Argumentative Essay

Rasheed Walker
3/3/15
English III
Argumentative Essay Malcolm X expressed the pent up anger, frustration, and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the civil rights movement. According to Learning to Read, “I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I’d written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.” (Paragraph 8) This means that he basically read his own handwriting. In Malcolm X’s, Learning to Read, he enhanced his life with reading and comprehension by having to experience his black community being treated wrong and having to go to jail.
According to Learning to Read, “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. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.” (Paragraph 3)
This means that he’s known for his famous speech. Either on television or someone who read something that he said. Malcolm X was imprisoned for a long time, and was studying while there. The qualities that he possessed while in prison were phenomenal and not worthy to the white people. But, he didn’t become intelligent in jail for them; he did it for his fellow black community.
According to Learning to Read, “It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge.” (Paragraph 4) This really means that he really didn’t start to read and comprehend until he met Bimbi. However,
Bimbi was the first person he met in prison that didn’t use slang language. It was a surprise to
Malcolm, because he didn’t know there would ever be anyone learning to read and comprehend like him in jail. On the other hand, how did learning to read aid him to understand the struggle of African Americans in this country? From my understanding, I believe that it aided him by it freeing him physically in his mind. And, it aided him by leading black people in the civil rights movement.
According to Learning to Read, “In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.”
(Paragraph 7) This means that he basically was practicing his handwriting while, at the same time, reading the words and comprehending them. Also, how did it enable him to impress people of colors? In my opinion, I believe it enabled him by expanding his knowledge about blacks with the plight they were experiencing.
To conclude, the central idea of the text was that reading and comprehension helped him understand the racism in the black community. Malcolm X was basically strong and opinionated. Also, he is ambitious and anxious to get the freedom for his people and for himself.
The reason being was because to awaken black people or in other words, spark them.