Reading Response: Malcolm X
Malcolm X’s literary narrative is eye-opening because it allows the reader to view a literary sponsor as a person’s surrounding as opposed to only thinking of a sponsor as a person that has influenced their writing. Malcolm X had such a thirst for knowledge that he copied down the entire dictionary while in prison. His surrounding, the jail, became a literary sponsor because it gave him all the time he needed to learn all that he wanted to learn. Everything he needed was made available to him, where as if he were not in prison it may have been more difficult to obtain these materials. Whenever he needed a book, he had an entire library. “In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college.” (Malcolm X, 6) There were even classes taught by professors from both Harvard and Boston. It is understandable then when he describes his time there as freeing. “I never had been so truly free in my life.” (Malcolm X, 2)
After reading about all that Malcolm X did in order to educate himself, the time that he took and his determination, has me questioning if I have been taking advantage of all the education opportunities that have been given to me. Malcolm X says that there is never a spare moment in his life when he is not reading a book. After living on the streets for so long, prison was a second chance for Malcolm. He became educated and was therefore able to be a "minister for Mr. Muhammad." (Malcolm X, 3)
Works Cited
X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. "Learning to Read." The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine, 1992. N. pag. Print.
WHY?
I chose to include this entry in my portfolio because it was the most enjoyable of the journal entries that I completed. Malcolm X's story was not a chore for me to read. I enjoyed his take on what a literary sponsor truly was and how it did not even have to be a human, it could be an institution.