In both Obama's essay "A More Perfect Union" and King's essay "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" the men wiring them are trying to persuade people into help make a more equal future not only for one specific race, but for all people living within the United States. I feel as though in President Obama’s essay he uses more emotion than Martin Luther King’s letter. Both of these men use logic, but King uses a high logic than Obama does. I think this because his writing seems to be much more formal and straight to what he believes and wants from the clergymen. Obama is the president and this gives him authority, while on the other hand King has more authority to me because he has had more result from what he did and how he went about doing it. I believe that King presented a more compelling argument because while he was writing he told the clergymen the steps to a nonviolent campaign, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.” He wrote in a rational tone that didn’t show any anger or bias toward any subject. King explained why he was in Birmingham in the first place, “I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” He ended by saying, “If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.” These statements are a strong way to end his letter because they ask for forgiveness if he stepped over any lines that could have upset the clergymen.
Bailee, it's interesting how differently we perceived MLK's essay. I found it to be written with deep ethos that almost brought me to tears in a coffee shop (no joke, it was embarrassing). MLK discussed the various forms of oppression endured by black Americans at this time. He described explaining to his daughter than she is not allowed to go to the water park featured in the ad she just watched. He told the story of sleeping in his car during a road trip because no hotels/motels would accept him. Most painfully, he wrote how his first name became 'negro,' and his last name 'boy.' That struck me so deeply. I disagree that MLK's letter was written with less emotion than Obama's. I also disagree that MLK's letter was written without bias or anger. He is in jail for a peaceful protest! Of course he holds bias against the clergy. I believe Obama's essay was more relatable to us young Americans of today. Because it is more relatable, it may appear more emotionally-fueled and more bias. In addition, Obama is working to defend himself and his Reverend. Because it was an essay written while on the defense of a scandal, it may be perceived to be more emotional. Ultimately, I do agree that MLK's logic is more dense and Obama's logic is a bit shallow. But both men are writing with a bias because they have been effected by racist discrimination.
ReplyDeleteBarack Obama speech, “A More Perfect Union” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” both provide a great argument for equality in our nation. They do so in very similar ways. Both acknowledge what is motivating them to write their pieces fairly early, which makes the argument as a whole seem more logical since it is clear who/what the author is responding to. They also both provide why they have authority to speak on the subject in very similar ways by giving a personal background of who they are that makes them credible, rather than using their titles, such as Obama being President of the United States, as what makes him reliable to speak on the matter. Both pieces also have a strong religious component that provides pathos to reach out to the religious audience. I feel that Kings piece however provides a stronger argument than Barack Obama’s because of the amount of logic and emotion that has gone into “Letters from Birmingham Jail”. Because King is himself, sitting in the jail, being oppressed, readers are able to sympathize more with him, whereas Obama shows that despite his color, he has not been oppressed, but has only seen the oppression close to home. The emotion that King puts into his letter greatly out does Obama’s and with Kings emotions he brings out logical senses regarding his argument that is not present in Obama’s speech.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Kaitlin, because like you have stated, Mr. Obama's, "A More Perfect Union" and Marin Luther King Jr.'s " Letter from Birmingham Jail" speeches both are geared toward providing equality for eveyone no matter what race. I do think that MLK's speech used alot of emotion toward the subject, but on a more educated level. I believe that both of these men have struggled through tough times in their lives, but i feel that MLK has a stronger emotional draw to it, because he locked up in jail and because he is actually living the time where equality was very new. I dont mean to take anything away from the President, but his speech does not have the same pull toward it, because we are in a completly different time period. While inequality may still be a problem in this day in age, I believe that MLK's struggles were harder to get through, thus making his speech stronger and easier for the audience to sympathize for his situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the fact that President Obama was running for the presidency while Martin Luther King Jr. already had his support makes a huge difference in how each individual framed and presented their argument. Although, to me the biggest difference in the way they chose to deliver their arguments was their use of modern versus past United States situations. For example, Obama uses examples that took place in America's past time as the foundation for his speech while MLK used examples that were happening presently because he felt that they would appeal to the emotional side of the reader through the use of logos. Despite their differences in style, delivery, and presentation, they were both attempting to apply very similar arguments. I personally believe that MLK's argument style appeals more to the reader because of his use of pathos and examples of hostility during his time while Obama used examples that only appeal to a small portion of the population during his speech. Although Obama's speech was extremely successful and effective at getting his points and goals across, MLK just found a way to appeal to all aspects of the United States population, not just one demographic.
ReplyDelete