Malcolm and Mickey Malcolm X wrote The Auto-biography of Malcolm X (1965), with Alex Haley. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925. Malcolm changed his last name “Little,” to X, because he considered Little to be a slave name. The letter X was considered his lost African tribal name. In 1946 Little was sentenced to ten years in prison for burglary. During Little`s imprisonment, he taught himself to read and write properly; Little`s education level was the eighth grade. Bimbi was the most vocal of Malcolm`s fellow inmates. Bimbi would make speeches that gained him respect of the prison guards and inmates. Malcolm was envious of him and tried to emulate him. Malcolm would try to read books, but when he came to words he could not pronounce or understand he would just skip these words. “When I skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with …show more content…
Malcolm also needed to improve his writing skills. “My penmanship, it was sad”. (Malcolm X pg.640) He went to the prison library and checked out a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils. The next two days Malcolm spent thumbing through the dictionary. He never realized there were so many words in the dictionary; he did not know which words he needed to learn. Finally, just to do something he started copying the first page. He copied everything on the page down to the punctuation marks. It took Malcom all day to copy the first page. Then the next day he started reading out loud everything he had written. It was not long that Malcolm realized the dictionary was like an encyclopedia; to this day he remembers what an aardvark is. Malcolm eventually copies the entire dictionary. This increased his vocabulary and improved his reading skills. Malcolm spent so much time reading that months would pass by without him ever thinking about being in prison. “In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life”. (Malcolm X pg.
He saw them as a parent figure, especially Mrs. Hughs since she taught him the alphabets and such. Malcolm X used to be a thug. When he was caught in a burglary crime, he realized he needed to change. He had read Elijah Muhammad writings and wanted to emulate him. Elijah Muhammad became like a father to him,
Soon after, he stared learning three to four letter words. Once Mr. Auld found out what was going on he forced her to stop because it was unsafe for both her and Frederick Douglass. He said, once a slave becomes knowledgeable he becomes useless to any slave
Sample Body Paragraph 1 Focusing our mind on a simple task can inspire us. Malcolm X is a figure who illustrates this idea. He dedicated himself to educating himself and learning how to read in prison. He spent countless hours of undistracted study, carefully copying words from the dictionary to improve his vocabulary and handwriting.
He first copies dictionary to build stronger vocabulary words and to improve his penmanship or handwriting because he wants to be able to write in a straight line and to learn the meaning of words he never knew existed. As a result, he copies the dictionary into his tablet page after page, read and reread his own handwriting. He finally copies the entire dictionary which helps him "to pick up handwriting speed"(172). Additionally, Malcolm begins to read and comprehend books on religion and history, which exposed him into a new different world. Malcolm X says "I never had been so truly free in my life"(173).
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 X “You can’t separate peace from freedom, because nobody can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” These words came from the mouth of Malcolm X, but who was he? Some people call him deranged, others call him too radical. But truthfully, Malcolm X was one of the most influential African Americans in history.
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
Barrientos tells of learning to read and write in spanish. One key feature of a literacy narrative is an indication of the narrative 's significance. The aurthorś significance of learning the language is sha wants to feel like she belongs in the Latino community. According to the text the author felt out of place because she did not speak spanish, but she was Guatemalan. “I am Guatemalan by birth but pura gringa by Circumstance?”
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
Slaves were not supposed to be able to read or write and this made it hard. His mistress always got mad anytime she saw him reading. It was hard for him to accept the things he had read since they gave him more details about his race and what he was going through. Douglass learning how to read and write caused him to deal with his readings emotionally and mentally. Alexie thought that him learning how to read made him smart and he was very proud of doing so.
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.
When I first read about the Malcolm X, it reminds me on some of the Sahabat of Prophet Muhammad that had made so many sacrifices in order to spread the truth of Islam. From the first paragraph I have read about this man, I can see that he had gone through a hard life for being isolated because of the skin color. Of course, in these days, being racist is such unacceptable thing to do regardless the religion. If we take this matter from the moral perspective, racist is injustice act and this will lead to violation of human rights. Racist also might lead the extremist to be more aggressive and the safety of the country is somehow has been unsafe.
In addition, he was jealous of Bimbi, who always over controlled the conversations. Therefore, Malcolm X put all of his effort into learning new words and their meaning in each section of the dictionary. By writing down the words on the tablet and read them back to himself after days, his vocabulary was broadened. As a result, he could read, understand what a book said, write his own words, and have interested in reading.
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.