“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.
He started copying down every word, page after page as a way of learning. The author uses pathos when explaining Malcolm’s struggles with his writing skills. “ It was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line.” (258) It creates sympathy in the audience, but Malcolm also gave us belief that he will succeed with learning to reading: “ I suppose it was inevitable that my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying.” (259) I think his self-motivations and self-teachings are a form of hope that he wanted to show every struggling reader; he wanted to pose as an example. As he continues explaining his studies he creates a strong credibility when he compares his prison studies with if he had attended some college; he says: “ I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all that.” (266) He had studies far more intensively that he would have ever in his life.
In Prison Studies by Malcolm X he shows how rearding it is to be able to read and comprehend literature. Malcolm X was more free reading in prison then he had ever been. Prison Studies show how drive and determination can push a person to excel on completing a task. In this story Malcolm X showed the drive and determination to become a scholar all because he wanted to take control of a conversion like his cellmate Bimbi. “It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge” (21).
Malcolm X is a great man. There is much to learn from him such as his learning attitude and diligence. From barely knew words to become an author, Malcolm X has paid so much effort. Even though Malcolm didn't go to school, he self-studied in the jail by copying dictionary and reading, the constancy
I believe East of Eden has helped shape me morally by illustrating the power of free will in a world caught between a constant battle of good and evil. I decided to read East of Eden after hearing a friend share a short passage from it in his valedictory address. Although I do not remember the contents of that particular passage anymore, I remember that it was the power of Steinbeck's simple, direct language that urged me to take it on as my next big foray into what my high school English teacher called "real literature." The Cain and Abel story, possibly the most enigmatic story of good and evil in the Bible, is the basis for East of Eden. Although allegorical elements are scattered throughout the whole novel, the most evident theme struck me as three of the main characters discussed the ramifications of God's words to Cain after Abel's death.
His enslavers did not want Douglass to have the education in learning anything that would make himself as equal as them, however Douglass did not stop his aspiration in learning. In this essay Frederick Douglass uses strategies such as powerful but depressing diction, irony, and repetition to set the stages he went through to achieve education. Starting off in the beginning of the essay with frank tone a clear message of what he is trying to express to the readers, as the story moves forward the tone becomes more complex. It slowly builds up Douglass’s feeling, having a more passionate and emotional tone to express Douglass’s inner heart. The purpose for Frederick Douglass to write this essay is to tell the American people the disgust in slavery, which have caused both mental and physical damage in a person's mind.
Furthermore, when Malcolm would read, he skipped over the words he didn't understand. This made it very hard to understand most of the materials that he read. Bimbi, another inmate, who seemed to captivate his audience with the spoken word, impressed him. Malcolm needed to learn what words meant and how to write and, then, he was waking up to a new world. Malcolm X had few choices but a significant desire to command the written word.
When you do this, it turns a boring topic into an interesting and fun essay for the audience. The author also talks about colorless words that they are words we use in everyday conversations, colorless words use are nothing and how student also use every day slang adjectives. He also added in their colorful words which means finding the right word in the right place, writers often struggle with this. I agree with the author on how we write essays, I must say everything he wrote in this story is true for me. I often have a hard time trying to figure out what words fit where to make complete sense of the sentences or paragraphs.
From this situation he recognized his seek for an education. He describes how it all really began while he was being held at the Prison. One of his friend, encouraged him to read, he would try his best but would end up quitting because he would skip the words he didn’t know and keep reading. He could never fully understand what he was reading about. So he decided that he needed to learn how to read and write properly.
I leaned that sometimes speaking your mind no matter how intimidating can usually pay off in the long run. Writing an essay for my GED was not such a pleasant writing experience. I wrote my essay on my grandmother, and even though I felt it was passionate and detailed the instructor was looking for more. It seems, when writing for a grade, they were looking more for form, punctuation and proper grammar. Disappointed as I was I realized its not always the subject as much as it is your form and process that gets the grade I learned to pay more attention to my technique and process.