When you think of literacy you think of someone that knows every book in the library, that is super smart and that has flawless writing skill. Well let me tell you this right now, I 'm not that person. I was raised in Chicago where there was a broad range of literacy taught throughout the schools. In the school I was attending, I was taught to write incomplete sentences and never knew where the punctuation should go. When I was forced to move to northern Michigan, all that literacy my teacher taught me went down the drain.
Growing up in Chicago wasn’t the best part of my life, but I have to say the amount of literacy around me was incredible. I had family that grew up speaking spanish only and had to learn english when they attended school. Unlike my parents, they grew up speaking both languages and attended preschool through high school. When my mom graduated high school and went on to beauty school, while, my dad dropped out of high school during ninth grade and roamed the streets of Chicago. “I can remember accurately the very first set of books that really impressed me. I have since bought that set of books and have it at home for my children to read as they grow up.It’s called Wonders of the World.”(X- Malcolm,page.122) This quote, Malcolm X said, reminds me of my father because even though he did finish high school he still would push us to have a better education he wishes he could of have. When I was nine years old my family and I moved up here,northern Michigan,
In Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read”, we learn the story of how Malcolm turned his how life around while serving a sentence he earned from a robbery in 1964, which lead him to spend seven years in jail. During this time, Malcolm discovered the power that reading and self educating himself brought to his consciousness. Who would have known that this man’s entire life would of changed and transformed him into one of the biggest political figures of our time. He himself probably never would've guessed that this would of been his fate while he was in prison serving time for a crime he committed before his enlightenment. A negative choice he made which ultimately altered the path he was destined to go down, Malcolm X is the prime example of how change is possible for anyone as long as you start within yourself.
Literacy plays a huge role in many people’s lives everyday, whether it is learning how to read and write for the first time or writing a five-page essay for the hundredth time. We experience literacy differently and have our very own unique stories on how it has impacted our lives and had made us who we are today. It is an essential aspect that I use in my everyday life, such as in relationships, daily interactions with others, and learning. It has become such a powerful aspect and human right in which it allows one to speak his/her mind and in some cases express their opinion to the world. My personal literacy history has shaped me into who I am today because without my experiences I would not have been able to gain the confidence and
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were two very important men in America’s history. As educated black men, they defied the idea of uneducated blacks. Their prowess with language allowed them to communicate their movements’ message to the masses easily and effectively, letting them have an active role in society. Douglass wrote his autobiography, which was a bestseller, and exposed to antebellum America the true harshness of slavery. Malcolm X became an important figure in the fight for civil rights one hundred years later, giving speeches across the country. For both men, education became a process of enlightenment. It made them eager to learn more and more. However, this process had some differences. The most glaring difference is the way they learned; Malcolm X taught himself to read and write while Douglass’s mistress taught him first, and later by smaller children in the area. Besides that, the end result was vastly different for Malcolm X compared to Douglass, as he read much more diverse content than Douglass did. Thus, Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X shared both similarities and differences in learning to read and write.
I define literacy as being able to express my thoughts and emotions. I know everyone has different opinions and emotions. Therefore, everyone will write differently and read in a different pace. Also, everyone likes different types of books, for example fiction or nonfiction. As a result, everyone’s literacy journey is unique. Everyone has a different definition when it comes to literacy which is what makes it special. Some prefer to read and others prefer to write. It all depends on personal preference.
Although both Richard Rodriguez and Malcolm X’s lives were profoundly impacted by becoming educated, how they acquired their education and the consequences of becoming educated were different for each author. The path that Richard Rodriguez took in his quest
In the excerpt “Learning to Read” from his 1965 Autobiography, Malcolm X argues that he had more opportunity to learn about the world and specifically black history in prison than he would have received in a formal education setting. He describes the process in which he essentially taught himself how to read and write, and how it lead to an awakening of his desire to learn everything he could through voracious reading. X illustrates to the reader the painful histories that he read about and the powerful knowledge which he gained to show that one needs little more than access to a book collection and the motivation to learn in order to become educated. This reading resonated with me as a learner whose love for independent learning often takes a backseat to the demands of academia and provides a key concept which I plan to instill in my students as a future teacher.
People often become angry at themselves when they are unable to do something; this leads to frustration and then a choice they have to make: giving up or stubbornly continuing it. Malcolm X was also in a situation like that during his time in prison. He never finished his education in reading or writing and tried to learn how to read and write which it was hard for him, but he still continue to learn to those skills. In Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read”, despite being a prisoner, he decides to learn how to read and write making use of his time in prison in order to learn more about the world than continuing to be ignorant.
What does it mean knowing how to read and write. I take literacy skill very seriosly that will help me in the future. I know such skills don't come easy, it requires hard work, sleepless night. The reason why I go to school is to make mistakes, correct them and not to repeat them again. I always improve my skills through curiosity to learn something new, not being able to read and write would keep me in a darkness without seeing beautiful things that surround me.
Our view of literacy upon commencing this course, was that it is the ability to read and write. Our understanding of it however was partially true because, reading and writing are essential of any person’s literacy, but reading and
Learning how to read is one of the most common processes in the world. For me, learning how to read is the most useful ability that I have learned throughout my entire life. For others, most people learn how to read though different languages in different ways. For Malcolm X, he found reading to be appealing and devoted so much time to it. Malcolm X recounts his personal history of learning to read and how he finds reading to be the most important skill and influence everything in his life. He retells his history of reading several books and dictionaries and how th process slowly affected his life. He elaborates how reading increases a performance and efficiency to heighten their potential. In “Learning to Read, “ by Malcolm X, he
Literacy is a skill we take too easily for granted. Most of us have learned to read at a very young age thanks to dedicated parents and patient teachers; we were taught our language’s alphabet, their sounds and the words they create. Our ability to read and write has been part of who we are for as long as we can remember. Rarely do we encounter problems such as being unable to follow street signs or to fill out an employment form. In fact, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, 99% of Americans are literate.
In the article “Literacy and the Politics of Education,” C.H. Knoblauch talks about the concept of literacy. Knoblauch mentions that people who have power and are literate think they can set the literate standards for everyone, but that literacy is much more than just reading and writing. Robert Yagelski, the author of “Abby’s Lament: Does literacy matter?” also talks about the importance of literacy and why knowing how to use it properly makes a difference in our society.
As claimed by Malcolm X, education is crucial to one's life more than any other experience because you have the opportunity to understand your history and community better. As claimed in the passage “How I Discovered Words: A Homemade Education”, Malcolm focuses on how he would spend days
Education is one of the most essential necessities of a personal life because without education, we would not have a brighter future. In two essays “Learning to Read and Write” and “A Homemade Education”, Malcolm and Douglass describe what they have gone through in order to become more successful in their pursuits in life. While Malcolm X lived part of his life in prison, he spent his time writing numerous definitions from a dictionary amongst the walls and tables. The elements of the dictionary motivated him to not only become a free man, but a well educated one at that. Douglass, who also taught himself, began his life in slavery. But after a series of attempts, he escapes from slavery and pursues into his