Rhetorical Analysis Final Draft

A Rhetorical Analysis

Cherie Henry

Northwest University

March 11, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis of “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X

Malcolm X was a civil rights activist. He is popular for his contribution toward fighting for civil rights in the 1960s. Malcolm X was particularly famous for his influential speech. One of his highly esteemed speeches is “the Ballot or the Bullet speech.” To have a clear scope of his speech, the period between 1960s and 1970s was faced with racial segregation and racism. Black Americans and other minorities were not allowed equal rights as Whites. The speech was give given after the famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King” I have a dream.” However, unlike other activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was tyrannical (Andrews, 2017). In other words, he advocated for violence rather than facing issues amicably. Apparently, the United States politics are majorly controlled by two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. During Malcolm X era the Democrats were in control of both houses, House of Representatives and the house of Senate. As a result, both Houses were reluctant toward providing civil rights to minority groups. The aim of Malcolm X’s speech was to convince African Americans to fight for their rights. This paper herein focuses on the arguments presented in the text and evaluate the effectiveness of X speech.

Malcolm X, in his speech, uses “hunkies” and ‘Pollack’s.” As aforementioned, during this period, the Whites perceived themselves to be superior thus disregarding Blacks. Some of these words used in the speech were derogatory against the whites. In the speech, he seems to continuously repeat these malicious phrases. These are words and their repetition are key in delivering the message to his fellow men. The words and phrases are used to express a sense of hate and courage. The whites during this period had diffused the perception that they are superior, and the idea had instilled fear in other minorities who were powerless. Basically, the words are used to instill a sense of fearlessness amongst the audience. This strategy is very effective in his speech for various reasons. One shows that the speaker is aware of the situation. Malcolm X knows that whites hate the black community.

In addition, Malcolm X use of slippery slope works quite perfectly amongst the audience. The style is used to enlighten the black race of the need for equality. Malcolm X presents a unique analogy in the speech where he addresses the aspect of patterns and change. From a psychological perspective, Malcolm X tells the audience that when you change the philosophy several things are likely to change. The first thing that is likely to change is the pattern. The whites had humiliated the blacks for a long period of time which to some extent had created a pattern of fear. However, according to Malcolm X in the speech, it is there is a need to change the philosophy because it will eventually lead to a change of attitude . Malcolm X communicates the importance and the need for equality (Andrews, 2017). He was trying to convince the audience that they too deserve to be part of the American dream.

Malcolm X use of anaphora is seen at the beginning of his speech. Malcolm X first clarifs something concerning himself. He makes it clear that he still a Muslim and that he was not there to address the audience about religion. He also makes it clear that he was not there to try and change anyone’s religion. However, his main objective of the speech was to address African American problems and why they need to unite against one common enemy. He stated that it was the high time they viewed themselves as one and fight for their freedom. They were suffering from the same problems , thus the need to unite. Malcolm X uses this approach to capture the attention of the audience. He states very clearly irrespective of region and other aspects they were facing the same challenges. This approach works well amongst the audience in the sense that it eliminates any forms that could have been motivated by region.

Going through the speech, the tone of the speech is quite unique. Every word and phrase in the speech is meaningful and purposed to send a certain message. It is no doubt that this is one of the most memorable speeches in history. The speech is delivered in totality. Malcolm X delivers the speech depicting various emotions such as anger and seriousness. This is critical because based on the setting of the speech the blacks were going through a very tough time of segregation and mistreatment. His totality of the speech helps in causing the audience also to immerse themselves in the situation. His emotions send a sense of urgency for the African American to unite and fight for their rights. This also enables the audience to have an impression of the problems that existed in society.

Repetition is key when delivering a speech. Repetition enables the audience to relate to the context of the situation. As stated, every word and phrase and analogies used in the speech are so memorable. Malcolm X employs the use of repetition throughout the speech. Basically, repetition leaves a lasting impression of the audience. Some of these phrases date back in history but interestingly they are so memorable and indulging. Use of repetition in the speech would help people to reflect upon the speaker point of view. As mentioned earlier use, of repetition is also utilized when Malcolm X uses the words “hunkies” and “blue-eyed things,” to describe the white even though these words were derogatory during the time. Basically, Malcolm X’s use of repetition, tone variation, analogy and malicious words makes the speech fits its context quite perfectly. The speech is one the most studied speeches in history due to its uniqueness and mode of delivery.

References

Retrieved from MalcolmXTheBallotorthe Bullet.html

Andrews, K. (2017). Beyond Pan-Africanism: Garveyism, Malcolm X and the end of the colonial nation state. Third World Quarterly, 38(11), 2501-2516.

Cherie,

What a great rough draft! You have all the required pieces. An introduction, giving us an idea of what you are going to analyze, and how you will argue your point. Body paragraphs, analyzing the speech and presenting your arguments. A conclusion that affirms and summarizes your arguments.

Don’t be afraid, however, to make significant changes through your editing process. See my comments throughout the paper. Specifially, work on the following items:

· Stronger thesis

· Deeper/more specific analysis for some of your examples. (Having a couple additional in-text citations and references would help.)

· Final sentence in your conclusion

You’re well on your way!

�One individual speech, or speeches in general?

�Only the actual title should be In quotation marks.

�There is a phrase missing here – can you connect these two idea?

�Check quotations.

Quotations and italics have a similar use – you don’t need both. Consider which is appropriate for a speech.

�Do you believe he was tyrannical? Or are you saying others believed he was. Analyze more – I need your voice on this.

�How do you know?

�This means you are unsure. Is this the appropriate transition word here?

�For more effectiveness you may want to clarify/be specific on what “fighting for rights” looks like.

�You always need a thesis. The last sentence is missing the why of your thesis. Which is partially answered by the second to last sentence. Consider how you might rewrite these few sentences/reorganize them to create an effective thesis.

�Be consistent with capitalizing races. In APA they should be capitalized. If ever you are unsure, just do some research in an APA manual or APA OWL Purdue.

Also go further here for me. Why are they derogatory?

�These seems like polar opposites to me. How is he making them work together? And why these messages? Hate of who? Courage for what?

�You’ve already stated this in this paragraph. Perhaps you can give some examples now.

�Same thing as courage?

Fearlessness to do what?

�All of them? Be careful with broad statements.

�Word order, extra words. Look her again.

�Great, now analyze. How is the inequality prohibiting the American Dream? What does Malcom X consider the American Dream to be?

�What are the specific words he uses for this literary device? Love that you notice this. I just need specifics.

�Who is suffering from the same problems? African Americans? Muslims? People in the same region?

�Tell me more about the aspect of region.

�If you can explain what that message is, your following arguments/examples will be more powerful.

�Give me more here. I’m unsure what you are referring to specifically.

�I don’t love this word choice. But I appreciate that you are trying to work in transitional phrases.

Take a look at some other options:

� HYPERLINK "https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/transitional-phrases" �https://writingcenter.ashford.edu/transitional-phrases�

�By who?

�You’ve done a great job summarizing your arguments! And now you’ve left us with something interesting to chew on, but it’s lacking a little. Dive deeper into what you mean and why it is important to your arguments.

�Take a look at references formatting:

� HYPERLINK "https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/citation_style_chart.html" �https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/citation_style_chart.html