Question

passages
excerpt from letter from birmingham jail (1963) by martin luther king jr.
\we know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor;
it must be demanded by the oppressed. frankly, i have yet to engage in a direct action
campaign that was well timed in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the
disease of segregation. for years now i have heard the word wait! it rings in the ear of every
negro with piercing familiarity. this wait has almost always meant never. we must come to
see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that justice too long delayed is justice denied.\

passage 2
politics and the english language (1946) by george orwell
\in our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. things like
the continuance of british rule in india, the russian purges and deportations, the dropping of
the atom bombs on japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too
brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political
parties. thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question - begging, and
sheer cloudy vagueness. defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants
driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine - gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary
bullets: this is called pacification. millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent
trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population
or rectification of frontiers. people are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of
the neck or sent to die of scurvy in arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable
elements. such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental
pictures of them.
2 how might the intended audience’s expectations about tone and formality
have influenced mlk’s rhetorical choices?
a his audience did not care about tone at all.
b his audience demanded jokes and humor to understand his
argument.
c his audience expected casual, conversational language.
d his audience expected serious, formal reasoning to show
credibility.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The audience of MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (addressed to clergymen and those in power) would care about tone, so A is incorrect.
• Option B: MLK's argument is serious about civil rights, not using jokes/humor, so B is wrong.
• Option C: The context (addressing justice and segregation) requires formal, not casual, language, so C is incorrect.
• Option D: MLK aimed to show credibility and seriousness about the civil rights cause, so his audience (including clergymen and those in power) would expect serious, formal reasoning.

Answer:

D. His audience expected serious, formal reasoning to show credibility.