Oklahoma State University Letter from a Birmingham Jail Paper

For this writing task, I’ll walk you through a few processes to help with sections of your essay. If you work through these, you should have a full draft of your analysis essay.

1. Write an opening paragraph or two introducing King’s essay and explaining what it is about.
   1. Start a paragraph with something like, “In Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail, he argues . . .” and then explain in your own words what the essay is about. **Do this without looking at any secondary text – just write a summary entirely from your memory.**
   2. At the end of these paragraphs, place your thesis statement from Freewriting Prompt 3.
2. Select 2-3 quotes which you think are good evidence for who King’s audience is.
   1. Now, write 2-3 paragraphs that use these quotes and explain how they show who his audience is.
3. Make a list of 3-4 strategies King uses to persuade his audience (his use of metaphors, for instance, or comparing and contrasting, whatever you want to name).
   1. Under each strategy, list 2-3 quotes which serve as evidence for the strategy.
   2. Now, write a paragraph or 2 explaining how those quotes illustrate his strategy.
   3. When you put your essay together, you can use your best paragraphs from this section and the audience section to stitch together your essay.
4. Now, write a concluding paragraph or two that summarizes the main points you have covered in the essay.

**Note to Students**

Just click “Reply” to this prompt and write your response there. There are no word restrictions on these. Just write whatever comes to mind for 40-50 minutes.

Here is the link to the reading. pretty simple just read and answer in essay format.

https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_B…