Rhetorical Analysis Of Learning To Read By Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is the story about a man who greatly impacted American history. Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he is more widely known, taught what he believed in regards to segregation, racism, and discrimination. Growing up in a large family with a father Earl Little, a Baptist minister, and his mother Louis Little, who was a homemaker, Malcolm’s life at the time seemed very promising. His father’s involvement in support of the Black National gained him many death threats at the hands of white supremacists. In 1929, they lost their house to fire, and two years later the body of Malcolm’s father was found mutilated. This lead to the emotional breakdown of Malcolm’s mother and in turn she was institutionalized. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes, and from then, his life began a path of drugs, sex, and crime. It was not until he was imprisoned in 1946, that he decided to make some changes for the better. This essay will assess and discuss those changes whether negative or positive, on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. It will also cover some of the effects of racial prejudice on human behavior, and how society today keeps the ideology of Malcolm X alive.

Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were African American who at their best struggled to be successful and to forge something better out of their lives. Briefly, Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 in a slave family, and his family lineage was doomed to be slaves and nothing more, but faced many obstacles from the white in acquiring education (Douglass 100). On the other hand, Malcolm X was born in 1928, he was not a slave, but his family was forced to move several times to different areas due to racism and discrimination by the whites (Malcolm 254). Hence it is crucial to evaluate the way compare and contrast why they acquired substandard substandard education, Malcolm X being

Malcolm X tells us in “Learning to Read” how he felt that he “wasn’t even functional” when it came to writing. He felt that he had always been seen on the street as an articulate person when he spoke. He desired to learn to read and write better so that he could express himself in letters that he wrote.

1. World Connection- Why would the discovery of being able to read open up a door to an entirely different world for someone?

Malcolm X tells his readers how he became important person, with the power of knowledge. Malcolm was living on the streets he was a “hustler” a person who robbed others to survive. The people, who see him on TV or have read any of his books, think the he went to school beyond the eighth grade. The truth is that he never went to school. Besides, he educated himself by reading books in jail. Malcolm discovers a new world, after he learns how to read and write he became a new person.

In the story, “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X, focuses on the times that he was incarcerated in prison. During his times of incarceration, he met a man named Bimbi that made him feel as if he did not know anything. In this essay, Malcolm X, surprised me the most when he was upset and frustrated, because he couldn’t express himself in speaking or writing. It all started at the Charlestown Prison, where Malcolm X decided to pick up a book to increase his vocabulary.

In 1946 Malcolm Malcolm X was convicted of robbery and received a 10 year sentence in Charlestown prison. Here he taught himself how to read and write, using materials provided by the prison’s library to aid in his education; consequently, he also learned about the racial injustices throughout history. After 7 years, Malcolm X was granted parole and released from prison and joined the Civil Rights Movement under the name Malcolm X. In a section of his autobiography Malcolm X argues the importance of critical thinking in educational and research purposes. Critical thinking allows the reader to gauge whether the information gained from a particular source can be accepted as fact, depending on how it fits into information given by other sources. He uses his experiences, the texts that he used in his education, pathos arguments, and metaphor to further his point.

At a much too early age, Malcolm understood his role as a negro living in the early eighteenth century. Malcolm was an intelligent kid who constantly focused on his education. When asked what he wanted to do in the future, he told his teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. His teacher responded with pitiful laughter, telling him that his goal was unreasonable, for black people simply weren’t good enough to be lawyers. Malcolm recalled the sheer change in heart he experienced that day. He accepts

Malcolm X’s autobiography serves as a great example for the importance in language and how it greatly it defines our roles in society. After dropping out of school and taking

Malcolm X’s literacy narrative, “Learning to Read” (1965), explains how some of the best language learning opportunities do not always have to be accessed from traditional education. Malcolm X supports this claim by revealing that the time he finally became most proficient in the English language was not in a schoolhouse, but during his time in a penitentiary. Malcolm X’s purpose was to open the people to other forms of information absorption in order to become more efficient with his or her language skills and even better aware of societal issues. Malcolm X was raised during a period where negro education wasn’t valued due to racial oppression in American society and this left him with minimal language skills upon entering a jail cell. If it wasn’t for his newfound free time and the jail’s multitude of books within its library, he wouldn’t have become the educated individual that he is known to be among many. I can relate with Malcolm when it comes to receiving education outside school doors and I agree that sometimes the best education is received in some of the unlikeliest of places.

