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Essay #2 is a Rhetorical Analysis, and you may choose either "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. or "How I Learned to Read" by Malcolm X. There are five things to look for when writing and reading rhetorically, and they are:
Text
Author
Audience
Purpose
Setting
For this paper, research the author and find why they wrote the article. Martin Luther King was in prison when he wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." The clergymen in Birmingham had published an article about him, and his article was his answer to them. Remember he wrote this piece on the sides of scraps of paper that one of the guardsmen brought him. He had no dictionary or Bible so pay particular attention to vocabulary, how many people he quotes, and how many times he refers to the Bible. The intended audience was the clergymen, but it addressed everyone in America. With that little information you now have text, author, audience, purpose, and setting.
For "How I Learned to Read" (you may see a couple of different titles for this article), Malcolm X was also in prison. He spent his time in prison copying the dictionary and taught himself to read and write. Can you do that? Research who Malcolm X was, why he wrote this article, who was his audience, what was he trying to prove, and talk about the setting, which was prison. Both these great men left a mark on history for this country in very different ways. Keep in mind the time period in history, which is the 1960's, what was happening in this country, and the impact these two gentlemen made on the US.
Google the information about both King and Malcolm X, and you can Google rhetorical analysis for more information. For this essay you need a thesis statement, which means you need to pick three things to write about from the article and state those three things in the first paragraph. This essay should be three full pages and make an attempt at the Works Cited page. The Works Cited page is not included in the three pages you must write. There is an example of the Works Cited page in both Everyone's an Author and The Little Seagull Handbook. The paper must be in MLA format, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, no contractions, must have the proper MLA heading, the header. There are great examples in both of the textbooks for this class or you can Google that too. Every essay should have at least five paragraph--Introduction, Three supporting paragraphs, and Conclusion. You can talk about more than three things and have more paragraphs, which would be easy to do for King's essay. Begin the essay with a little history of the author. Do not use the pronoun I or you in this essay as this is not your opinion; this is about analyzing the writing.
-- these are all of the instructions from my teacher, must be double spaced and MLA format. I decided to go with malcom x because I already wrote the thesis statement. Needs to be two full pages with the third one being a works cited page. She wants a good thesis statement opener
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Rhetorical Analysis, and you may choose either ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jai’ by Martin Luther King, Jr. or ‘How I Learned to Real’ by Malcolm X
There are some names that are household names when the fight for liberalization and equality on racism is involved. Malcolm X and Martin Luther king make that a better part of the history of racial equality. Malcolm X was an African American, Muslim minister, and human rights activist who was a subject name in the civil rights movement in the mid-20th century. In 1964 he advocated for black empowerment and a spokesperson for the Islam faithful (Watts, 86). He promoted Islam within the black community. Malcolm X was determined to make a difference in his life, and he accomplished this through his efforts to become a better person while in prison; he encouraged his audience to support his beliefs and ideas. While in prison, Malcolm wrote the article how I learned to read" the article purposed to inform the hard life he went through pursuing his read and write dream behind bars. The article was addressed to back Americans to inspire them to pursue their dream regardless of their challenges.
Malcolm X was an African American leader in the civil rights movement, minister and supporter of Black Nationalism. He was born by Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a Baptist preacher and follower of Marcus Garvey. Ku Klux Klan threatened Malcolm's family; thus, they moved to Lansing, Michigan. However, Ku Klux Klan persisted in threatening them in their new dwelling home. In 1930, Malcolm's father was allegedly killed by a white supremacist group- Black legionaries- but authorities maintained that his death was accidental. His siblings and mother were denied their father's benefits. At the age of 6, Malcolm X entered a foster home; his mother suffered a nervous breakdown. Malcolm was a bright student, and he never furthered his studies past eighth grade. After dropping out of school, Malcolm began wearing zoot suits, started drug dealings and was nicknamed "Detroit Red." At 21, He was sent to prison for larceny. While in prison, Malcolm X encountered the teaching of Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Black Muslims-a Black Nationalist group that identified white people as the devil. Malcolm served six year-jail sentences, then he was released and went on to become the misters of Mosque No.7 in Harlem.
