Course materials

1. 1. Please set up your assignment in MLA Style (See Sample Assignment
below). 2.
1. Please set up your assignment in MLA Style (See Sample Assignment below).2. In your
first paragraph, please discuss what initially motivated Malcolm X to learn to read and
write. How does he go about improving his vocabulary and penmanship? What are some
examples of Malcolm X’s many interests? How would you interpret Malcolm X’s claim that,
although he was in prison, “I had never been so truly free in my life” (X 195)?3. In your
second paragraph, incorporate into your discussion of “Learning to Read” one specific
quotation from the chapter that struck you as interesting or surprising. Why did you select
this quotation in particular? How do you interpret the quotation? What, in your opinion, is
the message of the quotation? (You may also provide some context for this quotation in
your discussion.)4. In your third paragraph, connect personally with Malcolm X’s
experiences with school and the education system. Malcolm X credits his education with his
studies in the Norfolk Prison Colony and especially the prison’s library. What have your
experiences with education been? Who helped you and what motivated you to overcome
your own educational obstacles?5. In your conclusion paragraph, return to Malcolm X’s
chapter “Learning to Read” and discuss how his journey through his own self-education is
inspiring and, indeed life-changing. What does Malcolm X learn about history? Consider a
few things you would like to learn or get better at. How could you, like Malcolm X, become
better at this activity?6. Because you will be incorporating quotations from the narrative,
please also include the full bibliographic citation in MLA style at the end of your essay:X,
Malcolm. “Learning to Read.” Identity: A Reader for Writers (Second Edition), editedby John
Scenters-Zapico, Oxford University Press, 2022, p. 143-154.