The Speech

The speech I chose was “The Ballot or the Bullet”, because it’s a very important speech that opened my mind when I matured and started to be concerned about my life, grass roots and the direction my future was headed. I would study the Civil Rights Movement even if it weren’t part of school. In the speech he was enlightening the communities how prevailing a ballot could be in the fingers of a well-informed voter. Malcolm X was telling the people the ballot was just as dangerous as a bullet, he also stated that he believed one or the other would happen. He also talked about how the problems of the Civil Rights Movement, was really a human rights movement. The history of how African-Americans were treated in the United States is how he built up his credibility and supporters for his speech.

Malcolm X talks about himself as a person. The use of logos are very apparent when the listeners get excited about the change he wants to make, he also puts himself on the same level as his audience. This makes the audience comfortable and makes it easier for the people to accept his way of thinking.

He also repeats the Ballot or the Bullet over and over because the use of this tactic will help keep the message in the audience cognizance. In so many words he was saying the people should want freedom or be willing to be violent. The speech shows how using rhetoric to edify about and expressively engages other people with concerns you think that are imperative. The use of logos backs up and makes sense of his main argument, for instance when he makes the statement about America being Uncle Tom and the activities of the white man when he comes in the community with deceptive promises. He also backs up ethos and organization when he claims he has nothing against any particular group, just their actions. He puts the listeners in the position of should the join the struggle or not? But the mind-frame of why not join the struggle. He was a confident and experienced speaker. He made...