Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and Kings Letter From a Birming

Comparing Thoreaus civil Disobedience and Martin Luther Kings Letter From a Birmingham Jail The two essays, Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau, and Letter From a Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King, Jr., effectively enlarge the authors opinions of jurist. Each author has his main point Thoreau, in dealing with justice as it relates to government, asks for not at once no government, but at once a better government. King contends that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Both essays offer a complete parameter for justice, but, given the conditions, Kings essay remains more effective, in that its persuasive proficiencys gestate more practical application. Both essays extensively implement both(prenominal) stirred up and ethical appeal to give their respective ideas validity. One persuasive technique that each author implements to support his ideas emotionally is the use of biblical allusion. However, in comparison, Kings use is stronger in that the tone of his allusions is more appealing to the ref. Kings allusions cause the reader to want take action against injustice, whereas Thoreaus ar darker -- more likely to grade the reader want to submit to and accept the injustices portrayed. For example, King, in his first biblical allusion, manages to draw glory into his struggle by comparing himself with the Apostle Paul, feeling compelled to race the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town, just as Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus the Nazarene to practically every hamlet and city in the Graeco-Roman world.. . . This stirs awe in the reader for King and adds relevance to his struggle. Later King discusses the report of his style of civil dis... ...ide . . .one does not remain inert to make counselling for the other, but both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and display as best they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. All three of these compa risons, while being beneficial to the essays main idea, are too obscure and irrelevant to read any real persuasive power. Granted, both essays effectively implement both emotional and ethical appeal to the reader in order to be persuasive, and each, given the right conditions has the potential to be equally effective. But, given the conditions we are under, including the time frame, (Civil Disobedience was written over one century years before Letter From a Birmingham Jail) Kings essay, overall, features more of the characteristics, as well as the accessibility to produce a higher train of comprehension and relevance for the reader.