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Summary Of Malcolm X's Literacy Behind Bar

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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. He has a thirst for information that only …show more content…

This idea emphasizes the true passion Malcolm X had for knowledge and shows that reading is the tool that gave him the ability to communicate with others intelligently; as a child my family and I moved around a lot, causing us to uproot our lives constantly. Like Malcolm X when he was isolated in prison, I felt the same emotion of being lost when I moved overseas and could not communicate well with others. This made me the new kid everywhere we went, and books became my escape. For example, we moved to the town of Hamburg, Germany, which is a major port city, and they had a university near where I was living. My mum would take me to this university three times a week. During these times, I would look for and read the English books they had since I could not speak the native language. As I kept going, I would meet others around my age, and we would read these books together. This gave me the chance to learn German and them English.Reading gave me the chance to learn about the culture, people, and areas where I was living. After reading the books, they opened a new pathway to relating to other people for me. Similarly, Malcolm X felt “months passed without even thinking about being imprisoned” due to the fact reading had changed his life (X, 3). The author and I related on an emotional level; therefore we are free with the newfound ability to use our dialog to

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If he were to go down the path and follow the footsteps of the rest of his family, his life would have been condemned to mediocrity like the rest of his family. Similarly, in Malcolm X’s case, reading allowed him to open his mind and understand other people’s perspectives. When Malcolm X was in prison, he developed an affinity for reading, and he begun to read more and more to learn more about the world. What he learned from the books he read played important roles in Malcolm’s fame later in life. “I don’t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did.

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Malcolm X’s prison studies inspired him to fight for the rights of African-Americans. This example relates to the article because it shows how Malcolm X was inspired after focusing closely on improving his vocabulary and reading skills. Sample Body Paragraph 2 The article makes an interesting point when it says that, “Most people are not there, and they’re not there to know that they’re not there.” Basically,

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Thesis: In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, Malcolm X in his telling of his life to Alex Haley uncovers the theme of positive and negative environments unearthed by the interaction of African Americans and White Americans in his life and what those kinds of environments inherently produce. Annotated Bibliography Nelson, Emmanuel S. Ethnic American Literature: an Encyclopedia for Students. Greenwood, An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2015.This encyclopedia points out that the negative interaction he held with the white man as a young hustler was countered by these same experiences pushing Malcolm X to reclaim his “African identity”. This shows, as described by the cited work, what a man pushed by his negative interactions with the oppressive white men is willing to do to find his identity (i.e. through hustling).

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In the essays, “Reading to Write” by Stephen King, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, “Learning to Read” Malcolm X, and “Learning to Write” by Frederick Douglas have three things in common. In each essay Reading has contributed towards the authors life leading to benefit from learning to read, allowing them to leave a legacy behind. In each essay the authors has thought their self how unlike Frederick Douglass. For Stephen King, reading has done a lot for him. King stated, “Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (221).

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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.

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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.

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And I want you to teach me to understand what I read." (Bradbury 78) Books to him are a way to communicate with others. He is frustrated that everyone else is blind to that. This expresses the value of the books expanding the way of communicating. He knows he will need help on understanding it and

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This quote, from Sherman Alexie’s “Learning to Read and Write: Superman and Me,” describes a young Indian boy’s ambition to read and write, to be literate. The same ambition I saw in myself when I was learning to read and write. The meaning of literacy, to me, has always been the next step towards success. I searched for success at an early age; looking back, I surprise myself on how quickly I advanced. In my early years of junior high, I stumbled across “The Inheritance” by Louisa May Alcott.

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In the 1900’s, Winston Churchill said “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” (Kutner, The Illustrious History of Misquoting Winston Churchill,”). This quote stands out for a number of reasons. When people read books, people slowly gain more character, courage, and more curiosity. First of all, reading helps people develop character to know the good choices from the bad ones.

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He could not go anywhere else, but by reading he learned more about the outside world and it gave him a piece of imagery. While he was behind bars he learned to read and write. Malcolm

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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.

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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.

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In the essay “Superman and Me”, the author, Sherman Alexie recalls the time he first learned to read. He talks about his Indian culture and the perception of people like himself. He also discusses his childhood and the outcome of learning to read. The reoccurring theme of the essay is the love of reading. The author used various literacy devices to express the feelings of empowerment, happiness and the necessity that came with learning to read.

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Summary of "Learning to Read" by Malcolm X In his essay "Learning to Read" from the chapter "Saved" in Malcolm's Autobiography published in New York (Grove Press, 1965). Malcolm was born in Omaha, Nebraska and his father was a political activist on behalf of Marcus Garvey. After he and his family moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where his father was killed and his mother placed in a mental institution. he became an orphan and ended up on the streets of Detroit where he was known as "Detroit Red".

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