Malcom X's Literacy Behind Bars Analysis

Reading will forever continue to play a role in my education, for many reasons. The most obvious one; how would we learn if we are not able to read? In the story “Literacy behind Bars” the author Malcom X tells his story of how he improved his education by reading and studying the dictionary while in prison. “No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened up to me, of being able to read and understand.” (Malcolm X 642). I find his story very important, because after all reading is key to succeeding in school and life.

Malcom X speech “Black Man’s History” is very intersting as it sheds light on controversial issues and also attempts to awaken the masses. It is clear that this speech was an attempt to bring in people to join Islam and to also increase faith in the leader Elijah Muhhameds teachings.this speech does have some strengths and weaknesses within it. The first strength is how Malcom X urges the black population to seek knowledge of their history. He tells the people that the white people are powerful because they know their religion and that black people can only become powerful after they find out about their religion. I found this to be true as most of the black population does not know its religion. I am a believer of how knowledge leads to

In the article “Literacy Behind Bars”, author Malcolm X tells the story about how he taught himself to read and to write while being in prison. Malcolm X began his essay by saying people would have thought he “went to school far beyond the eighth grade.” Anytime X tried to read a book he had very little understanding of what he read because he couldn 't read most of the words.

Malcolm X’s narrative story about his interesting experience with learning to read and write while in prison was spectacular. Having the drive and want to completely copy an entire dictionary and practice reading it back to yourself is something different in itself. Not many people even like reading, but yet Malcolm wanted to apply himself and learn how to read and write. Not only that, but he never gave up either. After a few days of writing dictionary pages, and reading them he didn’t stop. This all began when an inmate at Charlestown Prison made Malcolm feel envious of his knowledge. Bimbi the inmate, caused all of this. It’s crazy to think that one person could impact another’s life so much.

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

Literacy has the power to transform us. By reading we learn new things and we are more likely to express ourselves to others. We can understand another’s language, other cultures, and know the way others way of thought.

What would you do if you could not read? What problems do you think you would come across? After reading Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” and Sherman Alexie’s piece, “Superman and Me”, these are a few questions that a reader might ask themselves. Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X are both great writers. This was not always the case though. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie taught themselves how to read. Alexie at a young age Malcolm X, as a young adult. After they learned to read and write they wrote for many reasons and about many topics. When reading these two essays, you can see that there are many things that are significantly the same as well as having some differences all throughout the text. These similarities and differences include the pathos in both essays, and the ethos that Alexie has that Malcolm does not have pertaining to the subject of their papers. In Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” and Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” they are both trying to persuade the reader that something needs to be done and why.

My life would be incomplete without performing music. I’ve spent time, in concert bands, in bell choirs, in school and church choirs, and singing, playing in music festivals, and in pit bands trying not to laugh my head off at the actors’ improvisations. But the art that truly speaks to my soul does not lie in creating music, it lies in dancing to it.

Malcom X gives his speech during a time in American history when equality and civil rights between blacks and whites had not yet been established. Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X also fought for the civil rights of Black Americans in the 1960s, but using different tactics. Malcom X was angry that Congress had opposed bills that were intended to support the equality and civil liberties of African Americans. In the North, where Blacks were allowed to vote, White politicians came to Black communities with promises they did not intend to keep in exchange for black votes. Malcom X urged the African American community to fight in order to gain the equal rights they deserved, by either through immediate grant of the vote (the ballot) and if denied the vote, blacks should engage in violent opposition to the white rule (the bullet). Malcom X’s stature as a civil rights leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam helped strengthen these appeals. Throughout his speech, Malcom X shifts between various tones to make his speech more impactful towards his audience. He mainly spoke in an assertive tone, which proved the seriousness of his arguments. During his rhetoric appeals, it is evident that X moved into subtle changes of mood and tone to captivate the emotions of his audience.

I do not agree with all of Malcom X’s extreme views, however I could not read his work without being moved in some way. It is extremely powerful and thought provoking. He seemed to have had possessed an unwavering set of morals. It was not until I dove deeper into his background, and learned of his upbringing, did I reach better understanding of Malcom X. He endured racism his whole life. Never being able to get away. He was drowning in it, when he found Islam, it was like coming up for air. This courageous journey helped mold him into one of the most influential Black leaders of his time.

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.

Louder Than a Bomb has helped allow students to express themselves and grow not only as individuals, but as artists all the while gaining the self confidence to share their experiences, thoughts and ideas with others, and the wisdom to listen to other people’s stories as well. Students also develop their teamwork abilities by participating in a group poem where each member of the group contributes in the construction of the poem, a mandatory exercise for the competition. Students who participate in Louder Than a Bomb find the diversity in it’s participants with differences ranging from age, GPA, ethnicity, and strengths; the one thing that they all share in common: their love and interest in

“Learning to Read”: Rhetorical Strategies Critique “Learning to Read” is a compelling excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, where Malcolm X conveys his experiences through nostalgic storytelling about how he went from being an uneducated prisoner to an articulate national leader, a section meant to inspire the reader. He explains how he had accomplished this by excessive reading and persistently educating himself in prison. He did this by studying the dictionary, for example. By the same token, he distinctly credits his empowerment to reading - particularly books about historical racial injustices such as slavery. He explains how this had awoken his dormant passion to fight against black adversity, an issue that he deeply connected

Malcolm X was a well-known figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. In “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X tells a personal journey of how he became interested in reading and speaks about his individual enlightenment. In this essay, Malcolm X uses his experiences to influence his audience, he seizes the opportune time to bring light to an important issue, and a stern tone to reinforce the importance that learning to read had on his life.

When people hear the word Civil Rights Movement, two men automatically come to their minds, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. While both these men had very different views and ideas, they also shared similarities. Part of the reason for their different views was because one was in the South and the other was in the North. Martin saw a Dream that could be fulfilled in the South and Malcolm saw a Nightmare, which would never end in the North. Martin and Malcolm were raised in very different homes. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in Atlanta; his family status was that of the middle class, he never experienced poverty or hunger like Malcolm did.