The purpose of this speech was to encourage African - Americans to stand up for their rights and vote, so that their voices will be heard. This was incredibly during that time period because even though slavery had been abolished nearly a hundred years earlier, African - American were still being undoubtedly oppressed by white Americans. He also wants his audience to consider what would be the most efficient way to make sure that their voices are heard, by using the democratic opportunities available to them, and voting, or by resorting to violence to gain attention. It should also be understood as a warning to white Americans, that if the black community do not receive the respect they deserve then they will choose to use violence against them. The speaker of this poem is Malcolm X who was an African - American human rights activist, he belongs to the religion of islam, and audience only knows this for it is one of the first things he says in his speech. However it does not affect his arguments and his speech in its entirety, and is stated to only be a religious belief that should not be mixed with political beliefs. Even though it apparent that the speaker is educated and eloquent, he portrays himself as being apart of the community that he is speaking to and states his arguments in a way that is easy to comprehend, as to make sure that the entire audience will understand what he is saying. The speaker’s tone throughout the speech is very aggressive and determined as he gets his arguments across. The audience in this case is a group of, most likely, young African - Americans. They seem to be not be as educated as the speaker, which is displayed by the speaker essentially over explaining his arguments so that they are comp... ... middle of paper ... ...t his ideas and arguments. For example, "Now in speaking like this, it doesn't mean that we're anti-white, but it does mean we're anti-exploitation, we're anti-degradation, we're anti-oppression. And if the white man doesn't want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us." The quote makes perfect sense, and is phrased in such a self-evident way that the audience feels obligated to agree. “The Ballot or the Bullet” was, and still is one of the most powerful and important speeches that has been written. Even though its dark and aggressive tone can be off-putting, it needs to be remembered, as it shows what a desperate time it was for the African - American community during that time. Furthermore it shows the power that words can have, how it can rouse a populace to take their lives into their own hands and change their destinies.
He talks about how the emancipation is very important to us African Americans, but to other white people it was just a speech because it did not really involve them, so they really just did not care because it was not their history. As Americans, I feel we share the same history because it was just not the blacks that got everything passed for them, but it was also the whites because we all played a separate part with it. When issues like this come up I just look back on the elections of my president Obama. Every one said that us as African Americans we got him into office both times, but if the whole black population would of voted just for Obama he would not have won.... ...
It was a remarkable articulation of the Black people voice living in the United States of America at that point of time because Black people were going through too much humiliation on physical and moral levels (Andrews, 1991, p.46). In order to get to the gist of the speech and reveal the emotional resonance it creates, a historical background timeline needs to be sketched. The period of the 1850s in the USA was especially tough for slaves due to several significant events that happened within this period of time. First of all, there was the Nashville Convention held on June 3, 1850, the goal of which was to protect the rights of slaveholders and extend the dividing line northwards. September 18 of the same year brought the Fugitive Slave Act, according to which the slave who managed to escape from his owner to the free state was to be caught and later returned back with all the consequences to follow.... ...
in the history of the United States of America and for that reason. its leaders and their words are widely studied, remembered and praised. frequently, revered by the people. One such case of this remembrance is that of Malcolm X's speech "The Ballot or the Bullet" Generally viewed as one of the top ten most. significant speeches in American history, one must wonder at what.
He is very optimistic about his speech in the first line. However, he bluntly addressed the issues of hardship, which African-Americans endured while America was beginning to become a stronger symbol of hope and freedom. He acknowledged the experience of wealth which his race became accustomed to, the ghetto poverty. He recognized the right of each color and pale man who contains the right to live, liberty, and the pursuit of true happiness. As bluntly as he began his speech, he boldly pointed out the Supreme Law of The Land- the Constitution - and quoted the Declaration of Independence as it was.
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Lincoln Memorial concerning the Civil Rights movement. His speech resonated throughout the nation as his passionate and commanding voice resounded over the fields that lay before the Lincoln Memorial. Many consider this speech the “epitome of modern Rhetoric.” In his speech, King utilizes the three disciplines of Rhetoric, ethos, pathos, and logos, with finesse and skill.
Accordingly, it means that contributing the industrial process with the black race helps the white race get profits from getting together; it is never harmful for them. Furthermore, he uses several tones to express his ideas effectively. Most of his tone is humble to make his white audience feel comfortable and pleasant. The general impressions that are used in the speech are greatly gentle and respectful. He doesn’t even mention so much of his race in order not to offend the white men. There is an alteration in his tone during the speech, which contains a bit of defensive expression in the middle of the speech. Nevertheless, he is generally respectful not to expose his real purpose of the black race. The speech does not seem to have any offense, even though he intimidates the white audiences in some points. He doesn’t want to reveal that he makes a threat or wants advanced steps of the black race. That is the reason he implies his opinions, non-superficially, by using humble tones, which is very wise to express the ideas that must be counted as unacceptable improvements for the blacks in the time
To further understand the effect of language on audience one can look to the classification of class struggle as posed by Karl Marx in his Communist Manifesto. He boils down all struggles in a fashion that creates a binary distinction between groups that are constantly at odds with one another. In regards to class antagonisms he states, “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. (Marx 15)” Marx simplifies class struggle into two separate groups: the oppressor and the oppressed. This helpful in understanding who King and X are attempting to talk to in their respective essays. Martin Luther King uses a nuanced and formal voice in his writing. This establishes a tone he wants to set for his readers to better relate to him. Along with his heavy use of biblical undertones, it is clear he speaking the language of the oppressor. His goal of integration requires understanding on both the black and the white sides so framing his work in a style familiar to the oppressor is advantageous. Malcolm X utilizes an informal style with street slang to communicate to his audience: the oppressed. His employment of informality and abrasiveness does not interfere with his message, but strengthens its accessibility to the black
He mentions the very recent violence that occurred in Selma, Alabama; where African Americans were attacked by police while preparing to march to Montgomery to protest voting rights discrimination. Without mentioning this violent event that occurred a week prior, there would not be much timeliness to his argument, and it wouldn’t have been as effective. The timeliness of his argument gave the speech a lot more meaning, and it heightened the emotions of many who heard the address. He is appealing to the emotions of many American people, both Congressmen and ordinary citizens, to encourage them to support his cause. He reminds us of all of the Americans around the world that are risking their lives for our freedom. He refers to them as “guardians of our liberty.” He also address the problem as the whole nation should be concerned not just the north, the south, or the African American
First we will look at the rhetorical devices used in Martin Luther King’s speech and how he effectively uses ethos, pathos, logos, and numerous helpful devices to make a point that segregation needs to end. Next we will look how Lincoln uses certain parallel structure and repetition to also address the need for ending segregation. Although the same messages are being introduced in their speeches, some rhetoric’s are different.
What he was claiming was that African Americans slaves were born in the United States so they should be entitled to same American values given to the white Americans. He also goes ahead to bash the government for the attitudes towards his people and goes on to explain how he feels they are be exploited. His impact that he intended to have from this speech had been to bring freedom to African American’s by letting proper democratic ideals decide who is entitled to what rights. During the time of the speech he said black American’s should be ashamed to celebrate this holiday due to the misdeeds and unfair enforcement of these laws. His main take away from this was that the slavery going on in America was harmful and illegal because they violated the founding father principle rights. Throughout him speaking he goes on to undercut many powerful institutions in America that are simply letting slavery go on and not doing anything about it (Church). He is a very faithful man and believes looking back at his sentiments will ring home and show that he was inevitably correct in due time. In conclusion this ties to the ideas that African Americans should not have to celebrate this holiday until they feel like they are being equally treated under the same law are the white
He makes the general statement that the war on drugs is unethical by the government which should affect every American. Then he specializes his argument into seven key points which may only affect some people in America, but still informs those who didn’t know before. To do this he uses facts and statistics to sort of impress the people uneducated in the subject to grab their opinion in his favor. Saying this makes the audience more informed but impressionable. Concluding that his audience was the unaware Americans, and just Americans in
In mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation he shows that our ancestors signed a contract, in which all human beings are created equal, and therefore should be treated in the same way as others. He also visualizes his ideas with visual examples, which everybody can understand. “America has given the black population a bad check, which has come back marked insufficient funds”( I Have a Dream) In one paragraph of his speech he mentions that the “black population has come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. but we refuse to believe, that the bank of justice is bankrupt and that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation” (316).
Assuredly, the purpose of this speech was to enlighten the minds of many Black Americans and engaged them in the fight for the civil rights. They now understand the situation at hand based on the vivid details expressed by X in his speech. As a result of X speaking up for the nation of blacks, he instilled the idea that African Americans should vote and become more politically active, by this motivation, he has established a new philosophy in the minds of the Black Americans, that being to seek equality.
He discusses the police harshness that happened during his non-violent marches and protests. He also discussed certain racist signs that are hung. It is entirely and very wrong and many people seem to forgot what the emancipation proclamation stated when it was written. Every human being should be created equal, but unfortunately, that was not accomplished during the civil rights time in many years ago. “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro 's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating ‘For Whites Only’” (King). This is what the audience had experienced themselves and this is how Martin Luther King had gotten their attention by using real life situations. Bernie Sanders and Martin Luther King pulled up facts that have been happening during their time for their logical
King begins his speech by referencing important historical documents such as the Constitution of the United States and the Emancipation Proclamation. This is emphasized when he states, ”Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation...But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free”. Which shows how even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed the African Americans from slavery, they still are not free because of segregation. He then transitions to the injustice and suffering that the African Americans face. He makes this