In the four passages below, create a ‘Mood & Tone Chart’ of both positive and negative words from four accounts of the assassination of Malcolm X.
Assignment:
In the four passages below, create a ‘Mood & Tone Chart’ of both positive and negative words from
four accounts of the assassination of Malcolm X. Then, write a paragraph comparing and/or
contrasting two (2) of the sources, using evidence (quotes) and tone words as support.
SOURCE #1 : Life, March 5, 1965
His life oozing out through a half dozen or more gunshot wounds in his chest, Malcolm X,
once the shrillest voice of black supremacy, lay dying on the stage of a Manhattan auditorium.
Moments before, he had stepped up to the lectern and 400 of the faithful had settled down
expectantly to hear the sort of speech for which he was famous—flaying the hated white man.
Then a scuffle broke out in the hall and Malcolm’s bodyguards bolted from his side to break it up—
only to discover that they had been faked out. At least two men with pistols rose from the
audience and pumped bullets into the speaker, while a third cut loose at close range with both
barrels of a sawed-off shotgun. In the confusion the pistol man got away. The shotgunner lunged
through the crowd and out the door, but not before the guards came to their wits and shot him in
the leg. Outside he was swiftly overtaken by other supporters of Malcolm and very likely would
have been stomped to death if the police hadn’t saved him. Most shocking of all to the residents
of Harlem was the fact that Malcolm had been killed not by “whitey” but by members of his own
race.
SOURCE #2: The New York Post, February 22, 1965
They came early to the Audubon Ballroom, perhaps drawn by the expectation that Malcolm
X would name the men who firebombed his home last Sunday . . . . I sat at the left in the 12th row
and, as we waited, the man next to me spoke of Malcolm and his followers: “Malcolm is our only
hope. You can depend on him to tell it like it is and to give Whitey hell.” . . .
There was a prolonged ovation as Malcolm walked to the rostrum. Malcolm looked up and said, “A
salaam aleikum (Peace be unto you),” and the audience replied, “We aleikum salaam (And unto you,
peace.).
Bespectacled and dapper in a dark suit, sandy hair glinting in the light, Malcolm looked up and said:
“Brothers and sisters . . .” he was interrupted by two men in the center of the ballroom, who rose and,
arguing with each other, moved forward. Then there was a scuffle at the back of the room. I heard
Malcolm X say his last words: “Now, brothers, break it up,” he said softly. “Be cool, be calm.”
Then all hell broke loose. There was a muffled sound of shots and Malcolm, blood on his
face and chest, fell limply back over the chairs behind him. The two men who had approached him
ran to the exit on my side of the room, shooting wildly behind them as they ran. I heard people
screaming, “Don’t let them kill him.” “Kill those bastards.” At an exit I saw some of Malcolm’s men
beating with all their strength on two men. I saw half a dozen of Malcolm’s followers bending over his
inert body on the stage. Their clothes were stained with their leader’s blood.
Four policemen took the stretcher and carried Malcolm through the crowd and some of the
women came out of their shock and one said: “I hope he doesn’t die, but I don’t think he is going
to make it.”
SOURCE #3: Associated Press, February 22, 1965 A week after being bombed out of his Queens home, Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X was
shot to death shortly after 3 (p.m.) yesterday at a Washington Heights rally of 400 of his devoted
followers. Early today, police brass ordered a homicide charge placed against a 22-year-old man
they rescued from a savage beating by Malcolm X supporters after the shooting. The suspect,
Thomas Hagan, had been shot in the leg by one of Malcolm’s bodyguards as, police said, Hagan
and another assassin fled when pandemonium erupted. Two other men were wounded in the wild
burst of firing from at least three weapons. The firearms were a .38, a .45 automatic and a sawedoff shotgun. Hagan allegedly shot Malcolm X with the shotgun, a double-barrelled sawed-off
weapon on which the stock also had been shortened, possibly to facilitate concealment. Cops
charged Reuben Frances, of 871 E. 179th St., Bronx, with felonious assault in the shooting of
Hagan, and with Sullivan Law violation—possession of the .45. Police recovered the shotgun and
the .45.
SOURCE #4: The Amsterdam News, February 27, 1965
“We interrupt this program to bring you a special newscast . . . ,” the announcer said as the
Sunday afternoon movie on the TV set was halted temporarily. “Malcolm X was shot four times
while addressing a crown at the Audubon Ballroom on 166th Street.” “Oh no!” That was my first
reaction to the shocking event that followed one week after the slender, articulate leader of the
African-American Unity was routed from his East Elmhurst home by a bomb explosion. Minutes
later we alighted from a cab at the corner of Broadway and 166th St. just a short 15 blocks from
where I live on Broadway. About 200 men and women, neatly dressed, were milling around, some
with expressions of awe and disbelief. Others were in small clusters talking loudly and with deep
emotion in their voices. Mostly they were screaming for vengeance. One woman, small, dressed
in a light gray coat and her eyes flaming with indignation, argued with a cop at the St. Nicholas
corner of the block. “This is not the end of it. What they were going to do to the Statue of Liberty
will be small in comparison. We black people are tired of being shoved around.” Standing across
the street near the memorial park one of Malcolm’s close associates commented: “It’s a shame.”
Later he added that “if it’s war they want, they’ll get it.” He would not say whether Elijah
Muhammed’s followers had anything to do with the assassination. About 3:30 p.m. Malcolm X’s
wife, Betty, was escorted by three men and a woman from the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
Tears streamed down her face. She was screaming, “They killed him!” Malcolm X had no last
words . . . . The bombing and burning of the No. 7 Mosque early Tuesday morning was the first
blow by those who are seeking revenge for the cold-blooded murder of a man who at 39 might
have grown to the stature of respectable leadership.
TASK #1: Mood & Tone Chart (see Mood and Tone Comparison Chart for reference): Choose 1 or 2
mood or tone words for each passage. Place an example (word or phrase) next to each mood and tone
word. (Example: Negative Tone Word: Sad (“Tears streamed down her face”)
Rows (across): Positive Mood Words ; Negative Mood Words ; Positive Tone Words ; Negative Tone Words
Columns: Source 1; Source 2; Source 3; Source 4
TASK #2: Comparison/Contrast Paragraph: Choose two (2) sources to compare and/or contrast in a
paragraph, answer the following writing prompt: What is the author’s attitude toward Malcolm X? Does
s/he feel good, bad, or indifferent toward the news of his death? Does s/he use any tone words or
phrases that influence the audience a certain way?
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