Part A: Annotated page from Malcolm X reading
Part B Reading Response:
“I had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions.”
In this passage, Malcolm X reflects on his early experiences of reading in prison. He mentions a fellow prisoner, Bimbi, who was knowledgeable and always dominated conversations. Malcolm X felt envious of Bimbi’s knowledge and tried to imitate him by reading books. However, he found that many of the books he chose contained words that were unfamiliar to him, which made it difficult to understand the book. When he reached Norfolk penal colony, he was still reading, but hadn’t really learned or understood anything from the books he was reading.
I also believe the quote you chose from his writing was significant. I think it played a huge role with Malcom’s desire to want to learn more.
Good!