Analysis of Malcolm X's "Ballot or Bullet" speech

Malcolm X Warns, It Sh all in all Be The Ballot or The Bullet

The mid-sixties were a time of battle for change. Frustrated and fed up with the oppression with which they were forced to live, influential people such as Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, younger started a whirlwind known as the polite Rights Movement. On Easter Sunday, March 29, 1964, Malcolm X gave a expression warning of the ballot or the bullet (3) from the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, New York. Extending his position to black people vitality in America, Malcolm X characterd repetition of lyric, epistrophe, anaphora, and antithesis to convey his core in a forceful and fascinating way.

Malcolm X rundle to black nationalists as a plea for action over against their duster oppressors. He do the channelise that African-Americans were treated as befriend class citizens: they were denied the constitutional decents that they deserved. Malcolm X also spoke closely the back pay (2) that white Americans owed them for the slave labor they forced upon the ancestors of the African-Americans. Malcolm X made a call for freedom.

Malcolm Xs diction added focus to his spoken communication. He used repetition of crys frequently end-to-end his speech. Near the beginning of his speech, Malcolm X said:

The offshoot mistreat for those of us who believe in the doctrine of Black patriotism is to realize that the problem begins ripe(p) here. The first problem is right here. We have to elevate our persuasion right here first-- non serious the thinking of a handful, that wont do it. But the thinking of 22 million black people in this country moldiness be elevated. (1)

This statement used repetition of the words first and thinking. It also utilized epistrophe with the phrase right here. The solid quote can be summed up using the words Malcolm X repeated. His main idea was that African-Americans first had to change their thinking right here. Malcolm X used repetition of words and phrases to cozy up the idea expressed in the quote.

Two paragraphs later, Malcolm X repeated the word gospel throughout an entire paragraph.

When you have a philosophy or a gospel--I dont c atomic number 18 whether its a religious gospel, a political gospel, an economic gospel or a accessible gospel--if its not going to do something for you and me right here and right now--to hell with that gospel! In the past, most of the religious gospel singing that you and I have perceive have benefited merely those who prophesy it. Most of the political gospels that you and I have heard have benefited only the politicians. The social gospels have benefited only the sociologists. (1)

Malcolm X was trying to convey the idea that if the gospel doesnt work, do not withdraw it- make water your own. The African-American people cannot just accept the point that they are viewed as being subordinate. If they neediness change, they are going to have to demand that the gospel be changed to acknowledge equality for their race.

Malcolm X used repetition of words and phrases as a flag that is raised when he is making a principal point.

Anaphora is anformer(a) way that Malcolm X emphasized the major points of his speech.

It is patriotism that is bringing freedom to oppressed people all all over the world. It was nationalism that brought freedom to the Algerians. It was nationalism that brought freedom to the Nigerians and to the Ghanaians. It was nationalism that brought freedom to the people of Uganda and Tanganyika and Sudan and Somaliland. It was nationalism that has brought about the freedom of any oppressed people. (2)

Malcolm X argued that nationalism was the way for African-Americans to repel what they wanted-and he used this paragraph to do so. Those who attended almost sure as shooting left the Audubon Ballroom with the words it was nationalism rolling over and over in their heads. To further emphasize his idea of nationalism being the solution to oppression, Malcolm X used anaphora again later in the same paragraph. And they have seen that the Africans did not get it by sitting in. They did not get it by wait in. They did not get it by singing, We Shall Over add; they got it through nationalism (2). How did they get it? It was nationalism...

One final major instance of anaphora that Malcolm X used underlines the needs Malcolm X felt had to be met in order to satisfy the goals he was trying to situate in the minds of African-American people. He wanted to educate the people in how to win their battle. Lets join in-if this is what the Negro wants, lets join him. Lets figure him how to struggle. Lets show him how to fight. Lets show him how to bring a real revolution. Lets make him reverse jiving! (2). Lets show him.

The anaphora that Malcolm X utilized is reminiscent of other great speakers, such as John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Martin Luther King, Jr. He used the tool the lay emphasis on his important arguments.



In addition to adding emphasis, the anaphora Malcolm X utilise effectively captured the audiences attention by making the speech pleasant to listen to.

Malcolm X also used antithesis to stress his ideas by contrasting opposites. The first example of antithesis is found in the wink paragraph. When we say so-called Negro thats pointing out what we arent, but it isnt apprisal us what we are (1). Malcolm X is trying to make the point that the word Negro has a negative connotation and that African-Americans should not refer to themselves as Negroes (or allow anyone else to refer to them as that, for that matter). He is stating that they are not Negroes. Rather, they are Africans, and [they] happen to be in America (1). The words Negro makes no reference to where African-Americans come from or who they are, but only serves to point out the fact that they are not Americans in the sense that a anti-Semite(a) would interpret the word. Later in that same paragraph, Malcolm X made one of the strongest statements of the speech. We didnt land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was arrive on us (1). This statement refers to the fact that African-Americans did not guide to come to America. They were kidnapped and brought here against their will. If Malcolm X had simply said, We did not get back to come here, his statement would not have been nearly as effective. Antithesis intensifies the force of his speech.

The diction and sentence tools that Malcolm X used helped to create his voice in the speech even on paper. In his or her head, the reader can almost hear Malcolm X dramatically giving the speech. He has a very strong, confident, convincing voice. A writer or speaker who has control of his lyric poem has control of his audience.

The repetition of words, epistrophe, anaphora, and antithesis that Malcolm X implemented in his speech It shall be the ballot or the bullet helps to provoke pattern in his audience. These tools accentuate the main ideas in his speech and do so in a way that will touch on his audience and allow them to remember what he said. The control he has over his words gave him a strong voice when he spoke that Easter Sunday in 1964. The ability to use such tools in order to reach his audience gave Malcolm X the power to become such an influential and successful speaker.

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