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History grade 12 essay civil rights movement
Civil rights movements in the united states
Civil rights movements in the united states
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On April 3rd, 1964, during the Civil Rights Movement a Muslim minister gave a rousing and powerful speech in methodist church in Cleveland, Ohio this foreigner and passionate speaker was none other than the infamous Malcolm X. His speech at this occasion was titled “The Ballot or the Bullet,” often considered one of the great successful oratories of the civil rights movement due to his extensive use of ethos, passionate execution of pathos, and liberal application of logos. The very first thing X did in Ballot or the bullet was expand his Ethos, although he was already a famous speaker and activist with a great deal of authority in the black community. He built his Ethos in a few ways, first through concession, then colloquialisms, and finally …show more content…
During one passage of the speech he refers to incoming white immigrants as followed “Those Honkies that just got off the boat, they 're already Americans; Polacks are already Americans; the Italian refugees are already Americans. Everything that came out of Europe, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. And as long as you and I have been over here, we aren 't Americans yet.” X uses these various colloquialisms to refer to the white man migrants, grouping them together as “Every blue-eyed thing,” in a derogatory sense thereby appealing to his audience’s growing fury; while at the same time indicating that he is with his audience in not being one of those “blue-eyed” things. He does the exact same thing later in his speech saying “These handkerchief-heads who have been dillydallying and pussy footing and compromising -- we don 't intend to let them pussyfoot and dillydally and compromise any longer.” This time referring to the white man as “handkerchief-heads” in the derogatory sense that it was common back then to blow one 's nose into handkerchiefs. Through colloquialisms X matched his verbatim to his audience 's level making himself more relatable and therefore increasing his …show more content…
A great example of this is when he talks about their ancestors suffering in the following passage “Your and my mother and father, who didn 't work an eight-hour shift, but worked from "can 't see" in the morning until "can 't see" at night, and worked for nothing, making the white man rich, making Uncle Sam rich. This is our investment. This is our contribution, our blood.” Once grouping himself with his audience once again through his “Your and my” unification he uses the hard “m” sound to emphasis the message of their mother 's exploitation by “Uncle Sam” and the white man. Through alliteration he slips in his connection to the audience while still holding focus on his outrage expressed in his speech, very subtly increasing his unity with the audience and thereby his Ethos. Through alliteration, colloquialisms, and concession, X united himself with his audience expanding his already respectable amount of Ethos, furthering his leadership in the movement and power as a
Stating that Chinese and all of whom who were deemed not as “Caucasian” will forever be perceived as forever foreigners. Not being able to understand America’s way of life. “Living in our community, recognizing no laws of this State, except through necessity, bringing with them their prejudices and national feuds, in which they indulge in open violation of law... “ By implying that Chinese are inferior by nature, since they only bring with them conflict, reaping rights that should not be given to them in the first place, and are incapable of understanding America’s Governing. Which nature has placed as “impassable difference” between the “superior” Caucasian race and the “inferior” Chinese
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.
“It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.” These are the famous words of Malcolm X in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. In April, 1964 Malcolm X stood in front of a large crowd in Cleveland, Ohio and explained what the ballot or bullet meant. He was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and fought to make all African-Americans equal. Malcolm X explained to his audience using a great appeal to ethos, pathos and logos that African-Americans should fight for racial economic and social justice without different religion views standing in the way. He told his audience instead of fighting, meaning the bullet, they could vote for their own leaders or better leaders to represent them, meaning the ballot.
...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.
He refers to all the immigration groups in a judgmental way. He complains about the intelligence levels of the Italians, how dirty and deceitful the Jews are, and even the immaculate cleanliness of the Chinamen. Although he does possess quite a bit of bigotry that boarders on the line of prejudice when it comes to African Americans he recognizes that they are suffering from racism and he sympathizes with th...
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.
Rhetorical Analysis of Artifacts: The Ballot or the Bullet? Speech Given by Malcolm X I. Introduction: Though almost half a century has passed, the Civil War. The Rights Movement remains one freshly imprinted in not only the history. books of US schools, but also in the minds of countless Americans.
As one of the most proficient civil rights activist of the 1960's, Malcolm X and his speeches were very influential but particularly one speech was highly esteemed, that being the Ballot or the Bullet speech. A speech that was given after the "I have A Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. Despite, Dr. Martin Luther King being a pacifist and also a civil rights activist as well; Malcolm X was more tyrannical and advocated the use of violence. During this era, the democrats were in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, therefore both the Senate and the House of Representatives were leaning towards providing more civil rights to African-Americans. The purpose of Malcolm X’s speech was to convince African Americans to become more politically aware and to vote members of their own race into office. The year 1964 is known for civil rights activists, racist groups, and political strife. In order to achieve this goal and increase the speeches effectiveness, X utilizes a variety of rhetorical strategies within his speech.
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.
In his speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Malcolm X’s tone is objective, yet motivating and optimistic, as he describes the theory of black nationalism, which he thinks all blacks must embrace in order to unite as a community under a single goal, to achieve equality. Through the use of factual evidence, schemes, and personal pronouns, Malcolm X builds on his ethos as he makes himself a more credible, trustworthy speaker about the dire situation of blacks. In the beginning of the speech, Malcolm X builds a personal profile of himself, as he mentions that he is a Muslim. However, after doing so, he disregards religion, claiming it does not matter. He states, “Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics, or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences.” His authoritative and didactic tone here contributes to his ethos as it makes him sound credible.
Murch uses this to explain why the Party was successful in maintaining itself on the local level but often failed on the national level. One can not argue that the Black Panther Party wasn’t a socially driven movement, but Murch argues that the movement itself was driven by the social structures of the Bay Area African American community. Murch approaches the success of the Black Panther Party at an angle that examines how the Party’s positions and it’s course was driven by the public it was centered within. Murch details that the African American community of Oakland was deeply rooted in family values as well as social organizations, such as churches.
The House Divided Speech was an address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1858 with the goal to make a distinction between himself and Douglas, and to openly talk about a prognostication for time to come. Unlike Douglas, who had long supported popular sovereignty, under which the settlers in each new territory determine their own place as a slave or free state, Lincoln considered that all states had to be the same in order to become a united country. Although Lincoln’s intentions seemed to be pure, the complication with the speech is that it is not absolutely probable because of the fallacies within its wording. This speech may have appeared to be powerful and even authentic in its upholding points, but the fallacies must be recognized. Among these fallacies are false dilemma, ambiguity, appeal to authority, name-calling, and sequential fallacies.
The right of African American is an essential subject for many texts in any historical time period. Malcolm X and Danzy Senna both pick the discrimination of African American as their main point for their essays. In The Mulatto and Millenium, Danzy Senna tells her own stories about how she grows up as a black girl with a Wasp mother and a black-Mexican father. In another hand, From The Ballot or the Bullet is a speech of Malcolm to persuade African American to group together regardless religion to fight for their human right. Although From the Ballot or the Bullet (Malcolm X) and The Mulatto Millennium (Danzy Senna) share the same main idea and some rhetorical devices, each of them has some unique devices that make their essays more interesting and influenced.
Malcolm X's choice of words so that the reader can easily understand, the way he planned out his ideas. and his change of mind throughout the piece show how Malcom X’s experience was diverse and powerful. Two things remain the same throughout all of his writing, and they are his passion and power. These are what impose the importance and significance of the essay into the reader's mind.