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Blog #3

Posted by John Fernandez on

Malcolm X described how and what he felt during prison. He describes his sudden love for reading and it made him felt freer than he’s ever felt even though he was in prison. This narrative shows the idea that there is a relationship between literature and freedom. Based on what this narrative shows, I agree with this idea that there is a relationship between literature and freedom. I feel that this is one of those things where a person can find happiness in despair. Solitude in hardships. It’s a situation where you can find something good during a bad time. I believe that this is what Malcolm went through and that is why he became infatuated with reading at a time like that. However, I do agree with this notion. It is very possible to find things of meaning in dark times.

Literature and freedom are two different things. However, they are similar in the impact they have. Literature is one of the most important aspects of life. It can create wonderful stories as well as empower them. It can create the idea of empowerment and also put the idea and into words and action. Literature is a form of art that can be used to create and mold visions of anything. Freedom is similar to this. The idea of freedom can be used and interpreted in many ways. Freedom is something that people of color wanted and still want to this day. Freedom can be the right to be yourself and not care what people think. These ideas with freedom I think very well correspond with the ideas of literature.

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Blog #2

Posted by John Fernandez on

Language played a huge role in Amy Tan’s life. It played a big role because since her family is immigrants, it shaped her as a person. Language shaped Amy’s perception of herself. Due to the fact that her mother spoke broken English, she thought that because she was raised by someone with imperfect English, it lowered her English grades and also how she did on English test. ” I think my mother’s English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well… While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit.” This shows that she thinks her struggles in English compared to math has somewhat to do with the fact she was raised by an immigrant mother who spoke a broken English. She became aware of her language biases because when she would speak publically to other students and adults, she would speak normal, proper English. However, when her mother was mixed into the group of people she realized the difference in the way she talked. ” Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use. I was giving a talk to a large group of people, the same talk I had already given to half a dozen other groups… My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech.”

People who’s second language is English or are raised in non-english households are constantly aware of the way language is used around them. English is my first language. However, I was raised in a spansh household. I am always changing the way in speak. In public, with other people, I speak normal English. But at home speak both spanish and broken English because my mom speaks both. Sometimes we just switch back and forth without realizing and that’s how it is for most non-english households.

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Blog #3

Posted by Gabriela Harrington on

Malcolm X only attended school up to the 8th grade which stunted his ability to expand his skills in reading and writing. When X first went to prison, he came across another inmate who had an extensive amount of knowledge under his belt; up until this point, X did not have much desire to expand his intellectual capabilities, he was however inspired by this inmate to start reading.  When he did start reading, he found himself skipping over a vast majority of words because he was unfamiliar with their meaning; because of this, everything he was reading gave him more of a vague concept of what was written rather than the actual message. Eventually, he got his hands on a dictionary and began using it to his advantage. He would go through each page and copy every word and its definition, he says that it was the most writing he had ever done in his life. He continued to study the dictionary and eventually, he found himself knowing more and more vocabulary that in change allowed him to read and write more freely. In Malcolm X’s case, his newfound ability to read and write gave him a new purpose and joy in his life that he hadn’t been able to find before. He found a strong positive correlation between his literary skills and mental freedom; X said “I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying.” This ability to read and comprehend without the need for assistance is a huge privilege that many who have this ability without needing to work at it take for granted. This can also be seen amongst immigrants who do not speak the local language where they live, it can be incredibly scary to not be able to read something and pick out necessary information; once this skill is acquired, it opens up the world to so many possibilities.

