According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of “articulate” means to express oneself readily, clearly and effectively, also to be expressed in such a manner. The word “articulate” is categorized as a part of speech being an adjective. On August 30th, 2018, the word articulate was present in the reading we discussed in class entitled, “Coming To An Awareness Of Language Malcolm X”. Originally, when the reading was being read in class and I stumbled upon the word, I was not well adversed with the meaning. In paragraph 8 it stated the word used into a sentence, “In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there I had commanded attention when I said something”. When I stumbled upon this word, at first I thought it meant that Malcolm X appeared to act demanding and affirmative showings signs of no fear and respect to those he dealt with. I thought the same applied to the word articulate within the sentence. Since he was a hustler, it involved being harsh despite circumstances. My context clues made me assume this was the definition for the word. After actually searching up the word, I realized the word articulate was not necessarily a harsh tone, it is meant to be conveyed clearly and effectively in the manner that deems fit. I understood the necessity for this word to comprehend the passage because this word explains a brief backstory of who Malcolm X was. Synonyms such as “fluent” or “eloquent” helped me to better understand the context of the word read. It made me understand Malcolm’s X frustration from his letter writing versus his street slang terms, one was more harder to articulate than the other. The letters were not as easy to express for him rather than his street terms to hustlers.
