MLK And Malcolm X
Eilyn Morales
Period 4
M.L.K. and Malcolm X Final Draft
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are the two best known African-American leaders of the last century. Both wanted to see black people in the best possible position, yet were very different philosophers, and differed on the use of violence to achieve their goals. As can be seen, in his "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr. looked forward to the time when blacks and whites would sit down together at a table of brotherhood. However, Malcolm X was interested first in African-Americans gaining control of their own lives, as is distinguished in his speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet." When comparing and contrasting King's "I Have a Dream" with Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet", one witnesses both the similarities in the two leaders' rhetorical styles, and the differences in their tone and message. Both King and X use the same rhetorical strategies to enhance their message in their speeches, as shown in Kings "I Have a Dream" and X's "The Ballot or the Bullet." One alike device is repetition, as King used when he repeated the phrase "let freedom ring". King repeated this phrase over and over again to drive the point home that freedom is meant for all. He wanted to declare to his audience to remember that he is fighting for the country to be equal as a whole. And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. Malcolm X also demonstrated the use of repetition when he repeats "I'm not here". He illustrates to his audience that he is not here to talk about himself, but of the greater cause, in other words, the fight for civil rights. Though both may have used the same devices and advocated the same goal, both had opposite solutions to the nation's problem. Another shared quality in Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X is the use of antithesis. In Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he states "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid
Period 4
M.L.K. and Malcolm X Final Draft
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are the two best known African-American leaders of the last century. Both wanted to see black people in the best possible position, yet were very different philosophers, and differed on the use of violence to achieve their goals. As can be seen, in his "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr. looked forward to the time when blacks and whites would sit down together at a table of brotherhood. However, Malcolm X was interested first in African-Americans gaining control of their own lives, as is distinguished in his speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet." When comparing and contrasting King's "I Have a Dream" with Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet", one witnesses both the similarities in the two leaders' rhetorical styles, and the differences in their tone and message. Both King and X use the same rhetorical strategies to enhance their message in their speeches, as shown in Kings "I Have a Dream" and X's "The Ballot or the Bullet." One alike device is repetition, as King used when he repeated the phrase "let freedom ring". King repeated this phrase over and over again to drive the point home that freedom is meant for all. He wanted to declare to his audience to remember that he is fighting for the country to be equal as a whole. And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. Malcolm X also demonstrated the use of repetition when he repeats "I'm not here". He illustrates to his audience that he is not here to talk about himself, but of the greater cause, in other words, the fight for civil rights. Though both may have used the same devices and advocated the same goal, both had opposite solutions to the nation's problem. Another shared quality in Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X is the use of antithesis. In Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he states "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid