ipl-logo

Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcolm X's Speech

1311 Words6 Pages

Malcolm X was one of the most active and influential figures of the civil rights era. He was a believer in equality, self-respect, and uncompromising resistance to white oppression. Malcolm X was a figure energized and educated African Americans, while frightening many whites. He was a truth-teller who decided that the civil rights movement was naïve to think that freedom through nonviolence was possible. The controversy of Malcolm X's rhetoric sometimes overshadowed the f his message, especially for those who seen him as a threat. Malcolm X was assassinated at age 39, but his political and cultural influence grew far greater in the years after his death. On April 3, 1964, Malcolm X gave a speech called The Ballot or the Bullet in Cleveland, …show more content…

He then moves on to explain the problem at hand, taking full advantage of the use of pathos, to emotionally appeal to the audience and get them to understand his way of thinking. Throughout the speech, the repetition of the words "the ballot or the bullet" forces his audience to keep the thought of the issue in their mind. This phrase becomes all the more and more influential as the speech goes on. The speech becomes so real and intense that He exposes democrats as liars and shows that even though they have full control of the Senate and House, they still will not help out the African-Americans, which can be seen as another tactic to bring African Americans …show more content…

"The year when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community with their false promises, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their trickery and their treachery, with their false promises which they don't intend to keep." He is trying to create anger within the audience so that they will want to take action. Later on, Malcolm X begins talking about Uncle Sam (a personification of the US Government) and how he has lost all of his conscience. He states, "Uncle Sam's hands are dripping with blood, dripping with the blood of the black man in this country." He is trying to get across the suffering that African Americans have been going through, and what the real cause of this suffering is. Because he is trying to paint a graphic picture of the struggle they are currently in, and also trying to convey that this struggle was literally caused by the actions of

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Malcolm X And Julius Caesar

    1491 Words  | 6 Pages

    Malcolm X and Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar and Malcolm X were influential men in their own rights. While they lived millennia apart and in extremely dissimilar societies, their lives have several parallels. Pundits and scholars of history concur that both defined and influenced the respective histories of their time and were loved or loathed in equal measure by those that their lives touched. Malcolm X was an African American Muslim minister and human rights, activist.

    Read More

  • Was Malcolm X's Assassination Unjust?

    565 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1960s, the civil rights movement was in full swing, and one of the most influential leaders during this time was Malcolm X. He was an idol for many African-Americans during that time, a great debater, a powerful public speaker, his followers looked up to him and embraced his “the

    Read More

  • Compare Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    in the 1950s through the 1960s, there was social and political injustice. There was also racism, but leaders such as Dr. King and Malcome X were both heroes in the civil rights movement. Malcolm X is the leader whose methods and messages work the best. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader that was good at his job and took it very seriously; he did not like to play games and was straight to the point. In paragraph one, Malcolm X states, " I'm not here to discuss anything we differ about because it time for us to submerge our differences.

    Read More

  • African-American Civil Rights Leader: Malcolm X

    604 Words  | 3 Pages

    Malcolm X was an influential African-American civil rights leader who sacrificed his life to change the conception of segregation based on race, and influenced people that race and skin colour doesn’t change someone’s abilities and characteristics. He was born on May 19th, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, given his original name, Malcolm Little. When Malcolm was little, his family was frequently harassed from white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. In Omaha, the local Klan members smashed all their windows, and threatened to murder people in his family.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X's 'The Ballot Or The Bullet'

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Ballot or the Bullet” , by Malcolm X, uses parallel structure and anaphora to make it memorable and illustrate Malcolm X’s opinion on the Negro rights topic. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” , by Frederick Douglass, includes antithesis to interpret his opinion on the Negro rights issue. Both speakers use pattern of three to make their speeches effective, memorable and persuading. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader before he was assassinated at the age of 40.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay Example Of Malcolm X: A True Hero

    561 Words  | 3 Pages

    Malcolm X has the showing of a hero because of him fighting for freedom, education, and equality. What would it be like to live in a place where the color of your skin determined if you could get a cheeseburger at your favorite restaurant, or where you have to go to school, and even be able to drink out of a drinking fountain or have to use the dog fountain. Well life isn 't like that since Malcolm X fought for freedom, education, and equality. He lived in a very racist community which burned down their house and killed his father. He was in foster homes for the rest of his childhood, then went to prison for 10 years after he turned into a street “juggie” after that he became a minister and an activist and spent the rest of his life persisting in America to achieve freedom, education, and freedom.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Speech

    433 Words  | 2 Pages

    On April 4, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy gave his remarks on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Robert’s goal was to inform people on Martin Luther King’s journey and to strengthen people’s attitudes on the whole situation. Robert’s main points throughout the speech were how the country as a whole should move forward, why the states should not resort to violence but unity instead, and he also addressed that the country needed unity, love, and compassion.

