“I Just Wanna Be Average”- Mike Rose & “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X

828 Words4 Pages
“I Just Wanna Be Average”- Mike Rose & “Learning to Read” By Malcolm X Essay Education is about knowing more and having the curiosity to learn more regardless of your background. Malcolm X, well known for being eloquent and articulate, started his education in prison emphasizing the importance of education. However Mike Rose was a working class Italian immigrant who was mistakenly placed into a vocational education. He was an average student taking the remedial classes until one of his teacher actually made him take his classes serious. He believed that in order for effective learning to occur, the student and teacher must both take responsibility as well as devote effort into the education process. Both the authors gained education different ways. Rose is now a teacher and a writer. Malcolm X was the Minister of the Nation of Islam and later left this group and formed the Muslim Mosque and an organization of Afro-American Unity. In the two essays, "I just wanna be average" by Mike Rose and "Learning to Read" by Malcolm X, both show personal experiences of how they educated themselves. Both of them are true believers that education is not just about getting a degree. It is rather the curiosity and motivation to learn more . The freedom that given a person in what these both authors strived for. Both MacFarland and Bimbi inspired the two author’s to actually want to read, to learn. In Rose’s experience, he writes, “…McFarland had hooked me. He tapped my old interest in reading…I suppose I had been mediocre for too long” . For Malcolm X, the motivation came from “…Bimbi, who" first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge”. The authors of 1 these articles wanted to expand their knowledge in some way. They both seem to believe in themselves, to express, and expand their knowledge. Malcolm X taught himself to write, and read which lead him to learn more

More about “I Just Wanna Be Average”- Mike Rose & “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X

Open Document