Assignment 3 (Original Assignment) In the narrative “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, Malcolm details how he educated himself in prison through reading. However, Malcolm’s point goes much deeper than that. Malcolm shows the importance of self-education and its difference from academic education. Self-education allows one to focus only on one’s specific interests and through this, one can really discover who one truly is as a person. While the narrative is about Malcolm X learning to read in prison, he is really appealing to the reader’s intellect and desire for self-improvement. Malcolm X created depth in his writing by appealing to the reader’s intellect and making the reader reflect upon his education. Throughout the narrative, Malcolm writes about himself and how he educated himself in prison by reading. He shares analogies of his time in prison and what he learned during his time there. Malcolm X uses depth to create a purpose much deeper than the surface meaning of his writing. Malcolm X stresses the importance of self-education and how one can really benefit from it. One analogy that Malcolm uses to help create the substance of his narrative was how he really learned about himself. Reading made Malcolm very curious about many things, but one thing in which he learned to take a special interest, was the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. Elijah Muhammad often wrote about the Muslim religion, and this made Malcolm very curious. Through reading, Malcolm learned about the Muslim religion, and eventually, he found himself. This is one of the most important points of Malcolm’s narrative. Through self-education, one can learn about oneself and who you really are. Malcolm found an entire new set of beliefs and values through reading. I felt that this was one of the most important analogies that Malcolm used in his writing. The way he uses depth, he can speak on not only an incident that happened to him, but also how the reader can apply it to himself. The relevance leads the reader to create connections from Malcolm X’s analogies to their own life. Malcolm X effectively uses substance to make the reader think more deeply and analyze more than just what is on the page, and apply those principles to the reader’s own life. Malcolm X’s narrative shows the reader the difference between selfeducation and academic education. Both are forms of education and will lead to bettering oneself, but both also have different outcomes in their results. Malcolm states, “Prison enabled me to study more inexpensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college.” (Malcolm X, Rereading America, P. 218). Malcolm effectively shows how his form of self-education differs from a traditional academic education. In self-education, reading is used much more effectively and more intellectual thought is involved when compared to an academic education. In his narrative, Malcolm continues to say that both forms of education can lead to increased intellect. “Many who today hear me… will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade” (Malcolm X, Rereading America, P. 211). This shows how one does not need an academic education to appear bright or successful; it is the intellect and curiosity for knowledge that is important. Both forms of education can lead to the same result and Malcolm teaches that it is up to the reader to create their own education. Education is what you make of it, and if someone does not effectively use information, it will be a waste of effort. Malcolm X created depth in his narrative “Learning to Read” by engaging the reader’s curiosity for intellect and knowledge. Malcolm details his time in prison and how he used self-education and reading to help better himself and to find out who he really was as a person. Malcolm also stressed that education is what one makes of it. It someone does not want to learn, then they will just be wasting their time. When one has the curiosity and thirst for knowledge, doors will open up and one can really expand the mind and learn much about oneself.