Quote 1: Paragraph 7
“I don’t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. 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. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola- boola and all that. Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely, sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.”
This quote is so significant because it shows Malcolm acknowledging that prison changed his life for the better. He accepted that he is in this predicament and decided to make the best of his time. He understood that if he wasn’t in prison he would’ve never picked up a book and studied the way he did in prison. This is the first step in rehabilitation acceptance, Malcolm accepted that he grew up in the streets and understood that this behavior is what got him arrested. Instead of wasting time he decided to educate himself so much he felt free in a place that is meant to take your freedom away.
Quote 2: Paragraph 7
“When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night about ten P.M. I would be outraged with the “lights out.” It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing.
Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when “lights out” came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.
At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approach footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.”
This quote is significant because here Malcolm risks getting into trouble with the guards all because he wanted to keep reading. This behavior shows how serious Malcolm has become about educating himself that he finds fascinating enough to continue to read after hours. Malcolm mentions that 3-4 hours of sleep is enough for him because oftentimes in the streets he slept less than that. This is another significant part in this quote because Malcolm is acknowledging that if he can stay up in the streets and get into trouble he can stay up and further his knowledge.
Be careful to stick closely to the words of the text. You write: Malcolm accepted that he grew up in the streets and understood that this behavior is what got him arrested. [BUT this is not really in the text.]
You overlooked these words of MX in your explanation: … than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola- boola and all that. [These words are important and need to be explained.]
In your printout, I would like to see you jotting down some notes or ideas that come to your mind as you read and looking up new words.
Your second quote: You do a better job of sticking to the writer’s words. Good on this one.