Reading Response to Malcom X — Jaqueline

Part One:

Part Two:

1st quote:

“I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive…”

This sentence from paragraph 16 in “Prison Studies” by Malcom X , shows that his dedication towards reading had a big impact in his life.  He often reflects on the new perspectives and ideas that reading gave him. When Malcom was in prison, he knew that reading had changed his life forever. The ability to read and understand had created a want, and a need for him to be present and aware of the world around him. This is significant because through reading, he became a better version of himself. He acquired knowledge to further understand things that affected not only himself, but others too.

2nd quote:

“…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.”

According to this excerpt from paragraph 17, Malcom benefited from his time in prison. He got more out of going to prison than anyone else normally would. Prison allowed him to study more than he would have if his life had been different and if he had attended college. He believes colleges cause too much distraction to properly focus on your education. In prison, he was able to intensively study for up to fifteen hours a day. Malcom gained a lot throughout the time he was locked up. He was able to solely focus on his education without there being any distractions. This is important because he used a bad situation, to get something useful and educational out of it.