Christopher Young Mrs. Amanda Sauermann ENG 102 27 January 2015 Malcolm X Literacy Behind Bars Malcolm X was a prominent black leader who fought for African American rights. Malcolm X was born in 1925 and replaced his last name with X because he thought that it was a slave name. Before he was killed in 1965 by political rivals, he became the founder of the Muslim Mosque Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. In Malcolm X’s autobiography he writes that most people would think he had an education that far exceeded middle school because of the way he spoke. He gives all the credit for this to his time in prison.
It made Malcolm felt shame and then decided to learn reading. Firstly, he got a dictionary. And then everyday he began to copy one page in order to write down some marks. After that he write them down on the tablets and repeat reading his handwriting aloud again and again. On the next day, Malcolm X would try to remember the words
In Frederick Douglass’s narrative An American Slave written by Frederick Douglass (1994ed), he tells his story of knowledge being freedom. Douglass talks about the many things he had to come up with to learn how to read and write. He used the white children he meets, trading food for knowledge. Realizing that being black he will be a slave for life, Douglass determination for education helped him become free of slavery. In Malcolm X A Homemade Education written by himself, in 1965, Malcolm X understood that knowledge is the gateway to freedom.
Franklin ended up as an apprentice to his half-brother, James who was a printer. He was supposed to work for him until he was twenty one years of age. Franklin liked his job, had access to better books and while learning the trade of his brother; Franklin worked and improved his writing as time progressed. Going to grammar school, and reading every article or book he could find led Franklin to his occupation. Franklin cannot even distinguish a day that he didn’t know how to read.
Biography, chronological order, illiterate to litrate and led the world .Malcolm X, the author of “Prison Studies”, narrates about the time he has spent in prison which enables him to educate himself which in the end, changes his life. Malcolm started off by talking about the prison where his interest was ignited towards reading and writing. It was Bimbi, his fellow prisoner whom Malcolm tried to imitate who had a very good command in his language. It was then, Malcolm picks up an article and tires to read it but, but he couldn’t get past a few sentences before he realized that it was a different language. Malclm X () decides that he needs to have a grip on the language before reading articles: I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary – to study, to learn some words.
He would read anything and everything in sight from newspapers, books, magazines, cereal boxes and everything else that he could find. Finally, Alexie explains to his reader how his succeeded and give back. As he grew up, he became a writer. He went around from school to school, even on reservations, to show everyone heart can do for someone. He taught them poetry, short stories and novels.
However, Atticus encouraged reading and prompted his daughter to read every night with him. In the 1930’s only someone truly intelligent would have promoted reading to their kids at such a young age, and that’s another reason why Atticus is a genius. Finally, Atticus is also incredibly smart because while most of his peers are shooting at targets or playing football, Atticus would rather read. Although he was already a successful lawyer, he still worked hard to improve his knowledge through reading. In a town where reading was shunned, Atticus always promoted it.
His parents’ goals were really admirable. They wanted for him what they could not get and it was education. For Rodriguez it was not a problem, He always spent hours reading many different books, thought his parents could not understand that, which frequently made them wonder “what did he see in those books?” Rodriguez always knew that the books were going to make him
Malcolm read books in the jail’s library so frequently that the librarian would let him take a few extra books back to his cell. With Malcolm’s vocabulary growing so rapidly, he was able to get involved with debates in the prison debate teams. Malcolm’s passion for learning was so intense that even after lights out he was able to find a way to read. Malcolm had memorized when the guards would do their rounds. When the guards came by he would pretend to be asleep, but then would continue to read after the guard had
Malcom X wrote his story "Homemade Education" to persuade his audience that the only way we can empower ourselves is if we get some sort of education, Malcom X gains his readers trust by using ethological appeals in his writing. "At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes" (18) This quote shows how Malcom X had dedication to reading even when he was in jail, the fact that he mentions he reads when he is not suppose to makes us respect him as a person because it shows that he is a man of integrity and it also show that he is serious about his education. He convinces his audience that by reading books every day you gain knowledge and confidence in yourself because having some kind of education empowers you from those who do not have an