More handpicked essays just for you.
Successes of the civil rights movement at this time
Moments from the civil rights movement essay paper
Key events and significance of the civil rights movement
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told by Alex Haley, is about a man who changed the history of America. Malcolm X preached what he believed about racism, discrimination, and segregation. The struggle for many African Americans was trying to gain basic human rights. The norm, in those days, was that blacks be treated as “lesser” human beings. Malcolm X rose up to become one of the most influential people in the black civil rights fight. It was a long and hard fight through which many lives were lost. The autobiography was a culmination of nearly two years of intensive interviews with Malcolm X, which concluded in 1965 after his tragic assassination.
“Learning To Read”, which is an excerpt from “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley,
While imprisoned, Malcolm taught himself how to read and write; he constantly practiced reading, writing, and pronouncing words from the dictionary. Malcolm understood the importance of education. The quote “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” (Haley 165) shows that he believed the only way African Americans would have a promising future was through education. He wanted black people to articulate their ideas and thoughts so they would sound intelligent and prove white people wrong. Because Malcolm went through many hardships, he tried to convey the point that, if it was possible for him to accomplish greatness through education, it is possible for African Americans to accomplish greatness through education as well, regardless of past and present
The piece is arranged in such a way that the autobiography traces Malcolm’s early years in Michigan, where he was one of eight children of the Reverend Earl and Louise Little to the time of his assassination. The book’s Epilogue details the tragic assassination of 39-year-old Malcolm X. Haley writes that, although it has never been proven, most people believe that Black Muslims were responsible for Malcolm X’s death. (Haley, Alex) In conclusion, Malcolm X’s ability to persuade his audience stems from his proficient utilization of rhetorical strategy to appeal to his audience. Malcolm effectively uses ethos to establish his credibility, pathos to invoke the desire to achieve empowerment, and logos to convince his audience to attain that achievement through
... or would come in contact with. He’s a proven fact that you can make it, even through the roughness situations, like him being in prison for seven years. He talks and says, “I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me;” “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life;” “As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive,” (p.217). With that being said I will end this paper with one more quote from this brilliant African American Man, “My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America,” (p.217). His teachings shall be something that every African American carry with them throughout educational and everyday life.
This paper is written to give my personal reflection on a book entitled The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It is one of the assignments for EDC3360 Course, Social Work for Community Service. We were asked to read this book because the content of this book has relation with the course we are taken for the current semester.
Bimbi, a fellow prisoner, was very intelligent and Malcolm envied his gift. Bimbi encouraged him to read and Malcolm would try but would end up quitting because he would skip the words he didn't know and keep reading. The problem with this was that he could never fully understand what he was reading and would put the book down. So he decided that he needed to learn how to read and write properly. He decided that the best way to go about it would be to get a hold of a copy of a dictionary and study it.
Malcolm X is an important figure in human history because he was a human rights activist and fought for equality among people. He was a proficient public speaker who spoke for minorities, mostly African Americans. By reading Malcolm X’s story, I visualize on how a man suffered from the effects of prejudice and his whole disposition was formed from it. I see how a very angry man stayed angry at the "white devils" f...
