Rogerian Outline

Download an example Rogerian Outline here.

ENG 105 - Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail

One of the main theories behind Rogerian Logic is that emotions, insults, and the like must all be defused before addressing the issue at hand. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. responds 'above the fray' of the insults and disparaging claims about his character and his cause. Dr. King was responding to a letter written to him by a number of clerics in the Birmingham and Alabama areas requesting that he cancel the protests, sit-ins, and marches that were being organised and carried out during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Dr. King wrote them this response on toilet paper, newspaper margins, and other bits of paper he could salvage from his cell in a Birmingham jail. He, of course, had been arrested for the role he played in these same protests. I have included the posting of speaker Tim Ferris who gives a little exigence, and includes the original editorial letter calling on King to cease the protests.

Pay particular attention to how King seeks to defuse all the emotions of his detractors and cooly put forth his argument while attempting to show that his conclusions stem from some of the same values that his detractors say they espouse.

Click here for the article.

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man

Rory Sutherland is a figure much respected in the marketing and advertising world. Here he explores 'perceived' value, and argues that it is just as 'valuable' as 'real value.' Interesting watch.

Click to watch Rory Sutherland's talk here