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Blog #3 Malcolm X Found his Liberty

Posted by Andrew Polanco on

Prison is a heavily guarded place, created to imprison criminals who broke the law. Prison is supposed to limit freedom — regularly scheduled outside visits, no smartphone devices or computers, limited variety of food, and you’re potentially trapped with another inmate. This however, did not matter at all to Malcolm X. In fact, Malcolm never felt more “…so truly free in his life.” In prison, Malcolm X would spend his time reading books and thus claimed he felt he was free. He found amusement with every new word he spent time understanding. Additionally, he would read the dictionary for “…fifteen hours a day.” Malcolm found comfort in reading the dictionary for so long in a place designed to be a human’s greatest fear. Although he doesn’t get accessed to the outside world and is stuck in solitude, staring at walls, he couldn’t be happier being confined in a space where he can still read. This says a lot about literature and freedom. Literature brings freedom to people because even though you can be stuck in prison staring at four walls with your freedom and rights limited, books can open up your imagination. It is like you’re in a whole new world. Not only does your language, creativity, and writing skills improve immensely, but you suddenly crave to “…mentally be alive” because you’re studying literature. Malcolm did certainly not regret going to jail and his curiosity soon blossomed into being able to seriously read. In jail, he read an entire book and wrote approximately one million words.

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Blog#2

Posted by Yesmely Medina on

The role language played in Amy Tan’s life is fascinating to her. It makes her feel in control when she is speaking or writing it also gives her the ability to connect with others through the choice of words she uses. She stated how ‘’ I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language- the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth,’’ meaning it’s something she thinks threw carefully. Language shaped her own perception of herself because it’s something she never gave up on its something she dedicated time to, to break the social norm that Asian Americans were more likely to be good in math and science rather than English. Making her feel as if she’s good enough like any well-educated American to master the ability to co switch perfectly and educating. She became aware of her own language biases when experiencing an event where her mother was present to witness her. She explained how ‘’ the talk was going along well enough until I  remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech using the kind of English I have never used with her’’ making her realize that the way she communicates with her mother is different from the way she communicates with others because if she uses the same English she uses with her mother with others they would instantly detect it as broken or unprofessional English and many wouldn’t be able to understand her the way her mother will. I do think that people who learn English as a second language are constantly aware of the language used around them from experiences I’m constantly aware that the way I speak to my parent is way different from the way I talk in school and if I write and speak the way I talk to my parents in school teachers would then consider me as below grade level or an unprofessional student.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

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Blog#3

Posted by Yesmely Medina on

What the narrative suggests about the relationship between literature and freedom is that even though Malcolm X was in prison, a place that challenges people on an emotional and mental level. As well as making them feel weak-minded and powerless within themself, it gave Malcolm X the opportunity to experience something within himself out of his ordinary which was the power of knowledge. The power to learn more about what the world of white privileged people might have hidden from him as an African American and giving him the right and knowledge to defend himself. In addition, Malcolm felt that he had Freedom when it came to literature due to the fact that it was a skill he taught himself, in Malcolm’s perspective the word Freedom meant something that you do for yourself. With that being said this was something he learned without needing the help nor begging a White Man to teach him. Furthermore, Literature was a way for him to express his feelings and opinions towards what was going on in the world, without him being judged about how he felt.

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Blog #3

Posted by Carlos Suero on

When someone goes prison must of the time they decided to fit in and meet people so that they stay safe they might also just try to work out so they give the impression that they are strong and that they shouldn’t be a mess with. Malcon x however didn’t see it like that instead of acting like must people he decided to start and read books and decided to improve his writing. For him learning to read and write became such an important thing from him and e had fun learning something new, he never gave up on his goal to further his education even if it was a little bit. When he stated that he never felt so truly free is because after getting all of this amazing information and knowledge you start to see the world a little different. He is capable of controlling his own destiny and is able to chape his ideal to the point where anyone that hears him will believe that he does not like everyone else he has an amazing education. He stated it himself when he said that most people won’t believe that he has continued after his 8th grade because no one will believe that he put so much determination to learn how to read and write so he will be able to make a change.

