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?