The main idea of this book is one man’s fight against racial prejudice because during the 1950s-60s, there was scandalous segregation between whites and blacks, and Malcolm X strived to end it. Malcolm X always noticed that white americans had treated black people unfairly, and he said in one of his speeches, “White man wants black men to stay immoral, unclean, and ignorant. As long as we stay in these conditions we will keep on begging him and he will control us.” (page 89) This story explains the life of Malcolm X from being a poor farm boy in Omaha, Nebraska, and having a tragic childhood, to becoming an inspiring human rights activist and African-American Muslim minister that changed the world. He wanted to gain the black man’s civil rights through militant self-defense. At first, he believed that black people should follow the motto, “by any means necessary”, which included violence, to end the segregation, but later when he visited Mecca, he came back differently and thought that everyone was his brother, or in other words, we are all equal and should live in harmony. Malcolm X has shown to the world that a single voice can make a difference, and also to not let anyone define who you are, and instead to define yourself. This book is more for the readers that would like to find out more behind one of the greatest human-rights activists and would love to learn from his

Both of us were looking to better ourselves, although truthfully and with all sincerity Malcolm’s was a much greater reason than mine. I was looking to improve my lacking abilities, while he was searching for a way to educate himself to help his important cause. We both took approaches that took both time, and determination. I applied myself in every way that I could to do better in my class and on my own, while Malcolm X copied by hand the entire dictionary. We both discovered book for the first time, and as I understand were shocked by the impacted they could have on a person’s life. After our experiences, we both began reading more and more books to widen our range of interest and understanding. We gained an appreciation for books and were exposed to a totally new world through them. We were both looking for something that could be found in books and in turn discovered both knowledge and a greater education. Through our experiences both of us were able to conquer a part of our own ignorance to better ourselves for future

The Autobiography of Malcolm X informs the reader about Malcolm X’s philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. There are a billion reasons to care when it comes to a book about a human rights activist. I want to take a look at something more personal. There is always time for change. Who would have thought that a little kid from the country who bounced around between foster homes, detention centers, and jails would have done anything with his life? I might have guessed that Malcolm X lived a life of crime until he died in a gunfight based on his history. That did not happen. He changed. I can probably think of a million things that I want to change in my life. Some of them probably seem impossible. That is okay. This book teaches me that there is time for me to change my life as long as I am not dead. This little kid from Nebraska could do it and so can I.

For black readers in this time period, they may be awed by Malcolm’s discovery and consider to research black past. Furthermore, Malcolm reads a variety of other books, including encyclopedias, and notes how “he [has] never been so truly free in [his] life” (176) due to reading. Malcolm’s words encourage black readers to read so they can avoid the ignorance associated with their race and become successful. In the end, he believes that “[his] greatest lack [is] … that [he] [does not] have the kind of academic education [he] wish[es] [he] [was] able to get” (387) in order to pursue his debating and language passions. He inspires black readers to work hard to achieve their goals, as he was ultimately unable to follow his childhood dream career: a lawyer. By describing the advantages of education, Malcolm hopes to motivate black readers to gain knowledge for their own benefit.

In almost a century difference in time, Frederick Douglas, an abolitionist of the 19th century, and Malcolm X, a separatist and civil rights activist of the 20th century cleverly managed to learn how to read and write utilizing the resources around them. Their circumstances and ignorance did not stifle their desire to learn to read and write, or obtain the knowledge that would bring forth their positions as powerful leaders of black communities across the land. Compelling circumstances lead them down a path that ignited a tremendous passion to seek as much knowledge as one could contain. That knowledge is utilized to aid in the fight for freedom, civil liberties, and injustices against the people of color and for themselves. Their acts of protest, resistance, and courage are what made these two men significant persons to follow.