Calls to Action
In the rhetorical masterpiece, “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr.
addresses inequality and his specific stance regarding it. King calls for change by trying to
wake up the people around him. This letter was written in August of 1963 and aimed
towards the white males, but was read across all races. This letter spread worldwide in
magazines and millions of copies were printed out, showing that his inspiring message of
equality went far beyond America. Similarly, Sojourner Truth, in her powerful speech,
“Ain’t I a Woman,” speaks against the injustices amongst race and gender, while also
demanding an end to these cruel practices. Truth targeted white men as her main audience,
as she felt they were the main culprits of perpetuating inequality. Both King and Truth, in
their own individual pieces, portray powerful points with the hope to put an end to
inequality through strategies of purpose, diction, and pathos.
The purpose of King’s letter is to call for change. More specifically, he is calling for
equality of African Americans. King is angry over his imprisonment for participating in a
nonviolent protest, a perfectly legal action. He thought that he would at least be able to
reach negotiation by acting nonviolently; however, he was mistaken. There is a sense of
irony in the fact that King sits in jail writing about non-violent protests when that is also
the reason for his imprisonment. There are times when it is a “sorry not sorry” situation.
“But as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from
being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love?” (King “Letter From
Birmingham Jail par. 24). This is important to the overall purpose of the letter in that it
gives an important aspect of his personality. King states he receives satisfaction, which
forces the reader to stop and think about what he said and thus adds intrigue.
Similar to “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Truth’s speech also calls for action. Like King,
she focuses on racial issues, but she takes it a step further by also focusing on sexual
injustice as well. This speech took place at a women’s convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851.
Although it was a women’s convention, married men and priests were also in the crowd.
During her speech, Truth would act a bit harsh or aggressive. For instance, she would point
to someone in the audience and single them out. “Then that little man in black there, he
