Diablo Valley College The Race with Time in A Pandemic Essay

1. The Clergymen’s Letter as it appeared in The Birmingham News protesting Dr. Martin Luther King’s presence in Birmingham, Alabama

Carefully read this letter written by clergymen protesting the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their city of Birmingham, Alabama. This letter appeared in The Birmingham News and was in the newspaper smuggled by a custodian–along with a pencil–to the jail cell where Dr. King was imprisoned on Good Friday, 1963–a day when he had planned to be with his own congregation in Atlanta, Georgia and with his family during the Easter season.

Look at the signatures at the end of the letter. Do you know what the letters after their names stand for? Do you know how many religions are represented by the authors of this letter?

Put yourself in Dr. King’s shoes–imagine reading this letter while in jail–written by fellow clergymen. Think about how you might react. What words might you find particularly hard to swallow?

You have read George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.” What kinds of words does this letter contain? Are there phrases that you can imagine precisely? Are the words these men use abstract or concrete? Why do you think this is so?

In a hundred words or more write your reaction to this letter, and then comment on the reactions of two of your classmates.

2. This and the first is an article. After reading, find out the interesting sentence and tell me how many pages, and then comment

3. Read and annotate this letter carefully. (You may see this again as you continue your studies: it is considered one of the finest pieces of argumentation in the language.) Highlight the allusions with which you are unfamiliar. (You do not have to look them all up. Many are biblical, while others refer to well-known thinkers of the time.

You have read the letter from the eight clergymen, and you should notice how Dr. King uses their concerns as the basis for his answers. As you read, think about the parts of the letter that you find most affecting. Choose six passages to comment on, and then respond to two of your classmates’ comments.