In “Literacy behind Bars” narrative from an autobiography by Malcolm X in 1965, Malcolm X shows that being able to read is important and sometimes jail is the best place to learn. The author supports this by showing that he saw the people around him reading and wanted to be able to speak and read as well as them (640). He started out by reading and writing an entire dictionary which helped him read and understand more words (641). Malcolm X read everything that he could get his hands on and was able to learn more and use it later on in his career. He was able to concentrate more about learning in jail then he would have been able to do at a college because he had nothing else to do. Malcolm X would read late into the morning despite that guard
In this essay “Saved,”’ by Malcolm X. Malcolm is talking about how he went to prison and how that made him want to improve his language. So he got a holed of a dictionary and read it. while doing this, he though to himself he also could improve his hand writing so when he would read the dictionary he would also write down what he read. than he would read what he wrote down out loud, this made him a faster writer and a good reader. Now because of this, Malcolm loved reading he said he would stay up all night reading and only would get 4 to 5 hours of sleep, but that was all he needed.
If there was any one man who demonstrated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. The African American cultural movement of the 1920s lost momentum in the 1930s because of worldwide economic depression. The Great Depression helped to divert attention from cultural to economic matters. Even before the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment and poverty among blacks was exceptionally high. It was under these difficult conditions that Malcolm X experienced his youth in the South. Malcolm X was a very controversial character in his time. He grew up in a very large family. His father hunted rabbits to sell to the white people for money, and his mother stayed home to take care of all the children. Several times when he was young, his family was forced to relocate due to the racist groups that would burn or run them out of their home like the Ku Klux Klan. One of these groups called the Black Legion killed his father by tying him to the railroad tracks. Malcolm’s father had life insurance but was not given to his family because they said that Earl Little had committed suicide. This was quite impossible because his head was bashed in and he tied himself to the railroad. Without his father’s income, Malcolm's family was forced to get government help and food. Applying for this type of assistance brought many white Social Workers into their home. They asked questions and interrogated the entire family. Malcolm’s mother always refused to talk or let them in.
Malcolm X’s “Literacy Behind Bars” is the story of how Malcolm X learned through reading. He begins by telling us that it was his envy of Bimbi’s knowledge that caused him to start picking up books when in prison. This lead to him copying the entire dictionary so he could better understand what he was reading, as his vocabulary was very small. Malcolm X became an avid reader then. He would read even after “lights out” and in between the prison guards’ rounds. Reading awoke in him a curiosity that made him aware of the troubles of his race. Malcolm X’s experiences in learning are very different from most everyone’s. However, there are still ways in which I can relate.
In the essay Learning to Read, author Malcolm X recalls his profound discovery of literature and reading he experienced while being imprisoned. He explains how this discovery has allowed him to further explore many passages in his life, one prominent passage being his religion and the teachings of his idol, Elijah Muhammad. Through this recollection, Malcolm X uses rhetorical strategies such as allusion, diction, and syntax to express how he finds Muhammad’s teachings to be highly appealing. Malcolm X alludes to the literature of many renowned authors and their writings to support his claims. These allusions refer to the culture and history of black people, and Malcolm X is fascinated with the information he is able to consume through these
Going into prison, Malcolm X is illiterate. He is frustrated that he cannot express himself. Malcolm X decides “the best thing [he] could do [is] get hold of a dictionary - to study, to learn some words.” In the prison Malcolm X requests tablets, pencils, and a dictionary. Then he begins to copy the dictionary on to the tablets. He does this until he has completely the entire dictionary. Typical people do not learn to read and write by copying the dictionary, but by sounding out letters and copying the alphabet.
Malcolm X who was born in the 1900s received an education up until eighth grade, unlike Frederick Douglass. Malcolm X describes how his passion for reading started due to the inability to write formal letters to his mentor, Elijah Muhammad. Unlike Douglass, Malcolm X did not have any consequences or restrictions when it came to learning. The setting of “Learning How to Read and Write” refers back to when Douglass was at the age of twelve while Malcolm X was in his early twenties during “A Homemade Education.” Both Douglass and Malcolm X became lead figures of their time through the mastery of English: after escaping to the North, Douglass became an abolitionist and Malcolm X became a political activist during the Civil Rights Era after being released from prison. Douglass and Malcolm X serve as role models to both, present and future students for their determination and perseverance to learn, regardless of any consequences that may come of it. Of these two authors, their reasoning for empowerment through language varied with time, purpose, and resolve upon acquiring the knowledge of the English
The story “Learning to Read” by Malcom X is very inspirational. When Malcolm was a street hustler, he became incarcerated it was there he came to the realization that he could barely articulate proper sentences. It was in jail that Malcom got his thirst for knowledge. He ultimately ends up reading an entire dictionary, just to learn new words and practice his penmanship. Without knowing this, it would have been hard to believe that the Malcolm X that fought for equality, actually educated himself in prison. He felt prison was the best thing that could of ever happened to him. He wouldn’t be the man he is today without it. It proves how important reading and writing are in order to be successful.
