Paraphrasing Activity – “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
For this assignment, you will use Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to help you practice the important rhetorical skill of paraphrasing:
King, Jr., M. L. (1963, April 16). Letter from a Birmingham jail. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/document_images/undecided/630416-019.pdf
Be sure to address the following:
- State the purpose of the letter. Be sure to paraphrase the speech throughout your analysis.
- Describe one strategy for development of the letter. This should be one that you identify with or think is effective.
- Remember that your paraphrase should end up being about the same amount of words as the original material that you cite. Please note that you are not paraphrasing the entire document but more like a sentence or two. This is similar to what you might do with a quote, but with your own words. A paraphrase is not the same as a summary.
- Explain why you think the strategy is effectively used in the letter.
- Incorporate at least one quote from the speech and properly cite the quote on the References page.
- Explain how you plan to use this development strategy in your Portfolio Project.
You must accurately insert a quote and paraphrase in your analysis to provide in-text evidence from the essay or article you selected, and you must comment on the quote to demonstrate you are thinking in a critical manner.
Your written paper should be 2-3 pages in length, not counting the title and reference pages, and conform to APA guidelines. Include at least two scholarly references