Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. EIGHTEEN!

CHAPTER 7

The chapter is called 'Hustler', and I believe it is one of the more interesting chapters within in the book. It is very clear that this is the rising action of his life as he builds more and more towards getting incarcerated and having a terrible, immoral life. There is a noticeable jump, as he was merely selling reefer in the previous chapter and has gone straight to hitting hard on cocaine and robbing stores! Yikes!

Santa Clause

EXERCISE 1:

Original:
1. The investigators have gathered and analyzed all the evidence. We may expect a full report.
2. Tom had listened to the music of Bruce Springsteen for years. He had no idea a live performance could be so exciting.
3. The team has suffered its share of injuries this year. It could have improved its performance by giving Flynn more time on the field.

Fixed/Different:
1. After the investigators have gathered and analyzed all the evidence, we may expect a full report.
2. Although Tom had listened to the music Bruce Springsteen for years, he had no idea his live performances could be so exciting.
3. Even though the team suffered its share of injuries this year. It could have improved its performance by giving Flynn more time on the field.

EXERCISE 2:

OOOO = Subordinate Clause

5. If he charged, I could shoot; if he took no notice of me, it would be safe to leave him until the mahout came back.


10. There will never be a really free and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.

EXERCISE 3:

4. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But what shall I do?" my answer is, "If you really wish to do anything, resign your office." When the subject has refused allegiance and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished.

"Analyze the use of subordinate clauses. Pay particular attention to how the writer varies sentence patterns."

     The paragraph is giving the conditions on what is needed to happen for Thoreau's vision of revolution to occur. There must not be conformity of the minorities as they are no better than the majority. 

    

Appositive Exercises

OOOO = Appositive
OOOO = Word/phrase that accompanies it

1. My father, a truly exceptional man, worked at an ordinary job and was unknown outside the small town where he lived.

2. His rage passes description -- the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted.

3. W.E.B. DuBois saw the grandeur and degradation in the single unifying thought -- slavery was the West's tragic flaw; yet it was tragic precisely because of the greatness of the civilization that encompassed it.

5. Evidently I need this starting point -- the world as it appeared before people bent it to their myriad plans -- from which to begin dreaming up my own myriad, imaginary hominid agendas.

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All added punctuation has been highlighted ORANGE.

1. Several West African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, and Togo, were at some time in their history under colonial rule.

2. The mayoral candidate's rally opened to throngs of people -- an unusually large turnout for a cold, rainy day.

3. The British parliamentary system has two branches: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

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COMBINATION

 
4. My car is in the parking lot. It's an old blue station wagon with a dent in the fender.
"My car, the old blue station wagon with a dent in the fender, is in the parking lot." 

5. That call was from Bridget. She's the top student in my calculus class.
"That call was from the top student in my calculus class, Bridget."
"That call was from Bridget, the top student in my calculus class."
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OOOO = Appositive 

6. Its hero is Scout's father, the saintly Atticus Finch, a lawyer who represents everything we cherish about justice and democracy and the American Way.
   (Further reinforcement of the positive qualities of Scout's father [while also giving a name] that will be described as his purpose/representation.)

7. The novel has a shadow hero, too, the descriptively named Boo Radley, a gooney recluse who becomes the occasion for yet another lesson in tolerance and compassion.

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OOOO = Appositive

1. And on the basis of this evidence -- the moral and political evidence -- one is compelled to say that this is a backward society.
   (Describes exactly what evidence the assumption is being based on -- moral & political)

2. So to regard the young child, the young man, requires, no doubt, rare patience: a patience that nothing but faith in the remedial forces of the soul can give.
   (More description to the child, revealing his gender; and further description of the patience.

     MY OWN SENTENCES!!!

1. It appears that by judging the evidence gathered -- both at the crime scene and in the defendant's apartment -- we can assume that Grandma Thatcher was battered with a blunt object.

2. So to regard the panda bear, the baby panda, requires, no doubt, an exorbitant amount of bamboo: the fine bamboo that comes exclusively from Mongolia.
 

Vocabulary - The Goods

Rote - (n.) Mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.

Manifest - (adj.) Clear or obvious to the eye or mind.

Bequest - (n.) A legacy.

Moras (n.) An area of muddy or boggy ground, or a complicated or confused situation.

Brouhaha - (n.) A noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something.

Slake - (v.) Quench or satisfy (thirst).

Zenith - (n.) The highest point reached by a celestial or other object.

Pacifist - (n.) A person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable.

Bedlam - (n.) A scene of uproar and confusion.

Prehensile - (adj.) A tail or limb capable of grasping.

Malcolm X - Dialectical Journal No. TWO!

Page 23, Paragraphs 1-3


"My brother Philbert, who had already become a pretty good boxer in school..."

The boxing that started to become popular in 1937 evolved from a swelling of black pride within the black communities. "Joe Louis knocked out James J. Braddock to become the heavyweight champion of the world."

