Literary Devices: Malcolm X Essay

Biography of Malcolm X On May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm Little was born to Reverend Earl and Louise Little. Rev. Little, who believed in self-determination and worked for the unity of black people. Malcolm was raised in a background of ethnic awareness and dignity, but violence was sparked by white racists trying to stop black people such as Rev. Little from preaching the black cause.

Malcolm X was one of the most prominent civi right activists at the time. He preached Black Nationalism, where blacks separates themselves from the whites completely. He is often known as the intellectual, charismatic hero. Although, he was not always that faithful. He was a thug. A hustler. He committed crimes. How did a hoodlum, became a historical figure of Malcolm X? There was many events in his life that changed him, and shaped him to be that somebody. If we trace back his footsteps, his life as Malcolm Little, his life as a thug, his life as a inmate, and his life as a national minister of Nation of Islam, all contributed in creating him and his name of Malcolm X.

Since the past, black people had been oppressed and excluded from a formal education, leading them to find ways to educate themselves. While they open their minds to new worlds and perspectives, they encounter themselves with a disastrous world that discriminates them and unjustly takes their rights away from them. In these essays, “Learning How to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, both authors tell their stories about how they found their way into the world of literacy even though they were banned to do it. Because they left ignorance back, they realize all the injustices that surround them. In my opinion, literacy is one of the most important tool humans possess to be aware of the issues of the world. Knowing about world problems makes people able to decide how to act towards situations and helps avoid being led by people that the only thing they want from others is power.

During the 1960s, Malcolm X was one of many articulate and powerful leaders of black America. Before he was a street hustler and spent seven years in prison, where he educated himself. Before this time, he was almost completely illiterate. He describes how he could hardly compose a sentence with a straight line or correctly articulates words, let alone read and write. Not being able to express his thoughts and feelings in the letters he wrote inspired him to educate himself. Malcolm then became one of the leading spokesman for African American separatism. Unlike Malcom X Frederick Douglass escaped to New York, where he became a leader in the abolitionist movement. Frederick was born a slave and couldn’t read or write at all. His mistress was teaching him how to read and write but suddenly was against instructing him so he

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of Malcolm X, an African American male growing up in the United States in the mid-1900's. At this time in America prejudice and segregation were widespread and much a part of everyday life. Malcolm takes the reader through his experiences with American society, which rejects him. This rejection, along with the inferiority cast upon all Black Americans, forces these males to search for acceptance. They are forced to search for purpose in causes greater than single individuals. As the book shows, this is evident in Malcolm throughout his life and in the life of other African American males. The Autobiography shows how during this time in American history

April 3, 1964, Malcolm X gives his well renowned speech; The Ballot or the Bullet in Cleveland Ohio. His purpose behind the speech is to encourage African-Americans of the United States to stand up to the unfair treatment that he believes they receive. Throughout the speech, Malcolm X creates an ambition in the audience, encouraging change through the numerous uses of ethos, logos, and pathos. Malcolm X uses his personal experiences to show the audience that he has experienced the same negativity that they do everyday. X suggests everyone should be treated equally; religion, gender and race aside. His audience was made up of a majority of African-Americans, he uses the common ground of wanting to achieve equal treatment to show his audience he is on the same side as them. Through the organization of the speech, it is rhetorically effective. He practices the phrase “The Ballot or the Bullet” which uses repetition, forcing listeners to remember the phrase which later becomes more effective. X begins using ethos by introducing himself, immediately gaining the attention of the audience as well as respect of the audience. X then makes the current problem in the African-American community extremely clear to the audience, this is his use of pathos, where he engages them in his thought process and bringing them in using emotion. The speech uses rhetoric to emotionally and logically

