- Read Malcolm X, “Learning to Read”, an excerpt from his autobiography. You can find the reading under the “Texts” tab at the top of our blog. In a short blog post (150-200 words), share your reactions and observations about the text. What details from the text made a strong impression on you? What do you make of the author’s description of what he calls “a homemade education”? Could you identify with any elements of this narrative? Please share your response before our class on Wed. Aug. 30th. Bring the hard copy of the text with you to class.
- Create an introductory post on our class blog. In approximately 300-400 words, describe yourself. It’s up to you to decide what you’d like to share; please also let us know what name you’d like us to use to address you in the classroom and on the blog and what pronouns you’d prefer. Include an image that represents or captures you in some way, and explain why you chose it. This could be a photograph of you, or it could be an image of something else that speak to you and reflects some aspect of your identity. Please post your introduction by Friday, Sept. 1st.
- Using the information I provided on the syllabus, please purchase the electronic textbook we will be using this semester, Join the Conversation. Once you have access to the book, please look through the table of contents, introduction, and any other part of the book that captures your interest. In a comment on this post, please share one observation about Join the Conversation. This could be a general observation about the text, or a specific article that caught your eye. Please do this by Monday, Sept. 4th.
- Replace your “Bearcat” icon with a picture of yourself in your blogs@baruch account.
25 thoughts on “Assignments – Week #1”
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Malcolm X’s determination to educate himself in prison really stands out. Imagine him copying a whole dictionary by hand and reading it cover to cover; it’s unfathomable. He made prison a library/classroom, which isn’t common, that’s for sure.
I get his struggle with writing because I’ve faced it as a first-year college student now, too. It’s reassuring that even someone like Malcolm X had similar challenges. His story says that sticking with passion and finding an outlet to succeed is critical in any education journey. He found a way when there was no way.
The idea of a “homemade education” is cool. It shows you don’t need a fancy school to learn. Malcolm X’s unique learning is a great example of how education can be personal and memorable.
Simply put, Malcolm X’s story says education can transform you, and determination is what keeps you going. It encourages me to keep learning, no matter how tough it gets. His devotion to books is inspiring, especially in his conditions! He emphasizes this growth process and its part of what made him such an influential figure.
I like your reminder that Malcolm X made his education “personal.” I wonder what that would look like at a place like Baruch?
Prior to this reading, I thought that X was taught English and literature in a more formal setting. Not only did X learn to read and write English in prison, he was self taught. His determination to learn and advance himself in literature with little to no experience prior is the most interesting to me purely because learning a new language is a complicated process to do alone. The idea of a “homemade education” highlights the pureness of teaching yourself and learning alone, when learning or throwing yourself into something new, the satisfaction you receive from knowing that growth is present is the most rewarding. “Homemade education” allows a person to learn at their own pace and feel that satisfaction in due time. X’s determination to learn is what sets him a part from other figures in history, he carried this determination into other things like the Civil Rights Movement.
Right. He’s not learning English for the first time, since he has spent his whole life in America, but he is learning how to read and write in a more formal English than he is used to.
After reading the “Learning To Read” excerpt from Malcom x I was left with a greater appreciation and understanding of Malcolm X. When hearing that he was self taught I was in awe. One of the United States greatest minds was self taught. Not only was he self taught he was teaching himself while in prison. This left me with a thought of if you want something you can do it wherever or whoever you are as long as you put in the work.
The way Malcolm X gave himself a homemade education was so fascinating to me. Not only did he learn by reading but he also copied the whole dictionary. He built this education in his home, not a real home but inside his prison cell showing Malcolm X’s resilience. He did not let his struggles define him and made himself a better person.
One thing I was able to connect myself too was Malcolm X’s religious growth. Just like Malcolm I grew in my faith by reading and learning more about our own religions, Not by force but by our personal interests.
