Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X

Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, advocates of the civil rights era, were both respective oratory speakers of their time, whose speeches reached across to hundreds of thousands of African Americans and supporters of the civil rights. Although both of these men had different approaches to the same goal, their efficacious use of the English language brought about real change. Dr. King delivered a speech titled “I have a dream,” and Malcolm X delivered a speech titled “The Ballot or the Bullet.” To compare these two speeches and contrast that one is more effective than the other is inaccurate. In truth, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” and the “I have a dream” speech are both works of art which effectively uses metaphors, parallelism the appeal

However, when used correctly, metaphors can emphasize the message being conveyed and give the reader or listener something to remember. This concept can be seen in Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech where he methodically used metaphors throughout his speech in order to emphasize his message. For instance, Dr. King stated, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” African Americans during the civil rights era were demonstrating, fighting and protesting for their freedom. Dr. King was voicing that in the quest for freedom, supporters and advocates should refrain from becoming bitter or showing hatred toward those that opposed their position. The metaphor not only emphasized his message of being peaceful but also it gave the audience something to remember and to relate to. Similarly, Malcolm X’s use of metaphors also accentuated his message. Malcolm’s first metaphor begins in the title of the speech, “The Ballot or The Bullet.” Malcolm X uses “The Ballot” to refer to the approach

King and Malcolm X used the emotional appeal of pathos to create a connection with their respective audience. Using too much of the emotional appeal can, like metaphors and parallelisms, cause the audience to lose focus from the main topic. However, Dr. King successfully balanced his use of pathos to form a connection with his crowd. For example, Dr. King stated, “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their adulthood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘For Whites Only.’” To start, Dr. King used the term “we” and “our”, which gives the listeners a sense of not being alone. Next Dr. King touches on a subject that most adults cared about during that time which was the safety of their children. Like any parent, the adults in the audience have an emotional attachment to their children and wouldn’t be satisfied with their children being “robbed of their dignity….” Likewise Malcolm X touches the emotional side of his audience. For example, Malcolm X stated that, “…And because these Negroes, who have been misled, misguided, are breaking their necks to take their money and spend it with the Man, the Man is becoming richer and richer, and you're becoming poorer and poorer.” Here Malcolm X touches on the subject of his audience being poor. Most African Americans during this time were poor and being poor wasn’t just a physical ordeal, it was an emotional, mental one as well. So by speaking