Rhetorical Analysis of Artifact: The Ballot or the Bullet
Speech Given by Malcolm X
I. Introduction: Though almost half a century has passed, the Civil
Rights Movement remains one freshly imprinted in not only the history
books of US schools but also in the minds of countless Americans.
Albeit, American society has come quite a ways in the acceptance of
the individual - regardless of sex, age, creed or ethnicity -
prejudices of different sorts are still to be found throughout every
one of the united states of America.
The Civil Rights Movement fought to overcome the racial inequalities
inherent and ingrained in the minds of America's citizens and the
government which they oversaw; it was one of the most important eras
in the history of the United States of America and for that reason,
its leaders and their words are widely studied, remembered and,
frequently, revered.
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
factors have contributed to the speech's longevity and implied
importance.
For one, the speech was given during the height of this movement and
by a greatly influential leader of the time. Yet the speech contains
merits all its own that allow it to remain powerful long after its
orator has ceased to be. For one, the artifact is filled with forcible
and compelling language that would provoke some sort of feeling in
anyone who reads it. Furthermore, it utilizes a broad spectrum of
rhetorical devices which keep the audience captivated and interested.
Howev...
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...ing at a table doesn't make you a
diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate."
Thus, Malcolm X uses his speech to unify the Negroes on two fronts: in
the sense that they must stand together against the suppression of the
whites and that they must endure their "non-Americanism" amongst the
company of one another. Yet, as soon as he has done this, Malcolm X
turns to make, what might seem, a paradoxical and fairly non-artistic
case as for why the black populace is indeed American.
He begins by introducing the non-artistic proof that black Americans
were originally slaves, working for the profit of the white man. In
this sense, he then uses an enthymeme to equate the United State's
current state of wealth to the work of those long-dead slaves; the
blacks are therefore responsible for the US being a rich nation.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.
The Death of the Birthmark-A Quest for Perfection In the short story, “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, and other rhetorical devices to alert people of the consequences of man having the power to control and alter nature. Additionally, through his skillful usage of diction, Hawthorne warns of the effects of seeking perfection through science. In “The Birthmark”, Aylmer, a man devoted entirely to science, marries Georgiana, a beautiful young woman with a single imperfection. Georgiana’s imperfection bears the resemblance of a tiny crimson hand and is visible on her left cheek. The birthmark becomes the object of Aylmer’s obsession and he resolves to use his scientific prowess to correct “what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work.”
In her unforgettable memoir, Barbara Ehrenreich sets out to explore the lives of the working poor under the proposed welfare reforms in her hometown, Key West, Florida. Temporarily discarding her middle class status, she resides in a small cheap cabin located in a swampy background that is forty-five minutes from work, dines at fast food restaurants, and searches all over the city for a job. This heart-wrenching yet infuriating account of hers reveals the struggles that the low-income workers have to face just to survive. In the except from Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich uses many rhetorical strategies to illustrate the conditions of the low wage workers including personal anecdotes of humiliation at interviews, lists of restrictions due to limited
In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. During his campaign he had promised to lead the country down the right path with the civil rights movement. This campaign promise had brought hope to many African-Americans throughout the nation. Ever since Lincoln, African-Americans have tended to side with the democrats and this election was no different. The Kennedy administration had noticed that the key to the presidency was partially the civil rights issue. While many citizens were on Kennedy’s side, he had his share of opposition. Malcolm X differed on the view of the President and observed that the civil rights movement wasn’t happening at the speed Kennedy had pledged. Malcolm X possessed other reasons for his dislike of John F. Kennedy and his brothers, especially Robert. The Kennedy government stood for racial liberalism and Malcolm X argued their true intentions for the civil rights movement weren’t in the best interest of the black population. This tension streamed both ways. John Kennedy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation felt that Malcolm X had become a threat to national security. James Baldwin has written essays that have included the repeated attacks on the white liberal and supports Malcolm in many of his theories and actions.
This paper will discuss the different stages of thought processes the former Nation of Islam minister, Malcolm X went through during his lifetime in terms of how he viewed white people, but more specifically “the white man” in America. The reason the focus is on White Americans is because these were the people outside of the Nation of Islam that shaped his life good or bad and put him on the path where he eventually transformed from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X who was one of the most polarizing and controversial figures during his lifetime and even nearly 50 years after his death the name Malcolm X causes certain people to shudder. Malcolm X became a well-known figure during the 50’s and 60’s during the civil rights movement which involved figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. This was a pivotal era in American history because for the first time that there was major push towards full rights for African Americans. When Malcolm X came on the scene he put fear into White people because they weren’t used to hearing the truth about race relations in America and many of them felt that things were just fine because they themselves were living life high on the hog while at the same time exploiting Blacks. Because this type of talk from a black person was new to them they misinterpreted his views as “hate speech” and accused him of trying to incite violence when he was simply trying wake his people up to properly deal with what was happening to them.