The excerpt “Learning to Read”, has widened my view on education and how one can gain knowledge. In the conditions Malcolm was in, he still educated himself through his own technique of learning with no help. He shows others how using the surrounding resources is just as good as going to an Ivy League college. As an African American I see how every door is an opportunity to do better. The limits they try to put upon the community of African Americans only pushes us to stay away from reaching our goals. With Malcolm X’s story, he proves that race, social status, and gender doesn’t stop you from achieving better. It is the individuals’ actions that will affect long-term goals. Malcolm references the phrase “homemade education” in both the beginning and end of the excerpt putting emphasis on the idea of completing a goal from scratch. He created this for himself by using what was accessible to him. The development of this style of learning has moved his desire for learning how to read and write to advocating for the black community. His hard work and dedication have brought his attention to the bigger picture- Black vs. white. It impresses me that opening up a dictionary and writing it word for word can lead to becoming a civil rights advocate and defending your community.
I’m glad you are reminding us that structural racism accounts for some of why Malcolm X ends up educating himself rather than having been educated in school!
I found X’s expression of self to be admirable, as well as his decision to hold himself accountable when it comes to his education. His ability to trust himself stands out to me as his courage proved to be valuable to him. He clearly had no problem copying from a dictionary if he needed to. He also made sure to have an in depth learning experience with Mr. Muhammad, which emphasizes his devotion. The term “homemade education” is ironic to me as I personally wouldn’t feel hospitality in a jail cell. But I do respect him for making good out of a bad situation.
I see your point about “homemade”. But maybe “homemade” also means from scratch – starting with the most basic ingredients?
The excerpt “preparing to read” from the autobiography of Malcom x really changes perspective on the process of learning. Malcolm x stands out because he didn’t grow up with a traditional learning curriculum. For Malcolm, learned through letters and it gave him “a kind of education”. he always expressed how he felt on his concerns but never knew how to do the same on a piece of paper. he didn’t have a lot of education in school but rather in prisons. he looked up to people like Bimbi who had always had authority and took charge. however, he barely reads books unless he had motivation and skipped challenging words that were hard to read. to face this problem, he began his Homemade Education by writing words from the dictionary and made it a habit. he did this to improve his vocabulary and writing given the fact that he couldn’t write in a straight line. he found passion in his writing later on. with effort and using his resources for writing skills, it made him more better at knowing and remembering words. when he left prison, he never wanted to stop learning and reading. in fact, the prison that he was in was his way of being an encyclopedia because of the way he devoured literature. given the nuance of racial discrimination and many problems faced due to the color of his skin, he hid his ability to read from the guards in prison. he had written and disagreed on the white history that was written in schools and learned the truth about slavery. he also had attention on religion and his beliefs. as he grew into his reading journey, the best thing to take away is that not only did he learn from a different environment, but there is never gonna be an obstacle on getting a good education. also, there are many ways that others can learn and obtain knowledge that is effective and unique in their own way and wakes one up to be a more better, wiser, and educated person than they were before.
Your response reminds us that it was learning to read that exposed Malcolm X to a history that had previously been hidden from him (and certainly not addressed in the school he attended.)
Malcom X had to surpass many obstacles during his early life, one of them including being imprisoned for about six years. However, being imprisoned allowed him to discover a world of knowledge through teaching himself skills he would’ve never thought he had if it wasn’t for this instance. I believe that he was a very driven person, Malcom X before beginning his journey of penmanship and literature had only spoken in slang which he said to himself “I wasn’t even functional”. His strive to continue to expand his vocabulary started off by copying each word and definition from the dictionary, Malcolm X made use of the resources in the prison and then soon on transitioned to the habit of reading books. He calls it a homemade education since he had no teacher assistant when gaining all of his knowledge, Malcolm X was able to make the decision himself of what he wanted to learn about, which he was persistent on learning and reading about slavery and exploitation. Reading became Malcolm’s scapegoat from being imprisoned, it was an eye-opening experience for him reading about specific topics which he pursued in the future to become an infamous human rights activist.
It’s interesting to think about how constraint (in this case, imprisonment) leads to greater creativity and freedom for Malcolm X. This makes me wonder about what happened for many people during lockdown – did we gain some freedom while at home?
