Letter From Birmingham Jail

King made various statements in the letter that are examples of ethos. Ethos sets the mood, it is a direct attempt on the part of King to establish a climate or feeling of goodwill. Some of those examples are as follows;

But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

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.

One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust.