Purpose: The purpose of this letter was to explain the goals of these nonviolent demonstrations and the letter is directed to the white clergymen who had criticized these demonstrations and also called him an outsider and troublemaker. Chronological and Topical Scope: Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and imprisoned for participating in these nonviolent demonstrations. Thesis and Main Points: In the letter Martin Luther King Jr. ’s says, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. ” His thesis is that there is injustice and injustice has seized the civil rights movement.
Because of these injustices he is in the Birmingham City Jail. In his main points he explains to the clergymen his goals for these demonstrations. He writes about how protesting against segregation was justified and he makes the point that nonviolent demonstrations are necessary to end the practice of segregation. Critique and Analysis: Besides writing his letter for the clergymen I believe King also wrote this letter for a national audience. His letter gives the audience feelings of anger, sympathy, and love.
But he also evokes feelings of disgust and sadness when he describes the many horrific events that occurred during nonviolent protest. His choice of words brings out emotions from the audience and he persuades readers to see his point of view. King reaches out in an intelligent manner and gains the trust of the audience. Overall, Martin Luther King Jr. makes his point that injustice should not be tolerated. Purpose: The purpose of this article was to show the injustice that occurred during the lynchings in Memphis. Her three friends were wrongfully killed and she wanted to expose the people who brutally killed them.
Chronological and Topical Scope: 1880’s and 1892 during the lynching’s in Memphis. Ida B. Wells-Barnett discusses the injustice of her friend’s killings. Thesis and Main Points: She argues “every white man in Memphis who consented to the lynching’s and rioting is as guilty as those who fired the guns. ” She is saying that if you are there at the time the crime is committed you are as guilty as the person who committed the crime. Wells-Barnett explains the murders of her three friends “Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and Henry Stewart.
” These three were owners of Peoples Grocery Company and they had taken away customers from competing white businesses. A group of angry white men thought they would “eliminate” the competition. They attacked People’s grocery, but the owners fought back, shooting one of the attackers. The owners of People’s Grocery were arrested, but a lynch mob broke into the jail, dragged them away from town, and murdered all three. Critique and Analysis: Ida B. Wells-Barnett had a passion for justice. She knew what they did to her friends was wrong and she wanted justice for them.
When the superintendent and treasurer of the City Railway Company came to talk to her about convincing the colored people to ride on the streetcars again she asked them why they thought the colored people weren’t riding them and they replied and said they didn’t know. She wanted them to admit that they were in the wrong. They believed that colored people weren’t riding in the streetcars because they were “afraid of electricity” but Wells knew better, she knew that it was because of the lynching’s and she wasn’t afraid to say it.
She told them about her friend and said that he was a well-liked man and he was wrongfully killed. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind because she knew that something had to be done. Name: Shirley Bernal ______________________________________________________ Santa Monica CollegeDr. Saavedra History 10 Fall 2013 Synopsis Packet # _4_ Hiriam W. Evans “The Klans Fight for Americanism” 1926 Type of reading: Academic Essay Historical Context: Purpose: To define the Ku Klux Klan, explain who they represented and why. And give the definition of Americanism according to the “Ku Klux Klan.
Chronological and Topical Scope: 1920’s, Hiriam W. Evans explains the purpose of the Ku Klux Klan. Thesis and Main Points: Evans says that the people who are in control now are too liberal of people to run the government and that they have betrayed the American people. He writes about who the Klan was organized for, he talks about how his people are oppressed, and how the Klan is appealing to the average American person. Critique and Analysis: Evan tries to enlighten then audience with his point of view. His point of view is the Klan’s feeling that America is being lost to liberal ideologies.