reading analysis: The Ballot or the Bullet

Total ~500 words. Summarize Malcolm X’s “The Bullet or the Ballot” (aim for around 250 words for the summary component).

• The first half of the summary (~125-150 words) should be a “sympathetic reading” that fully captures the author’s argument and main points.
• The second half of the summary should begin the process of “critical reading” and raise a series of questions that the text prompts for you.
• Then, in a separate section, critically analyze Malcolm X’s text. Show how “The Bullet or the Ballot” is in conversation with either MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech or Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience.“ Even though most don’t explicitly refer to each other, many of our readings deal with similar topics within a larger debate. Write about how the readings show different sides of an issue, agree with or support one another, or take the same issue in different directions. You could also write about how the ideas, concepts, or arguments in one reading influenced the way you read and thought about the other reading. The point here is to synthesize Malcom X’s essay with another in a productive manner.
• Finally, develop a specific question at issue/stasis question that you might want to explore in your essay 1.1.