After this, Malcolm becomes interested in boxing, more for himself and regaining the admiration of his younger brother Reginald. My thoughts just seem to revolve around something called pride. The two instances of this circles in on Malcolm, and the other on blacks as a whole. 

With Malcolm, the entrance into the sport is for his own personal gain, his ego persé. He'd rather not have his little brother Reginald look up to Philbert instead of him, which seems understandable coming from a sibling-like point of view. However, it is more an attack to his pride, yet what he turns to, in order to correct this is violence. Boxing, a sport of violence. To me I think that this could be a catalyst to his future philosophy that he didn't want any violence to come into the struggle for civil rights, unless the opposers were using violence. Despite limited success (or none at all technically), he will advocate justifiable violence to those who followed him as a means of defending oneself.

In the position of the African-American community as a whole, it seems the common strife is violence. Wrongful persecution, death threats, segregation, crosses getting burnt in their yards; all violent acts that everyone wants to get themselves away from. It's ironic in the fact that a sport with such violence gets attention and enthusiasm from this crowd of people who want to disassociate themselves from just that; violence!  

Malcolm Exx

1) List at least one example of the following: Malcolm's use of ethos, logos, pathos.
Ethos: Opening of the speech, connecting with the audience, throwing a little humour into the setting to set a calm before divulging into his very serious topic.

Pathos: The family talk. He talks about the hours, months, and years that the ancestors of the African-American put in and received no compensation for, hoping to trigger an emotional response within the community.

Logos: Arguments on change, and how it can be done rationally. Many things that are needed to be changed are just ways of thinking, such as; "Now in speaking like this, it doesn't mean that we're anti-white, but it does mean we're anti-exploitation, we're anti-degradation, we're anti-oppression. And if the white man doesn't want uus to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us."


2) What is the purpose of the speech?  How does Malcolm obtain that purpose?
To encourage the black community to go out and vote. This is the direct message taken from his words, but he's more concerned with getting the people involved and educated on what is going on around them. Either get knowledge and empower yourself, or take 'the bullet' as an alternative.

3) Who is his audience?  How do you know this?
A large audience of black people. The black people need to be empowered in such a time when civil rights means so much and is in crucial need to be reworked for the benefit of the African-American community. He needs the people to take action and react to their surroundings in order for positive change to occur.

4) List at least one example of the following types of proof:

a) analogy/narration to back up his main idea
Comparing the audience and their need to work together to overcome such oppression, degradation, and exploitation. He compares those within the audience/negroes as a whole as having more in common than Kennedy and Krushchev, yet the latter two have functioned decently before.

b) statistics
 "In this present administration they have in the House of Representatives 257 Democrats to only 177 Republicans... In the Senate, there are 67 senators who are of the Democratic Party. Only 33 of them are Republicans.

c) facts
See Above.
Most come in form of statistics. Most others are logical facts or rational explanations.




d) expert witnesses
Lomax, the Reverend/African preachers he mentions. (Adam Clayton Powell - Christian Minister; Reverend Galamison.) Used more as examples than witnesses or givers of any testimony.

5) Does he have refutation of the opposing side?  If so, what is it?

Random bits that point out occurrences or loopholes of logic, or parallel a different attitude within American culture/politics.

"Don't let anybody tell you anything about the odds are against you. If they draft you, they send you to Korea and make you face 800 million Chinese. If you can be brave over there, you can be brave right here. These odds aren't as great as those odds. And if you fight here. you will at least know what you're fighting for.

6) List some structural devices and discuss their effect:

Parallelism
The parallelism is found throughout the entire speech and the effect of this repetition is to drive the point home to the audience. His resolve is so imperative that he emphasizes key phrases so that the audience can gauge the importance of his words and take action.

"All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man."

Short Sentences
The short sentences are typically the aforementioned points that Malcolm wants to deliver. They are short, hard-hitting, and simple to understand.



"It's got to be either the ballot or the bullet."


Long Sentences (Types of long sentences)


7) What other things does Malcolm X use for effect?

Personal Anecdote:
"I was in Washington, D.C., a week ago Thursday, when they were debating whether or not they should let the bill come onto the floor..."

Malcom X - Dialectical Journal No. ONE!

     The foreshadow of his father's death by his mother as well as his own death, especially by violent means, is an interesting view on the story/autobiography. Granted, there isn't much room for literary elements such as this given its non-fiction nature, however it is interesting how it is thrown into the story, whether it was added by Alex or spoken by Malcolm X himself. If the latter is the case, then it begs the question, how intelligent was this man? Granted, the circumstances faced by African-Americans throughout his life were ones that more often than not involved hate and violence to gross extremes. Could he have known what he would amount to, could he have known the impact he would have, could he have known his fight was one so strong that it would be the death of him? It is likely that because of his father, it is a typical death of the black-man of the era and he included himself to a similar fate.