In Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail, he puts forth a very persuasive argument to the clergymen who put forth a complaint upon his actions. In his argument King would use an argument thriving with pathos. This is a very common tactic with most argumentative writers.

I have found all of the commercials done by politicians and people of that nature to more often than not use a pathos based argument. When appealing to any sympathetic person's emotional nature, it is always a strong tactic to pull at their heartstrings. The clergymen were men of the church, therefore they deeply care of all of God's creatures correct? Well MLK new this, and acted upon it very well within his writing.

In order to get these men's attention, MLK appealed to their emotions by actively speaking of sob stories of his daughter being constantly confused and upset, and this argument really works in his case.

Any caring person would picture in their minds...a small child with tears welling up in her eyes...looking up at her father not understanding why the world is the way that it is. This visual image brings the reader to think...Why is the world this way? Make it STOP!

In argumentative writing, it is always important to know your audience; their moral beliefs, their caring nature, and what matters in general to them.

In King's letter from Birmingham jail, he did just that to the clergymen.

I do believe that his methods were prosperous, and it was very eloquently written.

-maggie