Virmel Morales, Education Narratives

Although these piece we read where from different author, they also had something in common. Douglass, Malcom x, and Jiang were all education narrative. What these pieces have in common is the category it fall in which is autobiography ( how it significantly affects one’s own growth, transformation, and the eradication of barriers both inside and outside of themselves). 

In “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” by Frederick Douglass, Douglass was describing his quest for literacy as a means to freedom, and his journey towards self-empowerment and self-acknowledgement (meaning how to read and write and bettering his education) especially how he and other fellow African American were restricted from learning and evolving to better education. But this didn’t stop him at all from self teaching. He found different way onto learn without giving up. “ Learning to Read” by Malcolm X was a primary explanation of the author’s efforts while incarcerated to further his education. He talks about how he went from being an uneducated, illiterate criminal to becoming a keen reader. Malcolm X learns about history, culture, and social issues through the books he finds. The transforming influence of education and reading in Malcolm X’s life is highlighted in this article, which also shows how his increased knowledge was essential to his ideological and personal growth.Lastly, In Jiang piece “The Memory of My Grandmother,” by Anita Jiang explores how her grandmother’s wisdom and teachings impacted her own academic career. She received invaluable life lessons and guidance from her grandma that were not often covered in formal education. So overall, her grandma was biggest impact in life because although she lost thing in her life she manage to find closure and guidance to live a better life she can possibly imagine. 

In conclusion, each pieces had emphasizes the trials and hardships that the characters endured while earning their education and self-improvement. For Jiang, it was the cultural and generational constraints; for Malcolm X, it was the limits and resources he had in jail; for Douglass, the problem was that slave owners wouldn’t let their slaves go to school but manage to find a way to study.