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Name: _____________________________________________ Period: _______ Packet # _____
“Letter From Birmingham JaiL”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A look at the Civil Rights Movement and how it has shaped our society and
treatment of people today.
K-W-L Chart ……………………………….………………………………_____/5
Quote Journal ……………………………….………………..……………_____/10
Annotations …………………………...…….………………………………_____/5
Genre, Audience, Purpose Questions …………………………………… _____/10
“King” of Persuasion ……………………….…………………………… _____/10
Making Text Connections …………………………………………...……_____/10
TOTAL POINTS: _____/ 50
Due Date: ______________________________
McQuickCrew@gmail.com
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Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement
K
W
L
What do I already know
about the topic?
What do I still WANT to
know about the topic?
What have I LEARNED
about the topic?
Glossary
Discrimination [dih-skrim-uh-ney-shuhn]
(noun) unfair treatment of someone based on their membership in a group defined by race, ethnicity, sex,
sexual orientation or other factors
De facto discrimination [dee fak-toh dih-skrim-uh-ney-shuhn]
(noun) unfair treatment of someone that is a matter of custom but not based in law
De jure discrimination [dee joo r-ee dih-skrim-uh-ney-shuhn]
(noun) unfair treatment of someone that is based on laws
Integration [in-ti-gray-shuuh n]
(noun) a situation in which different groups—such as those defined by race, ethnicity, sex, sexual
orientation or other factors—live together and use the same facilities
Nonviolence [non-vahy-uh-luhns]
(noun) a theory and practice that emphasizes love of all beings and a refusal to respond to violence with
violence
Retaliation [ri-tal-ee-ey-shuhn]
(noun) an action taken as revenge or reprisal
Segregation [seg-ri-gey-shuh n]
(noun) the separation of a specific racial, religious or other group from the general body of society
Unconstitutional [uhn-kon-sti-too-shuh-nl]
(adjective) inconsistent with the provisions in a country’s constitution
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Quote Journal: Non-Violence
“Together we can decrease the level of violence, raise awareness of our
activities and save lives around the world. The impact of a day of global
ceasefire and non-violence cannot be underestimated.”
Jeremy Gilley
DIRECTIONS: Think about how nonviolence might be a way to approach injustice today. (1)
Brainstorm and write down some current examples of injustice. The problems might be in your
own community—for example, maybe there are homeless people living on the street—or they
might be larger-scale—for example, racial profiling by police or workplace discrimination faced
by Muslim Americans. (2) Then, focus on just one problem. (3) How well do you think
nonviolence might work in dealing with a current problem? (4) What do you think would
happen if there was no violence in our world for one day?
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BACKGROUND: Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, personally led
a march on Good Friday, 12 April where all protestors were quickly arrested. Birmingham police
separated King, placing each in solitary confinement, and denying each man his rightful phone-calls to
the outside world. King spent eight days in his cell. During that time he composed his "Letter from a
Birmingham Jail." He wrote the letter as a response to an article in the local newspaper, which had
claimed that the protests were "unwise and untimely"; however, King also quite deliberately wrote his
letter for a national audience.
from Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail
Paragraph 14
(1) We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and Godgiven rights. (2) The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed
toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-andbuggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. (3) Perhaps
it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dart of segregation to
say, "Wait." (4) But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers
and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you
have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers
and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro
brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent
society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech
stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she
can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on
television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that
Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority
beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort
her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white
people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is
asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when
you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night
in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will
accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs
reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger,"
your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name
becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected
title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact
that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing
what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer
resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of
"nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. (5)
There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no
longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. (6) I hope, sirs, you
can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
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Rhetorical Reading Questions
DIRECTIONS: Read the ENTIRE question before you answer. Make sure to answer EACH
PART of the question. Write in full and complete sentences and try to fill up the entire
space that is provided. The more insightful and complete your answers, the more ready and
able you are to read rhetorically!
1. What is the Genre of the text? Who is The Writer?
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2. Who is The Audience? To whom is the text addressed? Why would this audience be
interested in this text? How would they react?
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4. What is the Author’s Purpose for this speech? What does the author hope his or her
work will accomplish?
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5: How would you describe the author’s tone? How would you describe his/her relationship
with the intended audience?
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“King” oF Persuasion
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew how to captivate an audience with his words; especially with
his logical arguments and his emotional words. Then he uses literary devices to paint a vivid
picture and we can feel the passion in this words. He utilized all of these skills and has proved to
be the true “King” of Persuasion.
Logos: Persuade using logic
Pathos: Persuade using emotion
Metaphor: Comparing two unlike
things using figurative language
Repetition: repeating for emphasis
Analogy: A short example where the
characters or events are meant to
symbolize something else.
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Making Text Connections
DIRECTIONS: So what? Why should you care about this topic? What’s the big
deal? Ever encountered it before? Let’s see if you can make some connections.
Text-to-Self:
What does this remind me of in my life? What is this similar to in my life? How is
this different from my life? Has something like this ever happened to me? How
does this relate to my life? What were my feelings when I read this?
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Text-to-Text:
What does this remind me of in another book I’ve read? How is this text similar to
other things I’ve read? How is this different from other books I’ve read? Have I
read about something like this before?
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Text-to-World:
What does this remind me of in the real world? How is this text similar to things
that happen in the real world? How is this different from things that happen in
the real world? How did that part relate to the world around me?
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