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Similarities Between Malcolm X And Patrick Henry

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Malcolm X and Patrick Henry, while being in different time periods, have many similarities in their use of pathos, and ability to connect to their audience. They were both fighting for freedom, just amongst different groups of people. Malcolm X was fighting for civil rights with his “The Ballot or The Bullet” speech, while Patrick Henry was fighting for liberty from the English during the American Revolution with his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. These two men had incredible talent which they prove with their writing styles, and rhetoric device usage. They fought very serious problems that people in our time can scarcely comprehend. Both of these men were extremely persuasive, and we’re not afraid to speak their minds. Henry …show more content…

One way Malcolm X did this was with his use of anadopillis, he stated, “Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behavior pattern and then you go on into some action. But as long as you’ve got a sit-down philosophy, you have sit-down thoughts, you’ll be in some kind of sit-down action.” (Malcolm X 2) In saying this he is trying to prove to the people that they need to change from a “sit-down” attitude to one that will cause them to act, and fight for their freedom. A way Henry relays this same message was with his use of Hypophora when he says, “I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other.” (Henry 56) Henry was not only facing injustice, he was facing danger which is what he is warning his peers of in the previous quote hoping to spur them into

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