Preview

A Homemade Education Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
631 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Homemade Education Analysis
In “A Homemade Education”, by Malcolm X, the intended audience is any individual, primarily from the minority groups. Malcolm X states that how is one to “get civil rights before first he wins his human rights (X 233)?” This pieces main purpose is to persuade the reader to dive in a mind set of an “Austrian monk (X 230).” An individual who can apply his understanding in reality, with hopes of acquiring piece and prosperity. Being locked in prison was his best bet, as an “articulate hustler (X 227)” changed to a noted political activist under the teachings of Mr.. Muhammad.
1) Quotes were wildly used from various activists in the past illustrating the key mindset against the “Englishman (X 233).” An ancient Chinese war cry was referenced, as “kill the foreign white devils (X 232)” aided in presenting a common message. This strategy fit the audience because all acts from the Englishman were directed towards the “non-white man (X 231).” As U.N Ambassador Adlai Stevenson concluded, it was a “skin game (X 232)” after all. This helps states the purpose, that insight on knowledge would help in building against the flaws brought upon the minority groups.
2) Metaphors were utilized in picturing the scene to the reader, allowing the cruel acts of the Englishman to be showcased. He argues how a White turned his own “Christianity his initial wedge in criminal conquests (X 231)” in order to turn their “non-white victim's his weapons of war (X 231).” This helps the audience realize that Malcolm readings taught him a lesson that oppression was occurring in continents like Asia. Restating the purpose on gaining insight in order to clear disorder and obliterate oppression once and for all.
3) Tone had changed drastically from the beginning toward the end; as an ignorant Malcolm altered to a powerful know it all. For example, a “I guess I wrote a million words (X 228)” would alter to a more confident statement of “I don’t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison then

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    While in Norfolk Prison he checked out a dictionary, tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony School. After months of crash course memorizations of the dictionary, books start to reveal stories, meanings, and to teach history. As his new found knowledge increased from reading every book he could get his hands on, so did his disgust for the whitened world in which he lived. His education started with the teachings of Mr. Muhammad who stressed “how history had been whitened” meaning when the history books were written by white men, the black man was simply left out. This bothered Malcolm and because of this he hunted down any book in that library that had any information at all about black history. Books like The Wonders of the World and Negro History taught him about black empires before black slavery and the early Negro’s struggle for freedom. He also came across some bound pamphlets of the Abolitionism…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X reveals that he has “been blessed by Allah with a new insight into the true religion of Islam, and a better understanding of America’s entire racial dilemma”. He supports his claim by using repetition, tone, and diction. Malcolm X’s purpose is to inform the audience of his new revelation of values in order to illustrate the racism, prevalent in the USA. The author writes in a shocked tone, addressing the citizens of the United…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the story of Malcolm X’s prison life, in Literacy behind Bars by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, it becomes evident that life is what one makes it. Bettering oneself will only give them a better, happier, life. Therefore the opportunity that one may learn will always be there if one decides to accept the opportunity and seek the knowledge from it. Malcolm X knew how stultified he was when compared to others.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read,” he talks about his time in prison and how he decided to teach himself about things he never learned in school. While Malcolm X was in jail he decided to improve his vocabulary by reading the dictionary and copying all of the definitions. This helped him become more eloquent of a writer and paved the way for him to be able to read more difficult books. When Malcolm X began to read seriously he discovered a violent past that most people tended to avoid mentioning; the history of the white man. He read about how white people conquered lands, enslaved countless numbers of people, and tricked trusting people.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Malcolm X spent time in prison, he had been influenced by many historical books that taught him about past events in which white people were the main cause of them. Reading these books strongly affected Malcolm in the way he view white people because before going into prison he did not care about what the whites had done but after he read the books, he realized that the whites are nothing but cruel and depraved people. Malcom X employs quantitative evidences, a simile and a metaphor to let people of different races know how monstrous and inhumane the whites are towards them because they believe they are superior and can do as they please.…

