Malcolm X Chapter Summary

Alex Haley, the author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, uses structure, style, and content in the first 11 chapters to describe his purpose and to contribute to the beauty and power of the text. Not every chapter specializes in structure, style, and content. One Chapter may have a unique style, but another may have a unique structure to support the author’s purpose. Each chapter helps contribute to the beauty and power of the text in that they each have something important to help support the purpose which is to show how Malcolm became what we know him to be. Content is very important in many of these chapters because they provide reasons and examples of how Malcolm X became radical and a very aggressive protestor. In Chapter 1, Haley uses an intense event to start out the book. The content of this chapter shows the world Malcolm was born into. Haley describes events of attacks by the KKK to show the intensity that is later to come in the book. The structure and content of this chapter really sets the tone for the chapters that follow. These chapters also gives an idea of powerful this book could be later on because of the intense emotional events in this chapter. On page 38, Malcolm tells Mr. Ostrowski that he would like to be a

He learns the ins- and- outs of hustling in a city like Harlem. His brother Reginald came to Harlem and Malcolm taught him the basics of hustling to help get him some money. He was doing a robbery type of job with Sammy, his friend he met in Harlem, and they were being shot at. They met back up at Sammy’s apartment where Malcolm hits Sammy’s girl. Sammy tried to kill him but they made up later, but not entirely. These events showed how he has adapted so much to Harlem and started to become a little dangerous. The hustle and crimes he does show how he has changed in a large way and how much he developed as a person after experiencing the life of