Malcolm x

In ” A Homemade Education,” Malcolm X uses personal anecdotes and language to describe the wrong-doing of the ” white man” and situational irony to establish credibility and effectively enlighten the audience of the importance of gaining an education and to rise above illiteracy to fight against the ” white man. “

1. ” Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance …?  He uses situational irony to illustrate how dedicated he was in educating himself that even though he was at a prison he was able to learn about the issues that occurred around him.

It is ironic that he achieved his education at a prison because people who go to prison are people that have done something wrong and might not be interesting in improving themselves. This quote causes the reader to understand that no matter where you are, if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything.

2. ” I perceived, as I read, how the collective white man had been actually nothing but a practical opportunist who used Faustian machinations to make his own Christianity “

He uses an informative diction by using words like ” opportunist” or ” Faustian” to describe the atrocities that ” white man” had done to every ” non-white”. Malcolm X’s use of very powerful words leads him to establish his credibility with the audience because he puts into action what he has learned. He is able to formulate his own opinion based on the facts he read in his books.

3. ” And I read the histories of various nations, which opened my eyes gradually,…. to how the whole world’s white men had indeed acted like devils, pillaging and… raining the whole world’s non-white people” (230). In this quote, Malcolm X uses an informative language that creates credibility and also has some logic behind it. This quote shows how Malcolm X became conscious of the issues that were occurring around him through his readings. By doing so, Malcolm X tries to demonstrate that through education one can become aware of their surroundings. This stresses the fact that one needs to read in order to formulate their own views on a subject and not just go by what the crowd says.

By stating how he read books and became aware of how the ” white man” had oppressed ” non-whites” he was able to achieve credibility with the audience.

4. ” Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat”. ” If the American black man will start thinking about his human rights, and then start thinking of himself as part of one of the world’s greatest peoples, he will see he has a case for the United Nations”. This two sentences use slang to contrast the difference between the language Malcolm X uses as he progressed from being an ignorant man to becoming a literate one.

The first sentence is found at the beginning of the article, to demonstrate to the audience how without an education he lacked the ability to formulate thoughts. However, in the second sentence found at the end of the article, Malcolm X is able to show how he was able to formulate his own thought. These two sentences when compared to each other have a logic behind it which support his credibility because it demonstrated the improvement he was able to achieve through his self education.