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Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcolm X's Ballot Or Bullets

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Human rights activists, Malcolm X in his speech, Ballot or Bullets, published in 1964 addresses the topic of equality and argues that people must be politically intelligent and stand up against segregation. He supports this claim by using anaphora, then by using ethos and finally by using imagery. Malcolm’s purpose is to persuade his audience into standing up against white manipulation. He adopts a frustrated tone for his audience, the readers of Ballot or Bullets and others interested in the topic of black nationalist. Malcolm X starts his speech by explaining that factors like religion, nationality, and politics should not affect who deserves equality. He uses anaphora to inform his audience that his religion, nationality, and political views do not affect his thoughts on equality by stating "Although I'm still a Muslim, I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. I'm not here to try and change your religion”, “I'm not a politician, not even a student of politics; in fact, I'm not a student of much of anything. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican,” “it doesn't mean that we're …show more content…

He uses ethos to educate his audience of how he has been affected by white manipulation by stating "I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy,” “ I am one who doesn't believe in deluding myself. I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner,” “We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man. All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man.” he uses ethos to show he is qualified to talk about the dangers of racism. He adopts a sympathetic and informative tone for an

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