Question
Reread paragraphs 44–46 of the letter. Then answer the multiple-choice questions that follow.
From “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.
44 Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
45 It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
46 I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Identify the effect of the logical reasoning that King employs in paragraph 44.
A. It refutes the idea that the Birmingham police have been keeping “order” and “preventing violence.”
B. It shows King’s disappointment in the clergymen who think that the Birmingham police have been peaceful.
C. It explains why the actions of the Birmingham police are inherently wrong.
D. It is used to explain why the actions of the protestors are just.
What does King’s emotional appeal in paragraph 46 accomplish?
A. It contrasts the protesters in Birmingham with protesters in other Southern cities.
B. It highlights the positive traits of the people who are protesting for greater freedoms.
C. It clarifies the idea that there are various ways to protest injustice.
D. It emphasizes the moral evil of the people who oppose extending civil rights to all.
Why does King refer to the American dream and sacred Judeo-Christian values at the end of paragraph 46?
A. It explains how the protestors are seen in the South.
B. It describes why the clergymen are wrong.
C. It highlights the shared values between the protestors and the clergymen.
D. It highlights the courage and resolve of those participating in the protest movement.
From “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.
44 Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
45 It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
46 I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Identify the effect of the logical reasoning that King employs in paragraph 44.
A. It refutes the idea that the Birmingham police have been keeping “order” and “preventing violence.”
B. It shows King’s disappointment in the clergymen who think that the Birmingham police have been peaceful.
C. It explains why the actions of the Birmingham police are inherently wrong.
D. It is used to explain why the actions of the protestors are just.
What does King’s emotional appeal in paragraph 46 accomplish?
A. It contrasts the protesters in Birmingham with protesters in other Southern cities.
B. It highlights the positive traits of the people who are protesting for greater freedoms.
C. It clarifies the idea that there are various ways to protest injustice.
D. It emphasizes the moral evil of the people who oppose extending civil rights to all.
Why does King refer to the American dream and sacred Judeo-Christian values at the end of paragraph 46?
A. It explains how the protestors are seen in the South.
B. It describes why the clergymen are wrong.
C. It highlights the shared values between the protestors and the clergymen.
D. It highlights the courage and resolve of those participating in the protest movement.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
**1. Identify the effect of the logical reasoning that King employs in paragraph 44.**
**A. It refutes the idea that the Birmingham police have been keeping “order” and “preventing violence.”**
King uses logical reasoning to highlight the discrepancy between the clergymen's praise of the police and the actual brutal treatment of African Americans by the police, thereby refuting the notion that they have been maintaining order.
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**2. What does King’s emotional appeal in paragraph 46 accomplish?**
**B. It highlights the positive traits of the people who are protesting for greater freedoms.**
In paragraph 46, King emphasizes the courage, discipline, and suffering of the demonstrators, portraying them as true heroes in the struggle for civil rights.
---
**3. Why does King refer to the American dream and sacred Judeo-Christian values at the end of paragraph 46?**
**C. It highlights the shared values between the protestors and the clergymen.**
By referencing the American dream and Judeo-Christian values, King aims to illustrate how the protestors' actions align with fundamental principles that the clergymen also uphold, thereby reinforcing the moral righteousness of the civil rights movement.
**A. It refutes the idea that the Birmingham police have been keeping “order” and “preventing violence.”**
King uses logical reasoning to highlight the discrepancy between the clergymen's praise of the police and the actual brutal treatment of African Americans by the police, thereby refuting the notion that they have been maintaining order.
---
**2. What does King’s emotional appeal in paragraph 46 accomplish?**
**B. It highlights the positive traits of the people who are protesting for greater freedoms.**
In paragraph 46, King emphasizes the courage, discipline, and suffering of the demonstrators, portraying them as true heroes in the struggle for civil rights.
---
**3. Why does King refer to the American dream and sacred Judeo-Christian values at the end of paragraph 46?**
**C. It highlights the shared values between the protestors and the clergymen.**
By referencing the American dream and Judeo-Christian values, King aims to illustrate how the protestors' actions align with fundamental principles that the clergymen also uphold, thereby reinforcing the moral righteousness of the civil rights movement.