WELCOME TO WEEK 9, UNIT 2.
EXPOSITORY WRITING.

[action required]:

Grab folders.
Answer the question on the handout from the
back.

Quick Outline of What We’ve Done

Unit 1: General Overview





What is literature? / genres of literature
Main idea, summary, theme, protagonist,
antagonist, conflict, resolution, visual-media
Persuasion: ethos, logos, pathos
Borderlands authors
Unit 2: Expository Writing


What is expository writing? / types of expo.
writing
Letters, memoirs, autobiographies, essays,
speeches, magazine & newspaper articles
Letters - What are letters?
There are 3 basic parts to every letter.
PART
 1

2

3
FUNCTION
Today, we’ll begin reading a letter
from the Civil Rights era.


Let’s return to your [action required].
What do you know about civil injustice?
What do you know about racial
prejudice/racial injustice?
“Letter From Birmingham Jail”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
1929-1968
Biography







“Letter From Birmingham Jail”
Born 1929 to minister in Atlanta, Georgia
Attended Morehouse College, Crozer Theological
Seminary, and obtained a Ph.D. from Boston
University
Married Coretta Scott and had four children
Became pastor in 1954
Led black boycott against segregated bus lines
Organized Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
1964 received Nobel Peace Prize
Historical Context

“Letter From Birmingham Jail”
Racial segregation was wide spread and the
South was a place of great racial tension.
King along with others were in non-violent
battle to stop the segregation.
Main Points



“Letter From Birmingham Jail”
All communities in America are related.
1963 march
 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Four basic steps to nonviolent campaign:
 Collection of the facts to determine whether injustice
exist
 Negotiation
 Self-purification
 Direct action
Main Points
“Letter From Birmingham Jail”

Individuals have the moral responsibility to
disobey unjust laws.

Unjust laws are those who the majority
compels the minority to obey but does not
make it binding on themselves.

Two types of forces in the Negro community

The complacent which are the ones who
have adjusted to segregation.

The other are those filled with bitterness
and hatred who would advocate violence.
Letter to MLK Jr.



Written by 8 Clergymen in 1963
As you read the letter, think about what they
recommend to MLK Jr. and what problems
they see in American society.
The clergymen agreed that social injustices
existed but argued that the battle against
racial segregation should be fought solely in
the courts, not in the streets.
Historical Significance

Racial inequality is still today embedded in
our social setting.
Talking Point
If the Negro community had waited, as many
suggested, would they have received the
rights they now have without some type of
protests?
Exit Slip

Next slide
Exit Slip:




1. What is expository writing?
2. What are 4 examples of expository writing?
3. What are the three parts of a letter?
4. In what decade was the Civil Rights
movement?