Syntax

"I put the letter into the box for the prison censor. Then all the rest of the night, I prayed to Allah. I don't think anyone ever prayed more sincerely to Allah. I prayed for some kind of relief from my confusion" (215).

      The passage above is unique from most of the book, as its wording and sentence structure is very simple. Each sentence here is periodic, and the contents of the sentence are quite direct, explaining in few words exactly what he is doing, without any complexity to permit digression from understanding. The simplicity of the sentences may mirror his thoughts at the time. Having recently converted to Islam, X has undergone a complete spiritual transformation. The sincerity of his heart at this time in the passage is reflected in his writing, as it is very concise and lacks any verboseness.

"They had been told how to arrive, when, where to arrive, where to assemble, when to start marching, the route to march" (323).

      The above sentence is interesting due to its complexity and length. The several independent clauses with the omission of any conjunctions mashes the parts together into one long sentence, almost seeming to have no end. This idea may be a reflection of the actual chaos that they black men feel from their white oppressors, constantly being monitored and told what to do. In addition, several of the words are italicized, which thus create emphasis on. In doing this, focus is centered around these few words, which, again, mimic the complexity of the thoughts of the black men, as they must remember all of these in a small period of time, constantly bombarded with new information.

Text Connection

       A text-to-world connection that is easily made to Malcolm X is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both iconic figures of the African-American civil rights movement, these two men share several similarities. Both promoted an idea of peace and toleration, although for Malcolm X, this was an idea that he learned after his conversion to Sunni Islam. Both men were also head religious figures of the time, with King being a Baptist minister and X an active Muslim, face of the Nation of Islam for about 12 years before quitting. With such religious influence, both King and X were able to gain massive support for their ideas from the African-American community, as both also possessed great communication skills. This is seen in King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech and X's autobiography names as one of the most influential books of the century. Lastly, both men also shared a similar fate: assassination by a radical opposer of their beliefs. Thus, it is seen that, as active leaders of the civil rights movement, these men are similar in several ways.
    

       Another text-to-world connection is seen in Mohandas Gandhi, the Indian political leader who opposed British tyranny in their country. Teaching the concept of civil disobedience, or non-violent resistance, Gandhi also promoted an idea of tolerance, and was able to greatly communicate to his audience, increasing his support from the masses. Gandhi, as King and X both were, was also assassinated by one of his opponents, in this case, a Hindu nationalist.

Rhetorical Strategies

• Telographic sentence: "And then i knew" (349).
• "I paraded her" (79).
• "He was cordial" (367).

Telographic sentences are commonly employed throughout most of Malcolm X's writing, used essentially to mimic his style of speech in public. As a great public speaker, the use of concise sentences in mirrored in his writing. Doing so allows a point to be quickly made, as to avoid diverting from any message or purpose, a technique that would thus be applicable to both writing and public speaking.

• Asyndeton: "I walked, I talked, I functioned" (351).

The use of asyndeton is a tool of emphasis. In the case of Malcolm X, writing such a sentence omitting the use of any conjunctions allows for emphasis on the material using briefness. Another tool also used in his public speaking, asyndeton focuses the attention on just the subject and verb, emphasizing either their function or importance. The above sentence, for example, emphasizes how Malcolm lived his life as a normal man who has undergone hardship before his ascension to influential greatness.

• Simile: "It was like bing on a battlefield--with intellectual and philosophical bullets" (325).
• Onomatopoeia: "--we all heard it click" (165).

As many other writers do, Malcolm X greatly utilizes the evocation of the senses to illustrate and convey his ideas. Using similes and other sense-evoking language allows for the reader to vividly imagine what he is trying to express, either about a  situation or feeling at a specific time. In doing so, it adds to the understanding of the reader of X's experiences, overall adding to the effectiveness of relaying his autobiography's message by creating a better and more interesting comprehension of his life story.

Final Review

Overall, I felt that The Autobiography of Malcolm X was a very well-written, interesting book. Malcolm X's experiences teach us the several lessons that he learned over a course of a hard life, the most important of which being the idea of tolerance as the true means of social advancement. Having gone through a life of troubles and harsh times, this lesson and others can be accredited. Malcolm X's story, one of a man who completely changed his life around, from a lowly drug-dealer to one of the most influential African-American civil rights advocates, is definitely interesting and inspiring. I am fond of the switches in mentality that Malcolm X experienced in his life: from an uneducated way of thinking to a radical prejudice of whites, and from racism to the desire for cooperation and elimination or prejudice.  The switches in tone in these parts of the novel, from equable to infuriated to enlightened, relays the emotion that X felt at these specific times in his life. I enjoyed as well the use of quotations and italics to put emphasis on words and phrases that X probably felt were necessary to the overall comprehension of the writing and situations. X goes into depth about every major experience of his life, leaving out no event or situation that significant to the comprehension of the development of his character and the reasons why he grew to be the way he was. By incorporating this kind of detail into his writing, Malcolm X is able to relay his life story, all the while intertwining emotion into it so that the reader may be able to fully understand both the predicaments and feelings that he had to undergo and experience. Thus, the autobiography was not only written well and an intriguing read, but also one full of depth and life messages that one can take greatly from Malcolm X's life story.

Diction

       Malcolm X, in chapter 14, entitled "Black Muslims," of his autobiography, expresses his anger towards what he claims to be the continued opression of blacks by the whites. Throughout this chapter, X uses impassioned and raging  words to demonstrate the tone, that of which is generally fiery and tumultous. Words such as "rapist" and "slavemaster" are implemented by X, used to show the continuance of such qualities in the intolerant whites, even in a society of free blacks. Replacing the term "white males" with the previous degrading names creates an atmosphere full of tension and hate towards them, thus revealing his anger. The author also states, "He is saying he won't integrate because black blood will mongrelize his race!" (293). Stating this further establishes the angry tone, as X relays this message in such a way to instill rage in his audience. Furthermore, the X writes, "So let us separate from the white man, and for the same reason he says" (293). In proposing this, X desires to counteract the actions and statements of the whites by doing the same to them, an act out of revenge and spite towards the white men. Thus, the overall expression of the distressed and infuriated tone in which X speaks in is successfully relayed by the use of several of the fiery and indignant words and phrases utilized in this chapter. 


       The diction shifts, however, in chapter 19 of the book, entitled "1965." X, at this time, has denounced the hatred for the white men he previously had, and now speaks of tolerance as the means of progression, comparing the hatred of whites to any type of racism. With this new idea in mind, he speaks with more elevated and sophisticated language, seen when he states, "the white man is not inheritantly evil, but America's racist society influences him to act evilly" (427). Speaking now more eloquently, it shows the accumulation of knowledge, as well as the maturation, of Malcolm X over a course of several years, as experience has taught him this new, broad idea of tolerance.