Throughout Malcolm X's "Learning to Read" his tone and attitude frequently changes. Although the emotions are faintly projected, his tone and attitude are caused by a change in his own emotions, which correspond with the beginning, middle, and end of the passage. The essay not only expounds his lack of reading skills while young, it expounds upon the importance of reading to him today. If a thorough assessment is made, he exclaims that reading is important to readers' lives as it was to his, aiding to shape ones morals and principles. Without the ability to read, a basis for intellect and perception, it becomes increasingly difficult to build your own ethical views.
The diction of Malcolm X is fairly simple, but simultaneously, his use
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In the beginning he speaks of his time in prison and how he learned to read. What he states in the beginning reflects his point of view to the reader. By stating that he's an inmate learning to read, readers gain the impression that at that point in the essay, rather than being Malcolm X, he's just your average inmate trying to finding his place in the world. During the middle, his point of view is still that of an inmate, but with additional knowledge aiding him in shaping his morals and values. In this section by Malcolm X stating that "an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books," and "I was lucky enough to reason also that I should improve my penmanship" the reader ascertains that he is making his transition from being your average inmate with no morals, to the learned activist Malcolm X. In the end, he instills upon the reader that he has obtained morals and become Malcolm X. In the two quotes "if I weren't out battling the white man," and "the worlds' white man indeed acted like devils", the reader finds out that through his reading, Malcolm X has obtained morals and by gaining such morals he has gained a purpose; the role of the civil rights activist. By putting his points of view in this specific order, the reader is given a chance to interpret his transformation from prison inmate to civil
In the speech “Confronting White Oppression,” Malcolm X uses many rhetorical devices. He continuously talks about how the whites mistreat the blacks, and how they are presumed “different.” Malcolm presents the readers/listeners with ethos, pathos, logos and other rhetorical terms like Anadiplosis, Antithesis, and a ton of repetition. In his speech Malcolm reasoned that his voice needs to be heard so that people could understand how him and the blacks felt about how they differentiated from the caucasians.
The theme of this book was first person. At the beginning of the book, Malcolm spoke about his life but at the end of the book the other author Alex Haley spoke in first person about his experiences with Malcolm. The main idea of this book was to get an insight on Malcolm X. Throughout the book the reader will be able to find out how Malcolm was raised, about his life as a muslim black man, and also about his death. This book was different from other autobiographies because the reader was able to read about Malcolm through his own eyes and also through the eyes of the man who was documenting his life. The book really did not have an argument but it did give information about how Malcolm X handled racism. Malcolm X lived by the saying by any means necessary which means that he would get respected by everyone by any means necessary. One of the quotes in the book that stood out the
In Malcolm X's essay Learning to Read, he expresses his feeling and motivation toward education. He explains his hardship being illiterate, and how society forced him to self-educate himself in the English language. Through his essay, he writes about the experience and progress of his path of self education . He describes the feelings he had when he reached and attain new knowledge from the books he read. Malcolm X shows the surrounding he was in and how his lifestyle changed from it. Malcolm X’s essay Learning to Read shows that environment shapes the person's identity.
“Learning to Read” by Malcolm X is an explanation of how Malcolm gained an education as he went from a criminal on the streets into a world admired speaker for African American civil rights. And by doing so, Malcolm’s writing in this piece is a transition of his life as the complexity of his writing transitions from everyday, easy to read vocabulary into convoluted expressions. The beauty of his writing seems as a timeline of his life as it allows the readers to follow Malcolm X through the overall structure of his piece and the choice of words.
Convicted of robbery in 1946, Malcolm Little received a 10 year sentence in Charlestown prison, a sentence that would change the landscape of civil rights forever. Here he taught himself how to read and write, using materials provided by the prison’s library to aid in his education; consequently, he also learned about the racial injustices throughout history. After 7 years, Malcolm X was granted parole and released from prison and joined the Civil Rights Movement under the name Malcolm X. In a section of his autobiography Malcolm X argues the importance of critical thinking in educational and research purposes. Critical thinking allows the reader to gauge whether the information gained from a particular source can be accepted as fact, depending on how it fits into the information given by other sources. He uses his experiences, the texts that he used in his education, pathos arguments, and metaphor to further his point.