After reading “Learning to Read”, we learn that Malcolm X’s incarceration was a life changing moment which allowed him to find his true purpose through education. A strong impression that has been brought upon me was Malcom X acknowledgement in what he is struggling in and what he can do to change that. The author’s description of a “homemade education” is that Malcolm wasn’t sure of what to learn so he began by copying the dictionary which showed discipline and self motivation. The way Malcolm X educated himself is truly innovative , not anyone can open a dictionary and receive value out of it. This “Homemade Education” allowed Malcom X to have a general knowledge of the world around him. His self motivation and desire to learn pushed him to find a deeper education within books which allowed him to think freely. This eventually led him to learning about history and the exploitation of races especially of the black community.
How can we connect his copying from the dictionary with his becoming a civil rights leader? How does he get from one point to the other?
In the introduction of “Join the conversation” it talks about writing is a process. I completely agree, its more about being creative and thinking about what you’re writing and how the viewer can observe and read what you write and make their own assumptions about the piece.
In the book “Join The Conversation” an article called “all alone in no mans sky” by Simon Parkin caught my attention because I knew from the start it was about a video game that I knew called “No man’s sky”. The article itself was really nice to read. It brought a whole new perspective to the game and fished a deeper meaning behind it. I love the way the article concluded because the point of the game is to explore and the article ended with the idea that we are drawn to always finding something better and that we can never be satisfied which is why we explore.
After looking through the text book; “Join The Conversation,” what first seemed to catch my eye was the statement mentioned in the Letter from Writing Program Director. She stated how no matter what career you choose to pursue in “you’ll be writing for the rest of your life, both in professional and personal contexts.” I fully agree with this, and I feel that writing is a skill many seem to overlook and consider nonessential to master. When in reality, you use writing skills where you choose to go. With business majors, you need to write up professional sounding emails to your fellow coworkers or supervisors. Or even in your personal life, you may want to write a heartfelt message in a birthday card for a loved one. Writing is truly an important skill that everyone could benefit from improving in.
When reading the letter from the writing program director I saw her answer a question of mine that I’ve been thinking ever since I have been pre enrolled in this course. If I don’t want to be a writer in my career why am I here? Dr Lisa Blankenship answered me, Although I don’t want to become a professional writer I will be writing for the rest of my life, no matter what. I thought this was a great way to start this textbook and I am very excited to learn more.
In the text book “Join The Conversation” something that caught my eye was section 2. I noticed that it has a sort of non-formal tone for a text book. A text book to me should be straight to the point as well as informational. But, from what I saw this text book included a comic book strip for the reader to transition to discovering your writing style. This comic strip seemed to ease the reader into the next topic while making it less boring which some text books tend to do. The sub-section “Suffer less: On Writing as a Process” is intriguing since it allows the reader to relate to the text since it brings up topics that most people do everyday. The text does a great job in my opinion to be informational as well as being intriguing which is difficult to do at the same time.
I really liked reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan because her story of her mother’s English is similar to my mom’s English even though they come from different places. I am looking forward to reading more of what the textbook has to offer.
For our textbook, “Join the Conversation”, I noticed that it is exclusively for Baruch College. All the contents inside are excerpts from various texts. This textbook provides information to help improve our writing skills.
As I read through the table of contents of the textbook, “Join the Conversation”, I see many different kinds of texts we are going to be reading. The names of these different readings is what stands out to me the most. Especially the reading, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr. It seems to be a very interesting reading. Another element of this textbook that I found helpful is the “Writing at Baruch” section because I feel like is very resourceful when it comes to the ins and outs of this particular English course and our goals for the end of the semester. When looking at textbooks in the past none of them never had a section that lists helpful tips and instructions on what to do.
Before reading the excerpt “Learning to Read”, I didn’t know much about Malcom X, and finding out that he figured out a way to use his time in prison to learned how to read and write truly amazed me. Instead of viewing his imprisonment as a burden, he saw it as an opportunity. He practiced his writing and expanded his vocabulary by copying every word of a dictionary. It was his form of a “homemade education”. I also found it interesting that, through reading, he learned about the awful history of slavery. Even after he got out of prison, there wasn’t a day that went by without him reading.
One thing I noticed about the textbook “Join the Conversation”, is that there is a section that helps you understand how to analyze a text.