ipl-logo

Literacy Behind Bars: The Gain From Being Locked Away

282 Words2 Pages
The Gain from Being Locked Away In prison the author Malcom X teaches himself how to read and comprehend written word in the essay “Literacy Behind Bars”. It started in Charlestown Prison where Malcom felt envious of another inmate named Bimbi for his reading abilities. Malcom didn’t get past middle school, therefore, he couldn’t read well enough to comprehend the text in a book. This lead Malcom to start studying a dictionary “to study, to learn some words.” (X, 3), he also does this to improve his handwriting. To achieve his goal he starts to copy the dictionary, page by page, until he copied the fully dictionary. Each page he wrote he would read what he wrote out loud, so he would truly understand all of the word he was copying down. Malcom
Show More
Related
192 Words | 1 Pages

The article mainly is about Malcolm who went to prison in the Charlestown prison for burglary there he knew how to use time and tired of not being understood by others who read his letters he began using a dictionary to study and learn some words , putting a lot of effort reading back to himself to have a better understanding of new words that he don’t even knew exist each day he wrote a new word of the dictionary his goal was to learn how the read using the dictionary as his best tool . Time passed quickly practicing over and over writing every words of each section of the dictionary helped him improve his reading and handwriting speed .From this article I learned that even being imprisoned Malcolm he had a great experience there

Read More
252 Words | 2 Pages

In “Literacy Behind Bars” by Malcolm X discusses how he became interested and even obsessed with reading. He discusses how he wasn’t educated past the eighth grade, that his apparent education is the result of the studies he divulged in in prison. Malcolm was jealous of another inmate’s knowledge, and as a result began copying a dictionary. He slowly wrote out every word, including all of the detailed grammar on the pages. Malcolm X continued writing until he written every word there was.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

Malcolm X was a prominent African American civil rights leader and activist during the late 1900s. Prior to his role as a civil rights trailblazer, Malcolm X was an inarticulate hustler who was sentenced to ten years in prison on burglary charges. It was in prison that Malcolm X had acquired a taste for education and he could not stop yearning for more; as a result, he began to study tirelessly. Throughout “a Homemade Education”, Malcolm X appeals to one’s sense of ethics, logic, and emotion by utilizing his own personal experiences to stress that everyone should educate themselves and thus gather an understanding about the world. When in prison Malcolm X had attempted to emulate a man named Bimbi, a fellow prison mate whom he had looked up

Read More
1943 Words | 8 Pages

He taught himself to read by first writing the pages of the dictionary and rereading what he wrote, memorizing these word by reading “back, to myself everything I’d written on the table over and over, aloud” (X, 2004, 246). Then once he completed the dictionary he went on to read books. Reading more advanced books as time went on. Although a different way of reading this way was proven to be very successful for Malcom, he describes the first time he read a book after completing the dictionary as a “new world that opened” (X, 2004,

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
2611 Words | 11 Pages

Finally, he decided faking was not the answer to bettering himself, so he found a dictionary. Excited, Malcolm wrote that he “spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages. I’d never realized so many words existed!” (274) Malcolm creates a visual,

Read More
693 Words | 3 Pages

He thought that the best thing he could do to improve his comprehension would be to study and learn words from a dictionary. He spent two days reading a dictionary and became overwhelmed by all of the words that he did not know even existed. He began copying all of the words onto his tablets, one page every day, and he would read them aloud to himself. Eventually, he was able to remember almost all of the words he had studied. Ever since his “word-base broadened,” he was able to pick up a book and understand what he was reading (3).

Read More
446 Words | 2 Pages

“My homemade education gave me… a little more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America.” (Malcolm) His life after prison probably would have never happened the way it did if he had not picked up that dictionary and started writing down the words and meanings, page after page, until Malcolm reached the back cover. All of the newfound information created his homemade education. “The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.”

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

Introduction: Artificial Selection is a process in the breeding of animals and in the cultivation of plants by which the breeder chooses certain desirable inheritable characteristics. Through this investigation, we are trying to carry out artificial selection using the Wisconsin Fast Plant (Brassica rapa). The Wisconsin Fast Plant has an incredibly short life cycle compared to other plants, making it a prime candidate for this artificial selection lab. The plants also need to be cross-pollinated in order to undergo artificial selection. This process is accomplished by first, identifying the stamen (male parts) and the pistil (female parts) and then using a pipe cleaner or other similar tools to collect the pollen from one flower and then transfer it to another flower.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
456 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
632 Words | 3 Pages

The absence of words in his vocabulary struck him as his biggest setback and this led him to the conclusion that “the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary – to study, to learn some words.” Through the Norfolk Prison school Malcolm acquired a dictionary, along with some tablets and pencils. This started his personal quest to improve his penmanship and study words to gain literacy. He began by copying the first page of the dictionary word by word. He then read the words he had written in his own handwriting out loud over, and over.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
535 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
528 Words | 3 Pages

  Frustrated by an inability to articulate his thoughts, Malcolm X studied a dictionary in prison and worked hard to improve his penmanship.    By copying portions of the dictionary onto paper,  Malcolm X eventually learned to read books. This allowed Malcolm X to understand the writings of Elijah Muhammad, and eventually to become a well-known civil rights leader.   While in prison, the ability to read was liberating for Malcolm X; instead of focusing on his imprisonment, he focused on educating himself.

Read More

More about Literacy Behind Bars: The Gain From Being Locked Away

Related Topics

Open Document