The first major difference I noticed between these two documents is the authorial presentation of these two great men. In Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" he starts by introducing this letter as a defense against criticisms, while in Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" he starts with a quote from one of the greatest documents in America's history. This sets the tone for each of these papers, and sets the tone for the way each author presents himself. King says, "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and organization operating in every southern state... We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South..." Explaining the operations that he is in charge of, and talking about the power and responsibility he holds seems to be an attempt to convince his critics of his legitimacy as a leader. Obama has no such paragraph within his paper, and focuses primarily on the issue he is discussing. He doesn't discuss the operations of the United States or the allies it serves, and any attempt at convincing critics of his legitimacy is hidden and spaced throughout the paper.
Another difference in authorial presentation is the greatness each man perceives of himself. In the third paragraph of his letter, King compares himself to the apostle Paul, and compares his mission to Birmingham to Paul's "Macedonian call for aid". Paul was the greatest disciple of the Christian religion. He was specifically pointed out by Jesus Christ as the rock that his church would be built upon. The comparison King makes to himself and Paul is outright vain, and I believe that his audience, who is already skeptical of him, would think the same thing. If anything, Obama humbles himself by discussing his beginnings, discussing how his grandmother and grandfather raised him, and how his wife is the direct descendent of people who suffered from slavery.
Obama's authorial presentation in "A More Perfect Union" goes hand in hand with its tone. The essay is inspirational and genuine. Although from a different time, and maybe one of the key players in his presidency, I believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. could have stood to learn a few things about authorial presentation from Barack Obama.
Josiah, although I agree that MLK's comparison to the disciple Paul was a bit of a stretch, I do not think it crossed the line to the point of devaluing his message. MLK was not running for an election, he already had the support of many. He was working towards a purpose that was beyond himself, beyond his ego. Conversely, running for any election, but especially the US Presidential election, requires garnering respect and creating trust. Candidates always try to appear humble because they want the public's trust. I disgree that MLK's comparison was vain. I think the purpose and the tone of each piece of writing are vastly different. While Obama was ultimately defending himself and his Reverend against a recent scandal, MLK was passionately fighting for the equality of his entire race. I think their is anger in MLK's tone and humility in Obama's.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara when it comes to how Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech are very different. In MLK's letter, the overall message was to try and create peace and equality for his race, while Obama's speech discusses, like Sara said, how he was defending himself and Reverend Wright. Obama was running for presidency and King wasn't which sets two very different tones in these messages when comparing the two. However, I agree with Josiah on how Barack Obama's tone was genuine and humble, while Martin Luther King's tone was more angry and disappointed. Obama's speech was a brave argument to make, but I think he overall did a good job in getting his point across for how our society needs a lot of improvement. In contrast, Martin Luther King's letter was more on the defensive side against criticisms that have been made. Although there is nothing wrong with that, it just shows how the tone of the two messages that were being conveyed are extremely different. In comparison, though, I do see some similarities between the two messages such as how both "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "A More Perfect Union describe the difficulties and struggles these two men have experienced because of their race. Overall, there are more differences than similarities, but I saw both strengths and faults in both of these two messages.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama’s speech mirrors Martin Luther King Juniors a lot. They both use similar techniques in addressing their audience. In Martin Luther’s speech, “a letter from Birmingham Jail” he is humble and writes solely for the purpose of explaining himself. He wants to clearly explain to the reader his thoughts and beliefs to get the reader on his side as well. His audience isn’t just the people he is responding to, but the whole nation because it was published and he wants to spread his thoughts. He uses a humble tone too, in order to make the reader more likely to agree with him but he also has a lot of passion in his words. He uses strong diction and comparisons and things to convey his points and carry on a strong, passionate, but humble tone. He also uses biblical allusions in some parts of his text. Obama does the same thing, which is helpful because he is trying to get the American voters on his side, and Americans are mostly Christian. He too, uses a humble tone in his speech. He is trying to clearly explain how he feels about his old pastor without being defensive or offensive. Both essays are very effective at both appealing to the audience and being convincing but I disagree that Obama had the stronger argument. I think that martin Luther king jr was more effective because I just feel that his letter just has such a passionate tone that it gives him more authority.
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