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.