Malcolm X's Homemade Education

Language, despite its complexity, is often the key to one self-discovery in the world. Malcolm X, a minister and a civil right activist, describes in his personal narrative “Homemade Education,” how his experience of learning how to read and write in prison changed his life as he became both an articulate speaker and writer and the face of the civil right movement. Similarly, Helen Keller, a woman who is both deaf and blind since infancy, talks about her struggles in the except “A Word For Everything” about learning a new language, but how in return, opened her to all the joys and horrors of the world. Like the authors listed above and many others in the world, I also had an experience concerning language and how it changed my perspective

As seen in many people’s experience in learning language, one must overcome the lies they impose upon themselves in order to learn, experience, and struggle language. Before beginning his experience Malcolm X wrote letters to people with authority and power, such as the Mayor of Boston and the Governor of Massachusetts. Although he believed that he was the “most articulate hustler” and “commanded attention when he said something,” Malcolm X lacked writing skills and claimed himself that when he tried to “write in simple English, [he] not only wasn’t articulate, [he] wasn't even functional. (X, 143). Malcolm X realized that despite his articulate speaking when speaking to audiences or people, he lacked skills in writing and reading; which resulted in his beginning of a long journey to reaching his adept skills in language and communication. Similarly, Helen Keller was also in a facade before she met and learned from Anne Sullivan, her teacher. In the beginning, she had no idea “what the