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Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X Comparison Essay

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Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X Comparison Essay
Society is locked up in the jail of racism, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X have the key to its freedom. Similar to society, Martin Luther King Jr. is locked in jail and uses his situation to write “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, a letter pushing for the end of racism. The other civil rights leader, Malcolm X, is building support to fight discrimination with “Racism: The Cancer that is Destroying America”. It takes a lot to convince people to think a certain way, let alone to act out on behalf of those thoughts. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are both masters of rhetoric and use different styles in their writing, such as: conveying a trustworthy character, using a convincing tone of voice, emotionally-manipulating word choice, …show more content…
are both inspiring writers, but King is gentle in his word choice while X is assertive in his wording. King is respectful and delicate in the way he writes. Gently and unarguably, King assures that “any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust,” (Martin Luther King Jr. 6) showing that he cares about the way people are being treated and [fix this quote]. Malcolm is assertive in the way he speaks because he wants things to be done, and wants them to be done now. Without disrespecting readers he isn’t directly addressing or sharing his goal with, he says what’s important to him. He says America and “its system would have to undergo a drastic and painful revolutionary change… or REVOLUTION” because he is angry about the way he is being treated (Malcolm X 305). The unfairness in the way he and fellow African Americans is being treated will either stop due to the white people improving their actions, or the African Americans will take a violent stand to end it the hard way. Malcolm is offering the white people a second chance, something the white people never do to the African Americans. Wording is dependent on the reader’s personal preference to language, and both writers are doing everything they can to appeal to the kind of people that they want to join their

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