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Blog #3

Posted by Mary Tenesaca on

A room surrounded by four walls with bars running vertically down. There is nowhere to go or hide, and an escape route seems impossible. With no privacy or the ability to be unseen, you are enclosed. Waiting for time to liberate you from this torture. I think that is how people envision imprisonment. But, Malcolm X, a well-known leader for black nationalism, had fully embraced and took a different approach when it comes to being imprisoned. Malcolm X used this secluded space from the outside world as a way to improve himself. He began to teach himself how to read, and with this skill came something powerful; freedom.

For Malcolm X, reading and writing wasn’t just a skill you learned from school and use without importance. He was self-taught while in prison and only had a dictionary, tablets, pencils, and I believe motivation as well. In the beginning, he “spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages… I began copying. In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks. I believe it took me a day.” From there he soon completed the entire dictionary and was finally able to understand the words on a book. A whole new world opened when he could read his first book. But he also says that “In, fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.”

Literature was so vital for Malcolm X that it gave him a purpose and a sense of freedom to keep surviving. Physically he was trapped in his cell. But he had a deep-rooted connection with books, which erased that fact. He elaborates on this when he says, “Let me tell you something: from then until I left prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge…months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned.” Hence, through literature, Malcolm X got freedom he never felt before because through those books he was able to escape past those 4 walls of his cell. His prison sentence became meaningless; in the sense that, as he spent all his time in books, his time in prison would go by. This self-discovery leads him to realize that he didn’t have to be outside to feel free; his mind could go anywhere he pleased from reading a book. Literature and freedom may seem to not correlate, but once you lose yourself in the pages, you’ll find yourself being set free to a world that vanishes your reality.

 

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Blog #3

Posted by Keiry Ramirez on

Malcom X felt he was free even though he was in prison because knowledge is power and he use it properly. Malcom x didn’t let nothing stop him, he needed to express himself and went for it. By learning to read and write Malcom X was able to reach a bigger population. He washable to write articles about his beliefs and speak in large groups about his ideologies. Freedom and Literature are more related than what people think. Literature is where people feel free to express themselves. There is freedom of speech which means people have the freedom to say whatever they want. So literature its a way to express someones freedom of speech. Literature also maintained freedom between writers and readers. Malcom was proud to obtain knowledge in prison because that’s where he learn that it was time to take a stand. “It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk prison colony school” He continued practicing until he perfected his writing and pronunciations. The dictionary was the power tool that got him to understand everything. “I was so fascinated that I went on” this sentence proves he was enthusiastic about learning. In prison there’s  a lot of down time and Malcom was productive by learning how to read and write in prison.  It was clear that Malcom was a determined and a hard working person by the technique he used to learn how to read and write.

The way literature connects people such as writers and readers or readers and readers is through freedom. Malcom comments on how images who read where debaters and considered celebrities. ” An inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books.” Which is why he preferred to read in his room isolated from the others.  I believe that prison was life changing for Malcom. This quote verifies my statement, ” I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life.” Not only that but prison gave him the time and resources he didn’t have available. For Malcom kit was more about how he got there than what he got out of it. He learned how to make the best out of a situation.

 

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Blog #3

Posted by Miguel Estrella on

What the narrative suggests about the relationship between literature and freedom is that through literature you are able to gain a sense of freedom no matter where you are. Before going to prison Malcolm X did not know how to read or write. He envied people who knew how to read because that was something he could not do himself. In his autobiography, Malcolm X states that “…Bimbi first made [him] envy of his stock of knowledge”. In prison was when Malcolm X was able to learn how to read and write. He spent almost all his free time reading books and would not sleep much because he was so invested in reading. In his autobiography X states ” I would read for another fifty-eight minutes… three or four hours of sleep a night was enough”. Because of reading Malcolm X was able to acquire new knowledge about the world that he had not known before. He was able to become more aware of the issues in America affecting the black race during that time period. Through reading, Malcolm X was also able to discover a new world of literature. In the reading, he says ” No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand”. The irony behind Malcolm X’s ability to feel free because of literature while being in prison is that before being in prison Malcolm X had never set it upon himself to learn and this homemade education sort of gave him a new meaning of life.

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