Collections grade 10 guiding questions collection 6 “letter from birmingham jail” by martin luther king jr. read the argument “letter from birmingham jail” by martin luther king jr. then, reread the lines indicated with each question below. answer each question, citing text evidence. lines 2–12: what is one claim opposing king’s work to which he is responding in the first paragraph of the letter? to whom is he responding, and why is this audience significant? lines 17–43: king provides three different types of reasons in his letter to justify his presence in birmingham: organizational reasons, religious or historical reasons, and moral reasons. choose one type of reason and cite an example from these lines. explain why the example fits your chosen reason. lines 17–43: what is a religious reason king gives on this page? why did king include religious allusions in his letter? lines 66–101: why might king hav

Lines 2-12. King is addressing clergymen, an important group especially to him because he has so many other ties and does a lot of work for other religious organizations trying to help people. One of their complaints is that what he is doing is "unwise and untimely".

Lines 17-43: King is in Birmingham because of moral reasons, as he supports with this statement: "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here." He believes injustice is happening and that he can help fix it, which relates to his morality. 

Lines 17-43: King uses religious allusions because he is sending this letter to clergymen, who are religious people. This is his direct appeal to his specific audience. And example of religious appeal is when he says "Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns...so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town." This is a specific example from the Bible that he is comparing himself to. 

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