Malcolm X's 'The Ballot Or The Bullet'

“The Ballot or the Bullet” , by Malcolm X, uses parallel structure and anaphora to make it memorable and illustrate Malcolm X’s opinion on the Negro rights topic. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” , by Frederick Douglass, includes antithesis to interpret his opinion on the Negro rights issue. Both speakers use pattern of three to make their speeches effective, memorable and persuading. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader before he was assassinated at the age of 40. He was also muslim. He made his “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech during April, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio. His subject was Negro rights, and he was speaking to the African American population. First he says, “It. was the black man’s vote that put the present administration in Washington, D.C. Your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put administration in Washington D.C.” His repetition of “your” followed by a negative adjective and “vote” made his parallel structure apparent he used “your” to throw shade on african americans and how they complain about our white presidents. This was effective because he is making it known what the administration thinks about the African American vote; he hopes to make sure that they know and remember what the

Their subject was Negro rights, and they both wanted the African American population, and white population, to stand up for their human rights. Malcolm X focused on using parallel structure and anaphora to make his speech memorable, and he wanted to make sure that the African American people should know what they should be fighting for. Frederick Douglass focused on using antithesis to compare the rights of the white people versus the rights of the colored people. Both speakers use pattern of three because people remember things more if they are presented in groups of three. Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were both successful in standing up for the African