Who is Malcolm X? Answers tend to vary by person but in the “Autobiography of Malcolm X”, it really delved into the pivotal details of his life and readers like myself, went on an enthralling metaphorical journey to see the intriguing development of him as a child, a young adult, a convict, a follower, and ultimately a leader. For starters, Malcolm X was not born with the infamous and famous X. His birth name was Malcolm Little and the innocent Malcolm Little was very belittled (pun intended) in majority of his social environments. At a young age, he experiences the pain of losing his father. In retrospect, his father was just a dust in the wind. Malcolm’s dad was like many other socially active black males, who became inevitable victims that usually were murdered, lynched, burned, etc by the white men in their area. Now, to lose one parent is already tough for many individuals but Malcolm was only to be hammered with more bad news. His mother was sent away by government workers to a mental institution because his house was deemed “unstable” (this kind of stuff happened daily to many black families in similar housing situations like Malcolm was in). But Malcolm directed his energy elsewhere. He ends up taking initiative in school and whilst excelling, he ended up loving many aspects of education in America (or so he thought). He climbed his way to become first in rank in his class and even became class president but his dreams was simply crushed by many individuals. One of

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had a common purpose for African Americans; justice and equality. Illustrated through their speeches, Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” and Malcolm X’s “Talk to Young African Americans”, the two did not share techniques or ideas. Yet both men had the support of millions and millions of people.

The context in which a statement is made can change the entire meaning of what was said.  This is why many times people will use context as a defense for statements they make that offend or cause some sort of public backlash.   The manner in which a person delivers a message and what messages the rhetor chooses to deliver can be a great indication of foundation of that persons value and belief system. There are a number of value systems present in Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech that he delivered in the storied election year of 1964. There are many statements made in the ballot or the bullet

Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Malcolm X was no exception. His militant views that Western nations were inherently racist and that black people must join together to build their own society and value system had an important influence on black nationalist and black separatist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the movie, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He was a young child trying to adapt to society's changes. He was looking so hard that he fell into the wrong crowd.

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

Lansing did not hold many opportunities of any kind for a young black man then, so without a particular plan, Malcolm X went to live with his half-sister, Ella, in Boston. Malcolm X looked, and almost immediately found trouble. He fell in with a group of gamblers and thieves, and began shining shoes at the Roseland State Ballroom. There he learned the trades that would eventually take him to jail dealing in bootleg liquor and illegal drugs. Malcolm X characterized his life then as one completely lacking in self-respect. Many journalists would emphasize Malcolm X’s “shady” past when describing the older man, his clean-cut lifestyle, and the aims of the Nation of Islam. In some cases, these references were an attempt to damage Malcolm X’s credibility, but economically disadvantaged people have found his early years to be a point of commonality, and Malcolm X himself was proud of how far he had come. He spared no detail of his youth in his autobiography, and used his Nation of Islam ideas to interpret them. Dancing, drinking, and even his hair style were represented by Malcolm X to be marks of shame and self-hatred. Relaxed hair in particular was an anathema to Malcolm X for the rest of his life; he described his first “conk” in the autobiography this way: “This was my first really big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain of the hair-straightening chemicals, literally burning my flesh to have it

The 1950's and 1960's were a time of racial turmoil throughout most of the United States. Segregation between blacks and whites was still in full effect, African Americans had to drink from different water fountains, eat at different restaurants, and even shop at different stores than their Anglo "neighbors". Many people and organizations fought valiantly for equality in the U.S. such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King jr. and the NAACP. The roles they played were critical in the civil rights movement were critical, the actions they took included peaceful demonstrations and marches, public speeches, and boycotts such as the one that took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. One man stands out among all of these leaders though, Malcolm X.

Malcolm X first in incident with racism happened at an early age, his house was broken into by Ku Klux Klan members. Who were looking for his father Earl Little because he works for the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), that supports black Americans returning to Africa. Malcolm would occasionally attending the UNIA meetings with his father learning that life is stacked against blacks. Throughout his life Malcolm goes through four transformations from the streets, jail, muslim and trip to mecca.

April 3, 1964 Malcolm X gave one of the most iconic speeches of all time. Malcolm gave this speech at the “Cory Methodist Church” where he spoke out about the politics of voting for African Americans. Malcolm X advised that African Americans should vote, however if prejudice continued and the government continued to prevent blacks from being completely equal that African Americans would have to use more violent tactics. This speech is great for a number of reasons and one of these reasons is Malcolm X’s use of rhetorical devices.