“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.’ (Paragraph 12)
“ 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. “(Paragraph 13)
“ 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 fours hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.’(Paragraph14)
These three paragraphs are significant, meaningful, important because they show what Malcolm X had done to learn how to read and write. In paragraph 12 it states that Malcolm had progressed to reading every night at ten P.M. He also stated that he would be outraged with “lights out” as it would always catch him in the middle of something interesting. This shows his struggle with the time of the prison and how it affected his reading. In paragraph 13 and 14 it states how he overcame his obstacle of ‘lights out’. It was stated that Malcolm would find a glow that would cast into his room which allowed him to continue to read after lights out. He found out the timing on when the guards would pace past every room, he would pretend to be asleep as a guard passed by him. This portion of the text is important because it shows some of the obstacles he encounters and how he overcomes them in order to continue learn.
Good response and explanation of the quote — good work Dylan!
I like that you went out of your way to add keywords to your notes no one else so far has done that and I used the same method in my work as well.
I agree that Malcolm X learning how to read against any obstacles and challenges. Many people may encounter challenges and are defeated where he took every opportunity that he could to read no gain knowledge. He need that escape to a need world within literature. It showed that he wanted to be rehabilitated to the prison by how many books he would take out to read. He took all the barriers to make himself become and asset to society in the eyes of the prison. Reading is valued and he recognized the importance having the skill.
Nice quote choice, but I often feel tired when I study at night, the fact that he studies 15 hours a day shocks me, is great to saw his effort pays.