    • 361 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In "A Homemade Education", Malcolm X admits his frustration about his inability to express himself the way he'd like to. It can be said that Malcolm X was discouraged as he mentioned that he "wasn’t even functional" (Malcolm X 134) and though he did feel this way he turned the negative feelings into something to strive for. In the Charlestown prison Malcolm X was in there was another inmate named Bimbi who he envied because of his ability to use words and his knowledge. Malcolm X's envy of Bimbi drove and inspired him to seek and ultimately further his own education in a sense in deciding to read and copy out of the dictionary. Malcolm X gained a hunger for the knowledge he was obtaining as exemplified in the following quotation: " I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying... in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading in my bunk... In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life." (Malcolm X 135). Malcolm X used his time as way to learn everything he possibly could so that he wouldn’t have to be envious of the knowledge someone else possessed. In Maya Angelou's "Graduation", Angelou also showed her discouragement by the words of Edward Donleavy at her graduation who told the congregation of how many more opportunities whites had over blacks. Angelou's graduation was an occasion that had so many excited because they had worked so hard to accomplish the feat of gaining an education and they were also excited for what their future had in store for them; however, many of them including Angelou felt in the moment that those hopes and…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The essays by Malcolm X, Sherman Alexie and Anne Lamott are prime examples of the idea of multiple sponsors of literacy. According to Malcolm X, he tries to inspire people if he can teach himself with an eighth grade education than others can too. Malcolm X was highly influenced by the minister Elijah Muhammad and he impacted his life because Elijah Muhammad was the main reason he wanted to learn how to write and read and also, the prison and the books he was able to read in the prison. He found the desire of his life and believed that nobody else got more out of going to prison than him. He himself motivated to further his reading and become literate. This proved that if people have a desire and have the ability do anything than prison can be the best source of education that people can receive even better than a college education. Therefore, Elijah Muhammad and his own motivation are a sponsor of literacy for Malcolm X. On the other hand, Sherman Alexie had multiple sponsors of literacy. A main influence on Alexie was his father because his father had such a passion for reading and for books that it greatly affected Alexie's love for reading at such a young age. Anne Lamott was her own influence; her way of encouragement was to keep practicing every day. She also encouraged and inspired her audience saying, “almost every writing starts with terrible first drafts, but you…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Malcolm x uses lots of rhetorical devices in this speech to get the audience on his side. Throughout the speech he uses lots of repetition to emphasize its significance like how he uses the word Africa many times throughout the speech…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    He unites the African American community as a whole and eliminates the necessity for division and argument by addressing that “whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Nationalist” all African Americans had the same problem. Malcolm quotes in his speech that “they don’t hang you because you’re a Baptist, they hang you because you’re black”. Through this he exposes the “white man’s strategy” of divide and conquer and counterattacks it by highlighting the most important reason they were there in the first place, which was freedom of oppression. Malcolm instructs his people that before they can move forward they must first come together. Whether it is politically or physically, African Americans must unite against their…

    • 1809 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When people hear the name Malcolm X, the first thing that comes to their mind is “extremist.” But in fact, he was a teacher. Malcolm X taught Blacks to think for themselves and not allow others to think for them. He did not want Blacks believing everything that the “blonde hair, blue eyed devil” said. He educated them that everything that the newspaper said, was not real, as they should not be convinced that it was. He strongly emphasized his point in saying, “And as soon as they put the word American in there, that was supposed to lend it some respectability or legality.” Throughout his life experiences and constant reading and studying, he teaches the Black community to guard their minds against the tricks of the press. This analysis will explore Malcolm X, his purpose of speaking to the crowd, and his…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Learning to Read, Malcolm X, one of the most articulate and powerful leaders of black America during the 1960s, describes his struggle of self-education while being incarcerated. Malcolm X composed his journey of self-in order to convey the message that the reader should strive to look for more than what is taught to them by the public school system, to, in a way, look outside the box.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Only when he decides to pursue an interest in texts on black history and slavery does he begin to piece the puzzle together, comprehending the necessity of similar literacy among black people, as well as the other minorities of the world. He uncovers the truth; and not just “slavery’s total horror,” but also how the “world’s collective white man had acted like a devil in virtually every contact he had with the world’s collective non-white man” throughout history (5). Due to the wicked procedures of the race, Malcolm X deduces the white man to be “nothing but a piratical opportunist who used Faustian machinations to make his own Christianity his initial wedge in criminal conquests” (4). Embracing the harsh reality with which he “attacked [his] ignorance,” Malcolm X stands behind the idea that the black man needs to “start thinking of himself as one of the world’s great peoples” (6). Unlike Douglass, who saw knowledge as a way for the black man to become equal to the white man, Malcolm X takes an interest in black separatism, a philosophy that will ultimately divide the white and black institutions.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unlike most books, The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses a problem in the first chapter. This problem of racial segregation was a reoccurring theme before Malcolm Little was even born. The author sets up an issue when Malcolm X was in his mother’s womb to set the tone of the book. Malcolm X developed as a character from significant incidents in his life that changed him into the man that would be historically idolized. The book uses three central ideas, systemic oppression, racial identity, and separation vs. integration to graphically reveal the prevailing schism in American race relations.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Prior to watching the biographical film “Malcolm X,” my understanding of Malcolm X was very little and my being taught of him even less. I grew up in a very small town in East Texas, a very rural area that was not surprisingly dominantly white. In school, I was taught very little about the Civil Rights movement and all the teachings was focused on Martin Luther King Jr. Sadly, I had no previous idea or understanding of Malcolm X to even compare to the film. I understood the film to present Malcolm X to be an American hero. One of the scenes that I felt portrayed Malcolm X as an American hero, was after the scandals of the Nation of Islam that resulted in Malcolm’s leaving of the organization, talking with his wife Betty he said, “We had the best organization a black man’s ever had.” While it is easy for one to argue this with all the faults within the Nation of Islam, starting with it being a cult, one must give credit where credit is due. Malcolm X deserves full credit for the growth of the Nation of Islam, and putting aside all the flaws, one can’t deny that Malcolm’s teaching brought black societies together in a way that they never had been before. Arguably one could even claim that Malcolm taught black individuals more about their self-worth than any other Civil Rights Movement…

    • 1579 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Douglass’ description of his mistress rushing at him, angry because she catches him reading a newspaper, affirms this. On the other hand, Malcolm was conscious of his verbal abilities, observing that he considered himself to be the most articulate hustler in the streets; but the realization that he lacked the skills necessary to communicate his ideas as convincingly as he knew he was capable of overwhelmed him. Able to recognize that speech is a critical component in how people perceive and relate to one another he declares, “Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade”. (Malcolm X)…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays