Malcolm X 's "A Homemade Education" uncovers a story of how he gained knowledge by himself and how it guided his thoughts and ideas in becoming a more knowledgeable speaker. Although Malcolm X is a very outspoken person about racism in the United States and throughout the world, he had the right to be upset but goes a little overboard on blaming whites. The main focus of "A Homemade Education" by Malcolm X is his endless attempt to increase his knowledge by teaching himself how to fully understand different words of the dictionary. Although he was inspired by a fellow inmate when he was in Charlestown Prison, Malcolm, young as he was back then, began reading intensely but couldn’t understand exactly what he was reading because of his writing and reading skills. Starting from being illiterate, Malcolm X used every resource he had to broaden his language abilities and be able to communicate to the world and his people. …show more content…
It all began when he was sentenced to a term at Charlestown Prison. He met a man named Bimbi who was fader more educated than young Malcolm had ever been, which eventually led him to his determination in his prison studies and gain knowledge. He began first by looking at available books, reading only the words he could and skipping the ones he couldn’t because his lack of reading skills which he soon found to be complete a waste of time. It wasn’t until he got to the Norfolk Prison Colony that he finally realized what he really needed was to use a
Education is Power The Civil Rights Movement took place during the mid-1950s and late 1960s where African Americans protested against the injustice of not receiving the same civil liberties as white Americans. Activists who took part in the Civil Rights Movement, used a non-violent approach to protesting such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Greensboro sit-ins, and the march from Selma to Montgomery in order to bring about equality. African Americans began to receive equality as shown by the implementation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. In Malcolm X’s, “Learning to Read”, he encourages his audience to learn from his mistakes through stories of his background that reflect his beliefs that under-educated people need to become aware of the less than positive history of the oppression of African Americans if they plan on attaining their freedom.
Furthermore, Malcolm x was sent to jail where he was motivated to begin his homemade education by struggling to communicate with Elijah Muhammad and envying Bambi for his competence to assume control of the conversation and his stock of knowledge. For that reason, Malcolm learned to read by copying dictionary, beginning to read and comprehend books, exploring black history, especially slavery and studying world or global history.
Both of which are male and both are black, both had a visible hatred towards their oppressors (whites). Frederick Douglas was a slave who obtained the ability to read and write from various actions and events, his first grasp of this ability was when his mistress (slave owner) had decided for him to acquire this ability, while later being punished for it she became another one of his oppressors. Although Frederick’s mistress began her thrashings upon his determination to gain the power of literacy, he found other ways of gaining the power. Malcolm X obtained his literacy due to his prison confinement, and his introduction to
Malcolm basically had the rights to be educated while Frederick Douglas could not. Both Malcolm and Frederick used sneaky tactics to learn how to read. For instance, when Frederick tricked poor white children in the neighborhood into teaching him how to read by giving them bread in return for lessons (Douglas 26). Malcolm read books in his prison cell. Malcolm in his autobiographical sketch says that when it was “lights out” he would read books and fake sleep if a guard walked by (X 3).
In contemporary philosophy, the epistemic value of different methods of education, political divergence, and personal freedom, can all be viewed as falling under the umbrella of the larger question of how one can achieve the “American Dream.” To achieve the “American Dream,” or achieve a better life than one had prior, while outcomes of this pursuit may be different from person to person, their journeys can often foster latent similarities. Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin were men from different centuries, different socioeconomic statuses, different races, and different upbringings, yet their journeys to achieving the “American Dream” were very similar. Despite their fundamental differences, Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin were analogous in
In “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X uses rhetorical analysis to argue how African Americans continued to struggle in gaining education due to racism. He informs people that through our history books, there have been modifications that restrain the truth about the struggles black people faced. Malcolm X encouraged his audience to strive to get the rights that they deserved. He demonstrates that knowledge is very important because the truth empowers us. In his interview he persuades his audience with diction, tone, pathos, ethos, and appeal to emotion to make his point.
