Refer to explorations in literature for a complete version of the text. read this excerpt from "a letter from birmingham jail" by martin luther king jr.: you may well ask: “why direct action? why sit-ins, marches and so forth? isn’t negotiation a better path? ” you are quite right in calling for negotiation. indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. how does king's use of rhetoric best advance his viewpoint? a. it provides a sense of confusion for the reader and makes his viewpoint obscure. b. it causes the reader to consider alternate viewpoints to king's. c. it forces the reader to think about why king is recommending action over negotiation. d. it creates an overwhelming tone for the reader to consider king's points.

C. It forces the reader to think about why King is recommending action over negotiation.

In the excerpt, King addresses the counterclaims in order to show why nonviolent direct action must be taken. He's trying to show that the people that must be part of the negotiations are refusing to negotiate, refusing to deal with the issue. Since they are not negotiating, King explains that another way to get them to pay attention and confront the issue is needed. He feels that nonviolent action is the best option.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)