Malcolm X Learning To Read Reflection

Frederick Douglass was very fortunate to have learned how to read. In his time if you were a slave and had no education you couldn’t escape to freedom. Frederick Douglass’s key to education was his mistress (155). At first she was very nice and was giving him the education he needed and wanted but then from the influence of her husband she became rotten and denied him the right to his education “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband no, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else” (155). But then he was fortunate enough to get some boys around where he lived to continue teaching him “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these I could I could, I converted into teachers,

As James Whitcomb Riley once said: “The most essential factor is persistence—the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.” This theme of perseverance and persistence is exemplified through the works of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Maya Angelou who are defying social norms by revolting against racial injustice and educational inequality. Based on the texts, “Graduation” by Maya Angelou, “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., it is clear that the writers/ narrators show a great deal of persistence. Malcolm X learns how to read using a dictionary, Martin Luther King manages to deliver a persuasive

Knowing how powerful reading was, Frederick Douglass decided to take reading into his own hands. He had to acquire new ways to educate himself to read and write. Frederick Douglass immediately realized that all of the white boys on the street knew how to read and write and he soon converted them into his new teachers. He began taking bread from the house and, in trade, received valuable reading lessons from the poor white boy's on the street. Through these lessons, Frederick Douglass could now read. Learning to read gave Frederick Douglass the self confidence he needed to write. He believed that if he could write, he may be able to, one day, write his own pass. Frederick Douglass began learning the letters marked

In the essay Learning to Read, Malcolm X details the process in which he learned to read and the tremendous effects it had on his perspective of the race issues in America. During his stay in prison, Malcolm X was given the opportunity to spend timeless hours learning as much as he could about reading and the English language. Furthermore, Malcolm X was fortunate enough to stay at a prison that had an extensive library. As a result, Malcolm X was able to discover and learn more about his own culture. Malcolm X learned that the African American culture is unfortunately cast in the shadows of the white population and neglected in textbooks as well as history. Not only does he believe the white population suppresses African Americans, but he believes

In his essay, Malcolm X writes about how learning to read and write opened his eyes to the oppression that surrounded him and the world. Malcolm is a black man that was put in prison when he noticed that he felt uncomfortable when he did not understand anything that he read and that he could not write correctly. His incapacity to read and write was what inspired him to request a dictionary, something to write on and a pencil. That initiative changed his life forever. He copied down the whole dictionary, which helped him to learn words and their meanings. “ With

Malcolm X was a highly educated man, but surprisingly enough he received his education through himself. During the time that he was imprisoned, all Malcolm did was read in his spare time on just about anything that he could get his hands on. Prior to being unable to read, Malcolm ended up reading an entire dictionary which is what lead him to have such a greater overall understanding of words and their meanings. Now that he could truly soak in information, the reading world was a completely different place for him. Being that he was self taught, he had a greater passion behind why he was doing what he was doing. In comparison to people who learn how to read in school at the pace of an entire class I can only imagine how fulfilling that must have been. In my opinion, there is no better feeling that learning things

Literacy is power. Being taught to read and write is important to function in society. You learn to read and write to express your feelings and communicate with others. Frederick Douglass and Malcom X both succeeded in learning how to read and write, but in different ways. The education of Malcolm X was learned more formally. Frederick Douglass learned from his surroundings and the people around him. Malcom and Frederick battled in reading and writing, but learned in similar and different ways.

Malcom X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” This quotation means that education is an important thing, and we should prepare for our future. Fredrick Douglass and Malcom X are two different men who write similar aspects. Fredrick Douglass is a slave, and Malcom X is a criminal, both were deprived of obtaining a higher sense of education. They are two activists who grew up to realize the importance of an education, in reading and writing. In Frederick Douglas’s essay “Learning to Read and Write” and Malcolm’s “Learning to Read” one can compare and contrast the analysis both essays.

104WriTing • DevelopingParagraphs¶5dbetween Martin Luther King Jr.’s thinking and Malcolm X’s was the distance between growing up in the seminary and growing up on the streets, between the American dream and the American reality.exercise 5.4Outline the preceding paragraph on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, noting its alternating pattern. Then rewrite the paragraph using block organization: the first part of the paragraph devoted to King, the second to Malcolm X. Finally, write a brief analysis of the two paragraphs, explaining which seems more coherent and easier to follow—and why.■developing with cause and effectYou can often develop paragraphs by detailing the causes of something or the effects that something brings about. The following

In Malcom X’s “Literacy Behind Bars”, Malcom shares his journey of self-educating himself while behind bars in the Charlestown Prison. Malcom attempted to read books, but never succeeded because he struggled to understand the meaning of the words on the page in front of him. He claims that prison allowed him to study more than he would have if he had attended college. Although Malcom struggled on an intellectual level, he serves as a prime example of an individual with self-belief and self-determination which lead to great success. Personally, I can relate to Malcom X in the sense that my personal experiences with education have allowed me not only to believe in myself but also have a mindset that allows me to come to certain realizations not only about myself but also about the world around me.

Not at all like Douglas with no educational basis at all, Malcolm then again had gotten a training that of an eighth grader however time passed and soon did he overlook his lessons. He could figure out how to read yet couldn't pass on his words onto paper. In jail, he had time, time to restore his training and strengthen it. He started to compose, beginning with the dictionary he started adapting word for word, page for page, area by segment beginning with the An's and completing with the Z's. In his entry, Malcolm gives an announcement to set up a thought of what sort of training he persisted, "Between what I wrote in my tablet, and composing letters, amid whatever is left of my time in jail I would figure I composed a million words."

Once both became literate, it had an immediate impact on their lives. Both discuss the importance it had on every aspect of their being. In Fredrick Douglass’ “Learning to Read,” Douglass states, “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” (128) which proves the reality Douglass faced when he learned of the oppression his people were facing. Learning to read and write helped him understand slavery, abolition, and oppression therefore pushing him to want to gain knowledge, become educated, and fight for his civil rights. Literacy is ultimately is what helped Douglass escape slavery. Once he escaped, Douglass was able to communicate with the world, through his writing, to spread the truth in order to affect public opinion about the oppression at hand. In Malcolm X’s “A Homemade Education,” he also makes it clear that reading and writing made a significant impact on his life. He states “My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the

Education is something that is often taken for granted in this day and age. Kids these days rebel against going to school all together. In the essays “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, we learn of two young men eager for knowledge. Both men being minors and growing up in a time many years apart, felt like taking how to read and write into their own hands, and did so with passion. On the road to a education, both Alexie and Douglass discover that education is not only pleasurable, but also painful. Alexie and Douglass both grew up in different times, in different environments, and in different worlds. They both faced different struggles and had different achievements, but they were not all that different. Even though they grew up in different times they both had the same views on how important of education was. They both saw education as freedom and as a way of self-worth even though they achieved their education in different ways. They both had a strong mind and a strong of sense of self-motivation.

Thoughts after Malcolm X "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Lighting Your Way to a Better Future speech by Nelson Mandela. Language is a defining trait of cognitive thought, which differentiates humans from animals. Malcolm X discusses his experience with self-education in prison in the text, 'Learning to Read'.

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