    Read More

  • Martin Luther King Malcolm X Rhetorical Analysis

    1204 Words  | 5 Pages

    Whites-Blacks relations The relationship between the two races is practically the basis of the civil rights movement. From their rhetoric, it is clear that Martin Luther King and Malcom X held quite different views on the current and future relationship of Blacks and Whites in the United States. Martin Luther King knew that Blacks are the minority in the US and that they “cannot walk alone”. They need allies in the white majority to be able to achieve any changes.

    Read More

  • The Ballot Or The Bullet Rhetorical Analysis

    607 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the time of this speech, April 12, 1964, the entire nation knows who Malcolm X is. His popularity automatically provides a lot of ethos. To add to that, Malcolm X is a praised speaker amongst the African American community, and is African American himself. Since his audience is towards all Blacks and African Americans, the aforementioned traits helps build a very good amount of ethos. Malcolm uses a lot of inclusive language to increase his ethos.

    Read More

  • The Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Speech

    946 Words  | 4 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr., a minister and social activist, led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. He was an advocate for equality between all races and a civil and economic rights Activist. Because of his leadership, bravery and sacrifice to make the world a better place, Martin Luther King was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. His incredible public speaking skills and ability to properly get his message across can clearly be scene throughout the speech. Tone: Dr. King delivered his speech at the university of Oslo in Oslo Norway in front of a large group of people.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    378 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this passage Malcolm X addressed the narrating “I” to address the audience of the autobiography, and he explains to them why he put forward the “sordid” details of his younger years as well as tells the read why he made the decision to spend so much time writing a book at all. This passage shows the reader the important themes that Malcolm X aims to put forward in the book, and that is the theme of race and racism in addition to the theme of religion. The theme of race is present when he says, “I had sunk to the very bottom of American white man’s society.” This quote tells the reader that Malcolm X has aimed, and still aims, to show how American society puts the white man at power, and the African-American man below him. Then the theme

    Read More

  • Malcolm X: The Leadership Qualities Of Malcom X

    1060 Words  | 5 Pages

    Malcolm X was a Muslim minister who was also African American. He was a activist for human rights, Malcolm was a bold and courageous spokesperson for blacks to have rights,Malcolm X declared America “white America” to have the most harshest of terms for it’s tenacious treatments against African Americans. In the year 1946, he was sentenced to prison because he was caught breaking and entering. When he was incarcerated, he was chosen to become a member of the Nation of Islam. This is when he changed his birth name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Later he had written,”Little was the name that the white slave master … had imposed upon paternal forebears” After his parole in 1952 his popularity grew and became the organization 's most influential leaders, and served as the public face of the controversial group for a dozen years.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Hypocrisy Of American Slavery

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    He creates powerful imagery to depict the treacherous treatment slaves are enduring that floods the audience with shame. He provides them with a chance to recall their moral standards and compare them to slavery. He questions them to evoke the truth that slavery is never justifiable. The denouement of his speech is that it is patent to his audience that celebrating freedom with slavery existing is atrocious and want to eradicate

    Read More

  • Learning To Read Malcolm X Analysis

    631 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Story of Malcolm X Malcolm X was a Black rights activist during the 1960’s, he was regarded as a powerful speaker and a highly intelligent person. He was averse to blacks and white living in harmony, and spearheaded the black separatist movement. Malcolm X was not always the man that is taught to the public in history classes however, “Learning to read”, and excerpt from Malcolm X’s autobiography, recounts the tale of who Malcolm X was before he was well read, and how a prison’s library shaped views during the civil rights movement, and started fanning the flames for his racism.

    Read More

  • Malcolm X: A Controversial Figure In History

    337 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though he is still seen as a controversial figure, I believe that Malcolm X was one of the most compassionate figures in history. He once said, “I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.” I really admire how he fought for what he believed in. Initially, I learned about Malcolm X in my AP English Language class, but I was reintroduced to his influence on the modern day black society in my college history class. Prior to being reintroduced to his philosophy in my college history class, I thought that X was a violent, racist man.

    Read More

More about Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcolm X's Speech

Open Document