...in The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X. The book traces the story of Malcolm X’s upbringing and displays how he rose to become the person that he is known for to this present day. Throughout his...
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...Xxxxxxx Xxxx xxx xxx When a novel is classified as an autobiography the novel is said to be a recall of a person’s life written by that person. It is also understood that the written work is based on fact not fiction, that the author will expose his or hers life in a truthful manner. Therefore, The Color of Water by James McBride to its full extent can be consider as an autobiography. On the other hand, The Autobiography of Malcolm X to an extent can’t be consider as an autobiography. The novel The Color of Water by James McBride allows the reader to learned the hardships of McBride himself had to suffer throughout his life. For example, “I was lost. My house was two blocks away… I stood on the corner and bit back my tears,” (McBride 9).This specific line is important because the character is full of fear and realizes that he is going to have to learn to walk home by himself without his mother. In addition McBride acknowledges the reader of his abominable life by “To further escape from painful reality, I created an imaginary world for myself. I believed my true self was a boy who lived in the mirror,” (McBride 69). Young McBride created this world in order to escape his real life which was all about hunger and suffering. The boy in the mirror represents the entire opposite life McBride wanted. That quotation “I kissed her and got on the bus quickly to hide my own tears…she hated Delaware and I had talked to her into staying there, now I was leaving,” (McBride 146)....
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...coauthored The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and also performed the basic functions of a ghostwriter and biographical amanuensis,[11] writing, compiling, and editing[12] the Autobiography based on more than 50 in-depth interviews he conducted with Malcolm X between 1963 and his subject's 1965 assassination.[13] The two first met in 1959, when Haley wrote an article about the Nation of Islam for Reader's Digest, and again when Haley interviewed Malcolm X for Playboy in 1962.[14] In 1963 the Doubleday publishing company asked Haley to write a book about the life of Malcolm X. American writer and literary critic Harold Bloom writes, "When Haley approached Malcolm with the idea, Malcolm gave him a startled look ..."[15] Haley recalls, "It was one of the few times I have ever seen him uncertain."[15] After Malcolm X was granted permission from Elijah Muhammad, he and Haley commenced work on the Autobiography, a process which began as two-and three-hour interview sessions at Haley's studio in Greenwich Village.[15] Bloom writes, "Malcolm was critical of Haley's middle-class status, as well as his Christian beliefs and twenty years of service in the U.S. Military."[15] When work on the Autobiography began in early 1963, Haley grew frustrated with Malcolm X's tendency to speak only about Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Haley reminded him that the book was supposed to be about Malcolm X, not Muhammad or the Nation of Islam, a comment which angered Malcolm X. Haley eventually...
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...I read was The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. The book was published in 1965. The genre of the book is autobiography and biography. In this report I will be mentioning what the book is about and my opinion on the book itself. I will also be show the impact it left on me. The book is about the life of an African-American named El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz who later becomes Malcolm X. The book begins with his childhood and how his father was killed, his mother was thought to be crazy. Malcolm had to move with different residents due to the fact that the state took him and his siblings away. As Malcolm grew older he began to see how blacks were treated. In the 8th grade Malcolm was told by his teacher that it was foolish of him to want to be a lawyer. He said he should be a carpenter. Since then on Malcolm was never the same he decided to go live with his sister in Boston. There Malcolm become a hustler only being 16 he was already known in the streets. He began to sell dope, he became an addict & he committed armed robberies. Malcolm got arrested and was sent to prison. This is where his life changed. His brother sent him a letter telling him to become a Muslim and follow Elijah Muhammad. This opened Malcolm's eyes, this is where he began to see the real problem within blacks. He began to feel disgust towards the whites. In prison Malcolm read books after books on Muslim and any history that said the truth of how the whites treated the whites. Malcolm was a great follower...
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...The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, is an elongated monologue by Malcolm X in which he tells his life story, and reveals the astronomic transformations that materialized in his ways of life and his thinking. The autobiography explained Malcolm's early life in great detail. It reveals that Malcolm's home was not stable. His father died when he was young, and his mother was placed into a mental hospital. Malcolm and his siblings would move around often and were placed in foster homes. Malcolm moved to Harlem around 1943 and it was then when he started hustling, pimping, dealing drugs, and stealing. At twenty-one years of age, Malcolm was sentenced to prison for 10 years. While serving his sentence, Malcolm depicts the changes...
