Geoffrey Sirc wrote “The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a Basic Writing Text” to convey to his students and all students of literature that this book “teaches the importance of passion and strength of character” that these are “essential attributes to growth as a writer.” This journal article reaffirms the reason why all students should be required to read the book and Sirc states that autobiography allows the student to develop a deeper understanding of how to be inquisitive when confronted with stereotypes or ignorance. The affirmation comes in the form of a quote from Malcolm X in the epilogue of the book “People don’t realize how a man’s life can be changed by one book” (X and Haley 400) and the impact that statement would have on future …show more content…
He states that readers from different levels will appreciate the inspiration of the book. A reader may reflect that Malcolm was a person who went from the inside and emerged on the outside. Sirc quotes Penn Warren to explain the thought process, “the man who, from humble origins and with meager education, converts, by will, intelligence, and sterling character, his liabilities into assets”. Sirc uses this quote to speak to the students understanding of the effort it takes to experience life from outside a racial box. Malcolm was “making it” (Sirc 52), however one particular student of Sirc’s found the task “daunting but inspiring” (Sirc 52). Meng, a student from Southeast Asia realized that Malcolm had a “homemade education” (X and Haley 182), but was trying to understand how to take from the inspiration without being overwhelmed. Sirc explains that the students are looking at this from his informal education from the inside, yet once they receive that inspiration then they are able to begin a writing process with a depth and study of his life outside then they become deeper scholars. He also knows that in the reading the context of Malcolm’s words, the rhetoric of his street life can take the reader from the “outside to the inside” (X and Haley 53) and leave the student in a state of belief permanency. He uses the example …show more content…
Not only is he bringing material for the students to learn from he also allows the student to bring in examples to use as an aide to understand the text. As a professor of English he is invoking a form of the outside-inside-outside theory when he allows his students to use material that exists in their daily lives. One particular medium that his students use are rap lyrics and quotes from rap artists. The label he creates for this type of reading is “street critical” and this helps create “homemade theorists” (Sirc 60) in regards to the context they bring to their
He believes that education is essential if the black community wants to fight against the injustice and take a stand for equality of their civil liberties. His assumption that he is speaking to a group comprised of under-educated black Americans is what allows Malcolm X to inspire this audience to go against the white community and fight for equality. This is still relevant today as showcased by members of the Black Lives Matter movement who are still fighting for justice and equality for black Americans and are protesting for an end to discrimination and racism as more and more unarmed black Americans are being shot and killed by the police all around the United
He argues the importance of the believer and how the skills apply to any course because “we need the believing game to help us find flaws in our own thinking” (5). The believing game helps readers examine ideas from the writer’s point of view and seek ways of bettering it so they can understand the text. Professor Elbow’s second idea concerns the doubter, and how this method leads to the development of critical thinking, “the doubting game can reveal flaws or bad logic in arguments that support one position or another” (6). A doubter becomes skeptical of ideas presented to them. They distance themselves from ideas to form a better judgment.
The book “Outliers,” by Malcolm Gladwell takes readers on a momentous adventure of twists and turns through life's most optimistic lessons. The aspiration of the book “Outliers,’ is a reflection of how the author Gladwell would like his readers to view and glide through the journey called life. Examples given within the book help to shed light on positive lifelong learning experiences. The key question in the book “Outliers,” is what makes people who are great achievers different from regular people? ” The term “Outlier,” illustrates phenomena’s that can happen apart from what is considered to be the social norm (Gladwell, 2007).
Sample Body Paragraph 1 Focusing our mind on a simple task can inspire us. Malcolm X is a figure who illustrates this idea. He dedicated himself to educating himself and learning how to read in prison. He spent countless hours of undistracted study, carefully copying words from the dictionary to improve his vocabulary and handwriting.
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".
Introduction: Clear, concise, and cohesive: all necessities of an argument. Matthew Sanders, a college professor at the University of Utah, writes in his online bio that he enjoys analyzing the ways of teaching and learning, which is exactly what Sanders does in his book. In Matthew L, Sanders’ book Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education he argues that college is meant to develop a person into a greater being not to teach them job skills. To develop Sanders’ claim, learning is more than just retaining facts, he correctly aligns his rhetorical situation and uses elements of generative and persuasive arguments. These techniques can include new angles, appeals, storytelling, and many other strategies to influence its readers
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.
He calls the students to action in a way that they can relate to by talking about the necessity to use their education outside of the workplace and question the world around
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.
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.
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).
As the years went by, Malcolm continued down the wrong path, filled with crime and pain. Due to the racial hate that followed him, he could never be seen as an equal. The government imprisoned him multiple times for his crimes and this added to his depression. He desperately tried to change the way society looked upon him, but eventually he looked to crimes and rebellion in order to
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.
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.
Live and Learn In the article “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X is about Malcolm not knowing how to write properly, he was frustrated about not being able to convey himself in his letters that he wrote especially to Mr. Elijah Mohammed. He didn't go past the eighth grade in school, so the only writing he knew was slang. Malcolm was in prison so he began to teach himself by requesting a dictionary along with some paper and pencils from Norfolk Prison Colony school to learn the meaning of words but most importantly to express himself.