“I’m for the truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole” (X). This quote by Malcolm X represented his attitude towards equality and self-empowerment. The true Malcolm X was a passionate human rights activist as well as an extremely outspoken man during the fifties and sixties. X encouraged millions of African Americans to fight for what they believed in and to take pride in their ethnicity. X persuaded a multitude of African Americans that they are supreme and should not be degraded for their skin color. He learned at a very early age if he wanted something in life, he had to make some noise
Throughout each stage of his existence there are a multitude of symbols that are made evident. Haley shows how status played a major role in developing Malcolm’s self-worth. The author explains how a “conk” hairstyle tied him to the white world and showed him his own internalized racism. The writer also demonstrates how eyeglasses, a watch, and suitcases played a major role in his final transformation to the great leader that he made himself into. All of these symbols work together through the captivating tale of his life, and illustrates the many things that helped to shape him as a man. All things considered, Haley reveals just how critical symbols are in not only Malcolm X’s lives, but in everyone’s lives. Ultimately challenging his readers to look at their own lives in an attempt to discover what their personal symbols are. Malcolm X’s life had many challenges and setbacks, nevertheless, he discovered who he wanted to be and rose to the challenge, proving himself an important and influential
The autobiography of Malcolm X, written by Alex Haley contains the story of one of the most influential and memorable activists in our history, the courageous life of Malcolm X is only but a small price he had to pay to express himself and encourage people to take the right path. The autobiography is told with three series of main key events that develop his character drastically throughout the novel. Malcolm Xs character being foretold and expressed is constantly being contributed with the reader allowing the engagement of his story to effect the audience in such a way that they can feel every inch of the strong emotion being expressed. The three main key events that are included in the novel include the crucial reasoning to why Malcolm expressed
Autobiography of Malcolm X takes place during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and illustrates the life of an African American man spent majority of his life fighting for equal rights. Throughout the book, Malcolm X expresses his negative perspective toward white supremacy and actively speaks on behalf of his people for equality. One of the most life changing event in his life was when he converted to Islam. Religion played an important role in his awakening because it removed the blindness from his eyes and showed him that white people were the reason African Americans are suffering on a day to day basis. This essay investigates how Malcolm X’s autobiography puts into perspective how race is extremely complex race that no one can truly
The autobiography of Malcolm X written by Alex Haley tells a wonderful story of a boy who grew up to be a legendary hero. Malcolm Xs character continuously develops throughout the entire novel, allowing the reader to be engaged in his story. The beginning of the text begins with the story of the past, when his mother was pregnant, and instantly the author brings in violence that include the Ku Klux Klan and the description of fear is already being portrayed. Chapter one is titled "nightmare "in this chapter not only does the reader already acknowledge struggle but there is also a background of his father. Over the course of chapter you see Malcolm Xs character develop mostly because his entire perspective constantly changes due to being around
How his time spent in prison made him strive for more knowledge. Also, how he taught himself how to be more articulate. Malcolm X had an agenda of why he wanted to convey himself in more literary manner. Malcolm x talks about his use of language, he uses words
Malcolm X's multiple points of view, organization, and diction in his powerful and passionate overview of his life give the reader a more diverse reading and learning experience that they can easily understand.
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” address their abilities of being self taught to read and write. A deficiency of education makes it difficult to traverse life in any case your race. Being an African American while in a dark period of mistreatment and making progress toward an advanced education demonstrates extraordinary devotion. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities on how they learned how to read and write as well
“The future belongs to people who belong for it today”(Malcolm X). In the article, “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, and he talks about his adventures while in prison. Malcolm X was a hustler that was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbery in 1946. While in prison he tried to find different ways to give himself an education. Malcolm X goes on to further talk about what he went through while out of prison. He also explains what he learned and how it helped him later on in life while working with Elijah Muhammad who was the leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X uses Ethos and Pathos to describe his way of educating himself as well as using strong word choice, good syntax, and good organization.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is about a man who changed the history of America. Malcolm (Little) X preached what he believed about racism, discrimination, and segregation. He went through many changes in his fight for equality. The three transformations that really changed the way Malcolm thought and preached where his transformation in prison, his transformation into the Islamic religion (following Elijah Muhammad), and the biggest transformation of all, his pilgrimage to Mecca. In all of Malcolm actions, teachings and transformations we learn different points of view and we get a good look at different aspects of events. The life of Malcolm (Little) X as told in his autobiography should be read by all.
The history of the United States has in it much separation or segregation due to race. For a long time our country has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon and forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this, races, particularly African-Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations that support change. Malcolm X is one strong example of an African American man who became apart of a group acted against it, uniting people to promote the advancement of colored people and change. Malcolm's thoughts towards race and civil right in the previous years were displayed in a less way to the people and "by any means necessary" perspective. After his pilgrimage in 1964 his view of civil rights had quickly changed into a more complete view of civil rights, and the peoples views towards him. No one really knows what kind of impact Malcolm X would have had on history if he had not been assassinated. His beliefs and philosophy did gain him a place in history as one of the best-known Black Nationalist Leaders. Everyone seems to have known who Malcolm X was, and he ranks high with all other Black leaders. His ideas were radical and he was very out spoken. He was a major force in the development of black history. He fought not only for his people but also for all oppressed people everywhere. He was well spoken and he laid the groundwork for the black power movement of the late l960's.