The impetus for the development for this major work arose from the varied and largely, colorful interpretations of Malcolm X. The differences seem to have arisen from scholars and historians use and understanding of many different and varied sources and most important, their own perspective of the events as they unfolded. How historians approached Malcolm X is of paramount importance to future historians and more importantly, to the study of history. Principally, these differences of thought and perspective are greatly determined by the writer's context, which in turn is at the core of the focus question, concerning the historiographical issue whether each generation writes the same history in a new way. Furthermore the purpose of
Malcolm X puts a great emphasis on the debates which have lingered for some decades over certain topics, such as freedom, equality, justice. Through debate experience, Malcolm hones skills he would use later in formal debates with other civil and human rights activities. Those skills are successfully utilized in public speaking occasions and were considered the central foundation of Malcolm X's rhetorical
Reading brings knowledge which is essential to a successful life. Malcolm X, a human rights activist was granted the knowledge of the unfair treatments of African Americans in America from reading. In his autobiography “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X expresses,”
in this book he tells us about the racist society that he had to deal with in the 1930s.When Malcolm was a child, his father was killed by a white man. After his father died his
Malcolm X says himself that “I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying” (). Before he enters prison, he is simply not literate and it does not affect his daily life that much. After he is imprisoned, the need for him to be literate grows stronger and he decides to commit himself into it. With much tie and energy devoted in learning, Malcolm improves a lot and that capability of literacy makes him become a new person. His experience gives him he chance to stay true to himself and also enriches himself at the same time. Reinventing oneself, even in Malcolm X’ case of being in prison, is never too late since it produces so much more opportunities and also rooms for improvement. In a like manner, Graham also learns something from her constantly quitting story. She writes that “upheavals, startling turns, and unpredictable shifts have all come unbidden…and life itself will eventually have its way and quit us”(). Before Graham leaves everything behind to chase after freedom, she has the notion of life never quitting on herself. Yet after her real journey, much of her old thoughts alters as her experiences are more enriched. The enlightenments she gets from her journey which involves the real definition of quitting and freedom is unique and she really learns a lot from that. With more information and knowledge, Graham herself also enriches from the journey of committing herself into an adventure. She becomes more mature and her life after is also very different. She is not the old Graham. Instead, she becomes more authentic, as she understands herself much better. Thus she person Graham is after her journey of reinvention is the real her. Similarly, Malcolm X benefits from knowing how to write and read not only during his
Throughout history there have been many people who have stood out and made an impact in the way we think and comprehend things. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, Malcolm X was no exception. His militant views that Western nations were inherently racist and that black people must join together to build their own society and value system had an important influence on black nationalist and black separatist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. At the beginning of the movie, Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. He was a young child trying to adapt to society's changes. He was looking so hard that he fell into the wrong crowd.
It was a period of soul-searching and religious flowering that led him to a state of peace, and which is all-too-often cast aside when we look back at his life.” The article is supports how Malcolm X and MLK,both wanted the same things which included equal rights for all people. Malcolm X believed in nonviolent protests because, if not he would not have went to support him.Which both should be remembered equally,as brave African American
“I was trying to save my life.” Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X were both in need of being saved with being destined to fail by their surrounding environment. Solely based on their race, these two individuals were being cut short in life: this made the possibility of knowledge and intellect seem like a fool's dream. With their determination to outlive and out smart the expectations, limitations and stereotypes that held them back, Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie were granted the ability to read at their own hands. It seems like simple thing to you or me, but for them it was an essence of life. Literature gave them advantages, as well as a higher purpose. Simply allowing them to set their own path and changing each of their lives in their own special
After reading an excerpt of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I felt that both men were conveying their alarm for equality for the African-American race. Malcolm and Martin had already experienced the atrocities that extreme racism brought on to their families. Martin projects a peacemaking, and more rational demeanor Malcolm showed a more radical, controversial, and an unwavering unwillingness position on compromise. The characteristic of standing up for what he or she believes in is one influence that these men have on my life.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of Malcolm X, an African American male growing up in the United States in the mid-1900's. At this time in America prejudice and segregation were widespread and much a part of everyday life. Malcolm takes the reader through his experiences with American society, which rejects him. This rejection, along with the inferiority cast upon all Black Americans, forces these males to search for acceptance. They are forced to search for purpose in causes greater than single individuals. As the book shows, this is evident in Malcolm throughout his life and in the life of other African American males. The Autobiography shows how during this time in American history