Lost in America is a text on how the generations before us were set with a language barrier. Breaking this barrier could a have benefited us in countless ways. It starts from beginning to end, talking about how we begin to change our aspects for foreign countries. Douglas McGray states that students did not study abroad in the world war generations. America basically shuts its door on trying to learn different languages. This hurts us in the wars and foreign affairs. As time went on, this problem begins to get fixed and languages begin to enter the “American,” language. He writes “Lost in America,” with the experience and knowledge through other people. Every person learns through two ways: Through Experience or someone else’s experience. Douglas
Malcolm X begins breaking down the bridge between Black and White America at the beginning of the speech, phrasing his sentences in such a way as to convince his audience of the fact that your place of residence does not determine who you are, and therefore blacks shouldn't identify with White America. Though blacks are considered "citizens" of the United States, Malcolm X asserts "Everything that came out of Europe, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. As long as you and I have been over here, we aren't Americans yet." Malcolm X continuously refers back to the concept for the rest of his speech, stating that blacks are not Americans; rather, they are "just" Africans. He begins the sentence with "Everything that came out of Europe," creating the impression that absolutely everybody from Europe was accepted into American society, including low class criminals and other people of such low moral character, while all blacks, even highly educated individuals such as MLK, Jr. are still looked down upon in societythis statement fuels the already passionate and strong hatred of his black audience.
The piece that I will be analyzing is called How It Feels to Be Colored Me. This piece appealed to me because she described her point of view through the use of anecdote. Her perspective of being different caught my attention because most articles about being colored are so clique. This one is out of the ordinary because she thinks of being colored as a good thing. The only thing that could be difficult to analyze about this piece would understand how she feels because back then, black people were treated horribly.
In the letter, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr, and the speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X, the authors discuss their very different viewpoints on what form of freedom would it take to accomplished their goal. While King believes that peaceful approaches would allow the black community to achieve equality with the white Americans, Malcolm X thinks achieving equality with white Americans is nearly impossible; therefore, he preaches a separatist doctrine. Although King and X are both fighting for the black community’s rights and their integration into the nation’s system, their approaches differ significantly. King and X differ in three main areas: their ultimate goals, the strategies to accomplish those goals, and their use of rhetoric.
Speeches are a method of persuading people to do something. For Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, their speeches were to bring equality for the people of color. However, their approaches are different. Consequently, the effects may be different. An example of their contrasting differences is a speech from each, King’s “I Have a Dream” and X’s “The Black Revolution”. Their speeches used pathos, a central metaphor, and a warning, but was presented differently.
...ack Nationalism to coexistence. He pointed out how America can live without racial problems that it had since slavery. This was a road trip for Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam which used the name of Islam to promote its own social and political agenda to that of true Islam, which allows Malcolm X to see an alternative approach towards his objectives.. George Breitman in his book “The Last Year of Malcolm X” states “…if they adopt Malcolm’s strategy, accept his legacy and develop it n accord with the logic of the direction in which he was moving during his last year, then all of America will be transformed…” Reading the Ballot or the Bullet after knowing this will make one think beyond the actual words that are mentioned in the speech. Today, because of his boldness, Malcolm X is viewed by many, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., as a great civil rights leader.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
The Negro revolution is a stagnant fight; the black revolution is a fight with one decisive winner. In this talk of revolution he also pointed out the hypocrisy of the American people on the subject of violence. How many black people will to go war for a country that hates them and do not even want them in the country, but when a white man strikes them they turned a blind eye because “peace” is the answer. “If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad”(MalcomX, Message to the Grassroots), many people would agree with this sentiment. Why condemn those who want to fight for something they believe in using violence when we as a country are doing the same thing overseas. Later in the speech, Malcolm X calls out the modern house Negros we have today in the United States. A house Negro was the slaves who stayed in the living quarter with their master and were maids and butlers and tended to the children. The latter are the filed Negros who worked in the fields and stayed in
When analyzing the powerful and informative speech of Malcolm X, its evident that it’s a memorable one. The tonality of the speech employs anger and seriousness. This causes the audience to also to be filled with immense anger as he opens their understanding about the disputes going on in the society. Malcolm X employs the use of repetition throughout the speech, repeating phrases such as "I am not...". This repetition helps to leave a lasting impression on the audience, in such a way that every time the phrase is used, the people will reflect upon the speech of Malcolm X. In addition, repetition is again utilize when X continuously uses the words "you", "hunkies," "polacks," and "blue eyed thing."...