Homemade Education

Thematic Analysis The two readings “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf and “Homemade Education” by Malcolm X are completely different, yet they share a similar theme about education. Receiving an education has been difficult task for certain groups of people for centuries. “A Room of One’s Own” is set during William Shakespeare’s time period where women were not allowed to be educated the same way as men were. The idea of a women being able to write a play or be an actor in the theater was not even considered during this time period. Women were not allowed to be treated the same as men with regard to educational goals or interests. During Malcolm X’s time period it was very difficult for African Americans to get an education and lead successful lives. The main theme the two readings share is that education can give people the freedom and power to have creative and successful careers in life.
Malcolm X did not grow up learning how to read and write like many other African Americans during his time. Malcolm X was put in prison in 1946 when he was twenty years old. This is the setting for his story “Homemade Education” and how he taught himself how to read and write while in prison. He taught himself how to write by getting a dictionary and copying down words and definitions onto a piece of paper. By doing this he was able to teach himself how to write, read, all the while expanding his vocabulary. The main theme of “Homemade Education” was that education gives people the power to choose what they want with their life and be