteration

200

This rhetorical appeal deals with credibility.

Ethos

200

The landmark civil rights case King references from 1955.  It desegregated public schools.

Brown v. Board of Education

300

What are the two types of laws that King identifies?

Just laws and unjust laws.

300

"...I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate."

Not extreme; middle of the road.

300

"...when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society" is an example of...

Parallel Structure

300

This rhetorical appeal deals with emotions

Pathos

300

Name two people King references as also being "extremists"

Jesus, Amos, Paul, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson.

400

Why did King move from negotiation to direct action in Birmingham?

The businessmen lied about taking down "humiliating racial signs"

400

"In your statement you asserted that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence."

Causes or leads to

400

One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" is an example of...

Rhetorical Question

400

When King says "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia" he is using an appeal to...

Ethos, or credibility.

400

What year did King write the letter?

1963

500

Identify the four basic steps of any nonviolent campaign.

Collection of facts to determine whether injustice exists, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.

500

"We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability."

a certainty; something that will definitely happen no matter what interferes.

500

"If this philosophy had not emerged, I am convinced that by now many streets of the South would be flowing with floods of blood" is an example of...


(There is more than one!)

Figurative language and alliteration.

500

When King writes "There can be no gainsaying of the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of police brutality is known in every section of this country. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts" he is using an appeal to...

Logos, or logic and reasoning.

500

Who wrote that "an unjust law is no law at all."

St. Augustine