Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King And Thoreau Civil...

When It’s OK to Disobey Martin Luther King Jr.’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† and Henry David Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience† collectively persuade their audiences to disobey authority when it concerns social injustice. King takes a more assertive yet respectful approach, and makes it a point to explicate the intolerable treatment that the black community had to endure under the encroachment of segregation laws. In addition, Thoreau expounds why it is so important for citizens to object and take action upon the corrupt laws that the government had imposed on the blacks, insisting that civil disobedience is a means of freedom. Both of these influential men successfully utilize occasion, purpose, tone, appeals and rhetorical strategies to†¦show more content†¦Though the specifics concerning who these essays were written for can be interpreted differently, the common men and women of America collectively heard and responded to these essays. The primary goal of a persuasive essay is to either convince the reader to agree with the author’s point of view, or at least prompt the audience to proceed in taking a specific course of action. Because Thoreau very vocally opposed the government at this time, he didn’t necessarily urge people to abandon it altogether, rather he desired that â€Å"every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it† (408). In addition, he advocated that people would oppose the unjust laws of the government by performing acts of civil disobedience when it is necessary. King takes a very similar approach in his essay, but also makes it a point to defend both himself and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He aims to bring about reform and immediate action as he states that â€Å"justice too long delayed is justice denied†(224). He seeks to direct national attention to the Civil Rights Movement with the hope that his words might bring about good consequences and thus change. The efforts that