Malcolm X
Learning to Read, by Malcolm X Seminar Questions
OPENING QUESTIONS
1. “The teaching of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been ‘whitened’—when white men had written history books”(P.213). From this sentence, I found the word “whitened” very interesting. It was rare to describe the history being “whitened”. Then Malcolm had explained, what he meant by “whitened” history. It was how the white races actually dominant and created history, since they were the people who wrote history, so history was written in the white’s point of views.
2. After reading the passage, I think the words rehabilitation (P. 212), articulate (P.210), whitened (P. 213), degrade (P. 215) and narcotize (P.216) are important to the passage. These vocabularies have made the tone critical. Malcolm used “degrade”, “whitened” and “narcotize” when writing about the white races. These words were with negative meanings. In the other hand, I think the word “articulate” is quite important since Malcolm had mentioned it for few times in the beginning. The intention of reading to him was to become articulate, this is the ultimate aim of Malcolm, that’s why I think it is important.
3. Comparing the vocabularies of “Idiot Nation” and “Learning to Read”, I came out with the result that, Moores had used relatively critical words and vigorous words to write the passage. The way he narrated was rather extreme, he used words such as ”idiots” and “stupidity” to insult the educational system in U.S.A. His tone was rather extreme and furious. He had even bolded some of the words in order to exaggerate his tone. In the other hand, Malcolm had used his own experience as the root of writing. The passage is to me more persuasive, since he had his own perspective and angles. Although the way Moores wrote could create a more remarkable impression, “Learning to Read” is more appealing to me since it doesn’t seem to strong and extreme.
CORE QUESTIONS
4. Malcolm’s self-education in the
OPENING QUESTIONS
1. “The teaching of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been ‘whitened’—when white men had written history books”(P.213). From this sentence, I found the word “whitened” very interesting. It was rare to describe the history being “whitened”. Then Malcolm had explained, what he meant by “whitened” history. It was how the white races actually dominant and created history, since they were the people who wrote history, so history was written in the white’s point of views.
2. After reading the passage, I think the words rehabilitation (P. 212), articulate (P.210), whitened (P. 213), degrade (P. 215) and narcotize (P.216) are important to the passage. These vocabularies have made the tone critical. Malcolm used “degrade”, “whitened” and “narcotize” when writing about the white races. These words were with negative meanings. In the other hand, I think the word “articulate” is quite important since Malcolm had mentioned it for few times in the beginning. The intention of reading to him was to become articulate, this is the ultimate aim of Malcolm, that’s why I think it is important.
3. Comparing the vocabularies of “Idiot Nation” and “Learning to Read”, I came out with the result that, Moores had used relatively critical words and vigorous words to write the passage. The way he narrated was rather extreme, he used words such as ”idiots” and “stupidity” to insult the educational system in U.S.A. His tone was rather extreme and furious. He had even bolded some of the words in order to exaggerate his tone. In the other hand, Malcolm had used his own experience as the root of writing. The passage is to me more persuasive, since he had his own perspective and angles. Although the way Moores wrote could create a more remarkable impression, “Learning to Read” is more appealing to me since it doesn’t seem to strong and extreme.
CORE QUESTIONS
4. Malcolm’s self-education in the