3 College Essay Prompts for a Comparison of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X

Here are three essay prompts tailored for a 1,700-word comparative analysis of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X as literary heroes whose transformation through language empowered them to resist “The Sunken Place” and lead others toward justice:

1.
Prompt Title: Rewriting the Self: Douglass and Malcolm X as Architects of Liberation
Prompt:
Both Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X underwent radical personal transformations through their acquisition and use of language. In a well-developed essay, compare how Douglass in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X in The Autobiography of Malcolm X use reading, writing, and oratory as tools to escape what might be called “The Sunken Place”—a psychological and social condition of internalized oppression and learned helplessness. How does language serve as a weapon of self-reinvention and, ultimately, as a vehicle for leading others toward liberation?

2.
Prompt Title: From Silence to Speech: The Heroic Voice in Douglass and Malcolm X
Prompt:
In both Douglass’s and Malcolm X’s narratives, the journey from silence to speech marks the beginning of their heroism. Analyze how each man’s relationship to language—books, writing, and especially public speech—transforms them from passive subjects of oppression into active agents of change. How do their stories function as “literary transformations,” and how do they use their voices not just to escape the Sunken Place but to pull others out as well?

3.
Prompt Title: The Language of Resistance: Literary Heroism in Douglass and Malcolm X
Prompt:
Consider Douglass and Malcolm X as literary heroes whose weapon is not brute force but rhetorical and intellectual power. Both men begin in different forms of social invisibility and voicelessness, and both rise through literacy and speech to become revolutionary figures. In a comparative essay, explore how their mastery of language allowed them to diagnose the despair of systemic racism and to create a compelling counter-narrative of dignity, resistance, and hope.