Letter From Birmingham Jail

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. “Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their ‘thus saith the Lord’ far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid” (Paragraph 3). Which literary term does King use in this quote to describe the nature of his work?

A) Alliteration

B) Anaphora

C) Allusion

D) Allegory

2. With which of the following sentences would King’s views align most closely?

A) The fight for justice concerns only the actions of Black Americans.

B) Actions affect all individuals, whether directly or indirectly.

C) It is the nature of communities to remain segregated.

D) Outsiders are a natural development in the fight for justice.

3. Which of the following literary terms does King use in Paragraph 15 as he describes the problem with waiting for rights?

A) Anaphora

B) Palindrome

C) Allegory

D) Personification

4. In Paragraph 22, King references different types of “civil disobedience.” Which famous author is also associated with this term?

A) Ralph Waldo Emerson

B) Rosa Parks

C) Malcolm X

D) Henry David Thoreau

5. King notes in Paragraph 25 that, “Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.” Which literary term does King use in this quote?

A) Verbal irony

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Anaphora

6. Based on his opinion of Black nationalist groups, how would King view the possibility of a collaborative effort with Malcolm X?

A) Supportive, since King welcomes collaborations with all nonviolent groups

B) Supportive, since King admires Malcolm X’s approach

C) Unsupportive, since King finds Black nationalist groups to be too nonviolent in their approach

D) Unsupportive, since King believes this group is centered in hatred

7. In talking in Paragraph 41 about the former power of the church, King says: “In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.” Which of the following literary terms is used in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Anaphora

8. Which of the following terms best describes the tone of King’s letter overall?

A) Disgust

B) Anger

C) Anxiety

D) Disappointment

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Throughout his letter, King makes references to several scholars and philosophers. List the names he references. What type of persuasive appeal is he making with this technique?

2. Summarize the central point of King’s letter. What does he hope to accomplish in writing it?