In the essay “Learning to Read” Malcolm X explains his personal transformation during the time he spent in jail. With only an eighth grade education, Malcolm became jealous of the intellectual gap between other inmates and himself. He began to read books from the Norfolk Prison Colony’s library, but he could not understand most of the words (275). This led Malcolm to obtain a dictionary and copy down each word in it. He started to devour books after enhancing his vocabulary and was finally able to understand the themes and make connections within the books he read (275).
In the essay “Learning to Read,” the civil rights activist Malcolm X describes all the many different literatures such as black history, learning how to read, learning every word in the dictionary, and the history of why black people and white people act the way they do towards each other, he learned during his time in prison. Malcolm X wants the readers to understand that all this time that has passed he has been stealing, robbing, and being a hustler in the streets so he never knew how to read or write. Malcolm wrote this because after learning how to read and write he could read the books in the prison library and learn more about the history
Clarity and cognizance from the ability to read ignited a flame in his soul, and despite being imprisoned, Malcolm “…never had been so truly free in [his] life” (125). The dictionary emancipated Malcolm from the mental penitentiary which he had lived in throughout the entirety of his life. Understanding of previously unknown language and better developed reading capabilities allowed him to take full advantage of the prison library: “…[He] could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying” (125). The physical prison that confined Malcolm actually benefited him in that he was able to fully apply himself to research without the distractions of typical college
During the 1960s, racial tensions grew between the African Americans and the white individuals. Renowned as the Civil Rights Movement, famous leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) began to address the ignored racial issues in the United States. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X was more radical and took an alternative method into relieving the nation of its racial matter. Upon Malcolm X’s death in 1965, his ideas were popularized and strengthened the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s.
He wanted to be able to properly write his thoughts and opinions out to be understood. He wanted to leave an impression on people to give them a thought of him exceeding his education far beyond the eighth grade. That impression was credited to his “prison studies” (Malcolm X 1). He had a voice that needed to be heard all over to bring a change to society. He self educated himself day and night with the dictionary, teachings ,and books. Malcolm X considered that “three or four hours of sleep a night” was enough (Malcolm X 3). Malcolm X became interested in the “glorious history of the black man” (Malcolm X 3). “Book after book” showed him the “white man had brought upon the world’s black, brown,red,and yellow peoples every variety of the suffering of exploitation” (Malcolm X 4). Like Douglass, Malcolm found the “Faustian machinations” of the “white man” against the “non-white victims” (Malcolm X). Douglass states, “I feared they might be treacherous.” Unlike Douglass being social and receiving help from others around , Malcolm was to himself and seeked information on his own through books. Malcolm X had more pride in his education and wasn 't afraid to share his knowledge, “Mr. Muhammed, to whom I was writing daily, had no idea of what a new world had opened up to me through my efforts to document his teachings in books” (Malcolm X 6). Malcolm X had some basic education knowledge
Malcolm X served prison for seven years. During the times in prison, he changed to a whole new different person. Before he was sent to prison, he was a hustler, drug addict, thief, and etc. jobs was discriminated against the colored skin people during Malcolm’s time and the jobs he was able to achieve was low status. He had many reasons why he went rogue. Malcolm’s mental model “Doing Time” was Influence by his social relations and material conditions in prison.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is written with structure, style, and content all conjoined to create a truly beautiful portrayal of Malcolm X’s life. The story of Malcolm’s life captivates readers through the use of quick sentences, engaging content, and simple structure. Malcolm X accomplishes explaining his life and what he did. The Autobiography uses structure to give the reader a complete story, beginning, middle, and end, followed by unique and engaging style, coupled with raw and fascinating content to envelop the reader in the beauty of the text.
In Learning to Read, by Malcolm X, he talks about his studies while in prison. Having only up to an eighth grade education, Malcolm X struggles with reading and writing. The main reason he decided to learn how to read was because of the letters he received while in prison, primarily from Elijah Muhammad. (X 354). He wasn’t able to write responses to them like he wanted to without using slang. Along with not being able to write letters, Malcolm X couldn’t read books without skipping over most of the words, thus motivating him to study an entire dictionary. With the use of said dictionary, he also improved his penmanship by writing down every word, definition, and punctuation he saw. (X 355). Once he memorized the whole dictionary, he was then able to read books. There wasn’t a moment where Malcolm wasn’t reading even at night when the lights were out, he still managed to use the little bit of light shining into his cell to read.