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...REVIEW ON THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY MALCOLM X DUE: 27TH APRIL 2011 . "By any means necessary. I'm for freedom. I 'm for a society in which our people are recognized and respected as human beings, and I believe that we have the right to resort to any means necessary to bring that about." -Malcolm X. ABSTRACT As part of the leadership seminar requirements, I was supposed to choose a book from the assigned books to review. This paper seeks to successfully review the leadership approach of Malcolm X. It highlights the main themes of the book and states the arguments of agreement and disagreement with the author. It also seeks to construct the portrait of leadership style of Malcolm X, discusses his strengths and weaknesses. In addition, lessons and personal insights I discovered during my course of reading are included in the review. I chose to review the autobiography of Malcolm X because he was unique revolutionary. He was not afraid to say things that needed to be heard. Also through him, many African Americans were able to stand together and fight for their rights. Another inspiring reason is the fact he continued his struggle for equality despite the numerous death threats on his life and his family. This quality of selflessness, the concern for the welfare of others I believe is essential for leaders to have. People were empowered by his speeches and honesty. SUMMARY OF THE BOOK The autobiography of Malcolm X is a compilation of a series of interviews between Malcolm X and Alex Haley...
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...Influential and Morally Different African Americans Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are both household names of men who fought diligently for African American rights in the postmodernism 1960’s. The 1954 Supreme Court ruling favored that segregated educational structure left blacks at a disadvantage. This was the spark that triggered uprising in the following years. Malcolm X and King Jr’s emphasis on their beliefs is evident in the works and actions that they have done through their lives. Their philosophies do differ from one another, as we will see in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and with “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Both men had different approaches and desires for the black community as well as different upbringings that influenced them. We will see how such differences are reflected throughout their work to get a better understanding on how they compare and contrast. Known as Malcolm Little, the Omaha-born future activist suffered an impoverished start in life due to his father’s early demise. Prior to his death, Malcolm’s father was a “follower of Marcus Garvey, who instilled racial pride among the masses of African Americans” (Lauter 3088). To make end’s meet, Malcolm became a drug dealer and thief while living in Harlem, which landed him time in jail. His experience in jail and childhood shaped him and encouraged him in to becoming the activists that he was known for. Malcolm “replaced his own last name with “X” which stands for the African name his ancestors...
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...Malcolm X and his views on white people “For the white man to ask the black man if he hates him, is just like the rapist asking the raped, or the wolf asking the sheep, ‘Do you hate me?’ The white man is in no moral position to accuse anyone else of hate!” (Malcolm X, Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1965) Malcolm X (b.May 19, 1925; d.February 21, 1965) is also known as El-Hjaa Malik El-Shabazz, but he changed his name after he became a Muslim. Malcolm is best known as one of the most influential leaders in the African American liberation movement and a national figure as a human rights activist. He was a spokesman for the Nation of Islam where he was influenced by Elijah Muhammad and Marcus Garvey. Detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence and today some people still think of him as a racist. In this essay we will look deeper into that particular allegation and answer the question posed, “Was Malcolm X really a racist?” Early on in life Malcolm experienced racism from both white and black people. He was the fourth child of eight and happened to be born with the fairest complexion. Based on his fair skin colour, Malcolm’s father, Earl, treated him better than his other sons. Malcolm had a difficult childhood as his father, Earl, was killed by the KKK and his family was left to suffer in poverty. Malcolm’s mother, Louise, was then institutionalized when suffering a complete breakdown after she was driven crazy by a white welfare agent, and...
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...Unexpected False expectations can be seen being dragged into light in Malcolm X’s “From the Autobiography of Malcolm X” and Buford’s “Lions and Tigers and Bears”. In both stories authors depict a certain expectation within their characters environment. Certain stereotypes that the author breaks little by little throughout the story. From certain religious expectations to dangerous park expectations that seem to disappear once the experience is almost towards its end. At the beginning of the story, “Lions and Tigers and Bears”, the author presents the idea that the park is very dangerous place in the night right after telling the audience that he is going to spend the night there. The Buford willingly puts himself at risk even though “anybody...
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...Andrew Papis 1 May, 2012 Perspectives on the Individual Final Course Paper The Struggle for Freedom Human beings are emotional individuals. Their feelings direct them in one direction or the next, and brutally establish who they are, and what they do. It is the human environment that activates these emotions, and these emotions that in turn impact the human environment. They can be either positive or negative in nature, and are centered with government and society. When life is attained from a human being, their outlook on life becomes devious. Having a positive on life conceives comfort in many people’s lives. When an outside fury comes along and changes someone’s life, his or her attitude is going to change drastically. In three books I’ve read, “Night”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, each struggle with the society they are dealt with. To be more specific, each main character has to struggle for freedom in the society that is surrounding them. ...
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...Science and Technology Malcolm X and the effect of his literature On the Black Civil Rights Movement Ohoud Al-Awadhi Ibrahim Al-Hiyari American Literature 12/1/13 Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on the day of May 19, 1925. He decided to withdrawal from middle school at the age 15. This resulted in the him being convicted of robbery and as a result, being sent to prison at the age of twenty one. In that facility, the Nation of Islam which were a group of Black Muslims, were a group of which he found interest in. After he left prison in 1952, he devoted himself to helping the Black Muslims, and later adopted the name; Malcolm X. Unfortunately, the group eventually decided to overthrow him, due to remarks made about John F. Kennedy (Helfer 34). This led him to depart from that movement. During March, 1964, he was occupied in arranging first the Muslim Mosque, Inc., and the Organization of Afro American Unity. He travelled twice to Africa and the Middle East also in the same year. That would end only three months after he returned (X &Perry 14). Once he landed in United States, he was assassinated in the city of New York on February 21, 1965. Since his child hood, Malcolm X was born into a society that embarked the ideas of radical Black tradition. Once he left prison, Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam and was taught by Elijah Muhammad. As with all Nation of Islam members, Malcolm little transformed to Malcolm X, to counter his slave name...
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...Thesis Statement: In Malcolm X The Autobiography and Martin Luther King “Letter from Birmingham Jail” influenced the African American through hatred, nonviolence and religion. Firstly, in Malcolm X Autobiography one can see the expression of hatred and violence that influenced the African American. Malcom X talked about White Americans in a negative light. Malcolm X referred to White American as being evil and the devil. Malcolm X says; “[…] which opened my eyes gradually, then wider and wider, to how the whole world’s white men had indeed acted like devils, pillaging and raping and bleeding and draining the whole world’s non-white people.” (579). Malcolm X also talks about how other countries hate white people. Malcolm X says; “’Kill the foreign white devils!’ was the 1901 Chinese war cry in the Boxer Rebellion.” (580). One can see that Malcolm X is showing that other countries even hate white people and that they are evil. One can see that Malcolm X is using appeal to emotion to help influence the African American....
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...As we indulge into ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by Alex Haley, the author keeps us locked into Malcolm’s story by making us feel as if we’re right there, living Malcolm’s life with him. Malcolm’s story is so engaging because of the author’s use of figurative language and imagery. Malcolm provides detailed descriptions of the things he saw, the places he went, the people he met, even the clothes he wore. The literary choices of imagery and figurative language contribute to the the power and beauty of the text and further develop Malcolm X’s purpose for writing. In the first eleven chapters of the autobiography, Malcolm goes through many challenges and changes as a person. Malcolm hopes to show how events in his life had an influence on...
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...Malcolm X , I read the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alo simply take my old paper, which was research based, and fashion it into an argumentative thesis. I am now more mature as a student and my perspectives and ideas regarding both the man Malcolm X, and his autobiography, have changed. Where I once thought he was a radical, and sought to prove why his earlier ideas were dangerous and violent, I have come to grow from emotionally reacting to his ideas with volatility to accepting them with a more open mind; I now want to examine the philosophical roots and the more psychologically significant events that he underwent during his life that justify his ideas. As one set of events happened, he’d be polarized in the direction of success in c of ma, but Malcolm X underwent sets of events in his life that caused him to bounce back and forth, radically so, between two juxtaposing constants—conformity and non-conformity. Though with most of his later life and political-religious endeavors he is largely rebelliouat I will pay close attention to. I will discuss these instances and how his personality served as proverbial gunpowder to the flames that were the rauses, I will argue that, throughout his life, he has steadily been climbing toward a psychological equilibrium. As each set of events shiftedemonstrated having multiple times throughout the book with every endeavor he sought was conducive to this process of polarization. The first instance of consolidated...
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...Ever since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War there has been the issue of race and equality and rights. A movement occurred and two men gained power and influence the African American community. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X two men having experienced different things in their lives held different beliefs and morals and influenced people based upon those things. Martin Luther King Jr., came from a Baptist home with a fairly easy childhood, he was educated when he was younger and attended Morehouse College, an all black college, where he had several role models that shaped his beliefs. Malcolm X, on the other hand, experienced a hard childhood and used drugs and committed other crimes in his early adult years. While in prison he found a father figure in Elijah Muhammad and joined the Nation of Islam. There are many differences between Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X in the way they acted and influenced the African American community. This paper will look to describe their differing views and analyze their actions and their lives. In most cases a person’s childhood has a lasting affect on the rest of a person’s life. In comparing Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X this seems to be the case. Martin Luther King Jr., was born January 19, 1929 and was raised by a strong supportive family. He had a somewhat privileged life and “never experienced the feeling of not having the basic necessities of life.”[1] His father “was a community leader in Atlanta...
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