In Frederick Douglass’s narrative essay titled “Learning to Read” he recalls his journey to literacy. Throughout the essay Douglass reveals how he learned to read and write, despite the fact that education was strictly prohibited to slaves. Initially, Douglass learned how to read through his mistress, but he later learned from the little white boys on the streets. As for learning to write, he often times observed ship carpenters and replicated the copy-books of his Master’s son. Frederick Douglass did not have the same opportunities students have today, yet despite his adversities, Douglass was able to become a literate slave, and ultimately free himself from slavery with the power of
Malcolm X's "Literacy Behind Bars" is about the expansion of his world that provokes a burning passion within himself through the world of reading. While incarcerated, the author meets a man named Bimbi who leads the discussion with his stock of knowledge, prompting Malcolm X to further his skills in literacy. Taking small steps, he first broadens his vocabulary by reading alphabetically in the dictionary and copying pages. He reads aloud to himself until the words begin to stick with him. Not long after moves onto books, devouring them at a relentless pace, Malcolm X became so engrossed with reading that he begins breaking curfew rules just to continue reading by using the light outside of his cell.
Introduction: Malcom X urges the Negro community to fight to gain the equal rights they deserve by taking action against their white oppressors. He emphasizes that blacks will gain their rights either thorough voting, with the ballot, or else through the inevitable violence with the bullet. Thesis [part a] Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., also fighting for the civil rights of black Americans in the 1960s, but in a more peaceful manner, Malcom X takes a different approach.
Throughout the Autobiography of Malcolm X there are several key events the bring out the central ideas of the text. Some examples of the key events was when Mr. Ostrowski lectured Malcolm, when Malcolm was in jail and he learned the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and when Malcolm made his pilgrimage to Mecca. A closer look at the central ideas would show that they build on one another. When Malcolm was going to school his teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, told home to give up his dream of being a lawyer,” Malcolm, one of life’s first needs is to be realistic.
Learning to read by Malcolm X is an autobiographical piece describing his self-education. Malcom describes being “Increasingly frustrated. At not being able to express what I(He) wanted to convey in letters.” This gave him the drive to learn to read and write during his time in Charlestown Prison, and Norfolk Prison. He started his self-education by reading books, piecing together the bits that he could understand using context to complete sentences he could not comprehend.
Analysis for Learning to Read by Malcolm X Malcolm X, who used X to signify his lost African tribal name, was an American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He stated in his excerpt “Learning to Read” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, “[People] will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade” (Learning to read, X,3). Malcolm X was kicked out of the school after 8th grade, and went to the prison. He learned how to read in the prison. Ever since then, he started to read books and think about the fate of black people’s.
A Homemade Education by Malcolm X, is an informative essay about the author Malcolm X dedication to further his education by himself. In this essay the author talks about how he was envious, how he turned that into motivation, and how he didn't let the fact that being imprisoned would keep him from pursing his goals. The essay " A Homemade Education" was very meaningful. The most meaningful thing to me about this essay was the dedication behind the authors purpose to further his education.
Live and Learn In the article “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X is about Malcolm not knowing how to write properly, he was frustrated about not being able to convey himself in his letters that he wrote especially to Mr. Elijah Mohammed. He didn't go past the eighth grade in school, so the only writing he knew was slang. Malcolm was in prison so he began to teach himself by requesting a dictionary along with some paper and pencils from Norfolk Prison Colony school to learn the meaning of words but most importantly to express himself.
Malcolm X was admired by many, for his courage and intelligence. In his essay “prison Studies” Malcolm X writes about his journey in prison, he tells us how he met his friend Bimbi who inspired him to become better and so he started his own “prison” education. Malcolm X’s idea of freedom is knowledge. In his “Prison Studies “he said :” I never had been so truly free” ( “prison Studies” Malcolm X) . Back in his prison days, he used a small light that pierced through his cell just to be able to continue reading the dictionary.