GEW 050/101 Fall 2009

The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with the best resources for researching historical context of Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". The text of the King letter, preceded by the "Statement by Alabama Clergymen" to which it responds are available here.

Your professor requires scholarly sources to help you form your ideas and demonstrate an awareness of the history surrounding this letter. This page is to specifically aid you in researching Dr. King's text, but these strategies can be used in all university-level research.

When you begin your research for your literature analysis, you will discover both scholarly and non-scholarly material has been published. You need to locate scholarly works in order to become part of the informed conversation surrounding your text. ' Scholarly' means it is not a popular press or emotion-based piece. For additional help on what is a scholarly source, click here.

When you are looking at historical events, you need to exercise caution in separating fact from fiction. Since the letter was written before you were born, what you know about the era in which the letter was written is second-hand. It is possibly incomplete, and maybe just far off enough from the facts and true events to misrepresent the reason for King's actions and what his letter was reacting to and why. Attitudes and actions, as well as how they were represented in the news media and society, have changed greatly since this letter was written. Knowing more about what the society and context were truly like will help you discover the differences between what you 'know' and what you 'see' in this letter as it represents Dr. King's reality at that time.

Essay Research

An smart research strategy when doing essay analysis is to analyze statements made by the author and look for proof. Here are examples:

• The 'Letter' is a response written to a statement written by eight Alabama religious leaders. In order to understand King's response, you should read the first page of the link given in the first paragraph for the letter from the white Alabama religious leaders. Why was the statement written? What did they want King to do? Who are they speaking for?
• In his response, King refers brings up a number of historical occurrences/past offences against Negroes. Where is his evidence? Who are the people he names and what roles do they play in the larger issue?  This is going to take you into historical research sources.
• Why does King support nonviolent activity? Where does he get this idea from? Is it a direct adoption or did he take pieces or change this philosophy to meet his needs?
• What issues is King addressing beyond the reason for his presence in Birmingham? What is his tone in this piece?
• What rhetorical style is King using in this letter? What is important about his choice of words?

You may also want to research the author's views and beliefs to help inform you as to any bias the essay might contain. Ask yourself:

• What is this person's race or ethnicity?
• Can I find a biography about this author?
• What are their political/religious/social views that might affect their arguments?