Quote 1: “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”
-Malcolm X
Response: Because Malcom X didn’t know a lot of words, his vocabulary wasn’t big enough to understand literature, feeling sad and pity of not understanding what he read, Malcolm X was motivated to start learning new words, read books and write in a grammar way.
Quote 2: “Between Mr. Muhammad’s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors,… and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.”
-Malcolm X
Response: By learning new words, Malcolm was finally able to read a book without any struggle. For Malcolm, books were sort of escape from a real world(since he was at prison and there was nothing else to do), books helped him to productively spend time, not only expand his lexicon, but also horizons.
Quote 3: “Book after book showed me how the white man had brought upon the world’s black, brown, red, and yellow peoples every variety of the suffering of exploitation.”
-Malcolm X
Response: Reading dozens of books, Malcolm learned the truth. The injustice people of color were facing. Books, articles, encyclopedias changed his perspectives. Books written by POC, teachings by Mr.Muhammad, helped him to find out what was really happening, how the white washed history was written.
You’ve chosen some good quotes & paid close attention to what is being said. I’m curious if these quotes had any affect on you and how you view education or the importance of reading and expanding one’s vocabulary.