Metaphorical and Literal Prison: Frederick Douglass and Malcolm While Malcolm Prison, to understand the concept in a broad sense, is a place where people are unable to exercise their civil right to freedom. For both Malcolm X and Douglass, such limitations on freedom impacted their lives in ways they never imagined. They may also argue that prison has transformed them into better and more influential people than they would have been if they had not experienced such processes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Douglas was born in 1818 and Malcolm X in 1925. Although the two men were born one hundred and seven years apart, they faced similar experiences and beliefs. Before prison, Malcolm X received a seventh-grade education. He could read, but was not literate enough to understand the material put before him. It was only in prison that he learned the meaning of many words and how to write correctly. The dictionary was an invaluable resource for Malcolm X's literate growth. For Douglass, the process of learning to read was a little different. He had been taught the alphabet by his mistress, but once his mistress settled into the "Southern" way of thinking that slaves should not be allowed to read, she stopped his lessons and forbade him to ever read anything again , but what he didn't realize was that it was too late. Douglass already knew the alphabet and was ambitious enough to discover the path to literacy for himself. This ambition of Douglass was also a characteristic carried forward by Malcolm X. Malcolm X spent fifteen hours a day reading and expanding his knowledge while in prison. Douglass couldn't devote much time to reading, but he spent every second he could find reading whatever was available. This included the newspapers, Master Thomas's notebook, the dictionary and the Columbian speaker. Since reading was not permitted to slaves in Douglass's time, Douglass learned to be deceptive to his masters and to negotiate with the poor white boys on the street in order to deceive them. learn to read. Malcolm In order to read until four in the morning, as Malcolm X says, he had to pretend to be asleep every time the guards made hourly checks during the night. Once the guards left, he would crawl out of bed with his book and lie on the floor to continue reading late into the night. In a sense, Douglass' teachers represent the same figure of authority as Malcolm X's guards while he was in prison, and the poor white boys to Douglass represent the same figure of library knowledge to Malcolm their handwriting by copying what they were reading. Malcolm X used many prison-issued tablets as he copied from the dictionary. He says that "eventually section A of the dictionary had filled an entire tablet and I moved on to section B... It went much faster after so much practice helped me pick up writing speed" (Malcolm X 2). While Malcolmdictionary, on writing tablets to improve his handwriting, Douglass had more of a graffiti writing style. Douglass copied from his master Thomas's notebook when his mistress left him to watch the house, but when he was taught to write by the poor white boys, he says, "...my notebook was the board fence, the brick wall and sidewalk; my pen and ink were a piece of chalk” (Douglass 105). The differences between the materials used by Malcolm X and Douglass when learning to write show the differences in the severity of the prisons in which Malcolm in a prison where reading and writing were not only allowed, but encouraged. This allowed him to devote more time to reading and writing. expansion and development of his knowledge. Douglass was not allowed to read and write, so his prison was more severe than that of Malcolm also shows that he had to get around his “guards” (teachers) to learn to read and write. Douglass is like a street sweeper, seeking literacy in any form, while Malcolm X is more like a scholar, studying literacy of all kinds. Malcolm X talks about his experience reading about slavery. He says, “I will never forget how shocked I was when I began to read about the utter horror of slavery” (Malcolm X 4). While Malcolm X read about the horrors of slavery, Douglass had already experienced it. Malcolm As a slave during the abolitionist period, Douglas gained a vague understanding of the meaning of the word "abolition" by listening to the white men speaking around him. By reading newspapers, Douglass learned that there were people in the North who actually wanted to abolish slavery. What is ironic is that Douglass was one of the most important abolitionist leaders of his time, and more than a hundred years later, Malcolm X is reading about the abolitionist, without even realizing how similar he and Douglass are. Douglass shares many similarities, their experiences made him see reading in a completely different way. Malcolm Malcolm X loved his books and the knowledge that came from them because he saw them as a source of freedom. He says: “Between… and my reading books, months went by without me even thinking about being imprisoned. Indeed, until then, I had never been so truly free in my life” (Malcolm X 2). This view is very different from Douglass's. Once Douglass could read, he envied other slaves who couldn't read because they were still naive to the world around them; however, his eyes were open to the world his masters tried to keep him from seeing. Douglass says, “…sometimes I felt that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing…In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 103). He saw how horribly other slaves were treated and heard stories about how there were people in the North who fought to free the slaves. Once exposed to the world around him, there was no turning back. For this, he saw his literacy, for which he had worked so.

Topic > Metaphorical and Literal Prison: Frederick Douglass and Malcolm While Malcolm Prison, to understand the concept in a broad sense, is a place where people are unable to exercise their civil right to freedom. For both Malcolm X and Douglass, such limitations on freedom impacted their lives in ways they never imagined. They may also argue that prison has transformed them into better and more influential people than they would have been if they had not experienced such processes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Douglas was born in 1818 and Malcolm X in 1925. Although the two men were born one hundred and seven years apart, they faced similar experiences and beliefs. Before prison, Malcolm X received a seventh-grade education. He could read, but was not literate enough to understand the material put before him. It was only in prison that he learned the meaning of many words and how to write correctly. The dictionary was an invaluable resource for Malcolm X's literate growth. For Douglass, the process of learning to read was a little different. He had been taught the alphabet by his mistress, but once his mistress settled into the "Southern" way of thinking that slaves should not be allowed to read, she stopped his lessons and forbade him to ever read anything again , but what he didn't realize was that it was too late. Douglass already knew the alphabet and was ambitious enough to discover the path to literacy for himself. This ambition of Douglass was also a characteristic carried forward by Malcolm X. Malcolm X spent fifteen hours a day reading and expanding his knowledge while in prison. Douglass couldn't devote much time to reading, but he spent every second he could find reading whatever was available. This included the newspapers, Master Thomas's notebook, the dictionary and the Columbian speaker. Since reading was not permitted to slaves in Douglass's time, Douglass learned to be deceptive to his masters and to negotiate with the poor white boys on the street in order to deceive them. learn to read. Malcolm In order to read until four in the morning, as Malcolm X says, he had to pretend to be asleep every time the guards made hourly checks during the night. Once the guards left, he would crawl out of bed with his book and lie on the floor to continue reading late into the night. In a sense, Douglass' teachers represent the same figure of authority as Malcolm X's guards while he was in prison, and the poor white boys to Douglass represent the same figure of library knowledge to Malcolm their handwriting by copying what they were reading. Malcolm X used many prison-issued tablets as he copied from the dictionary. He says that "eventually section A of the dictionary had filled an entire tablet and I moved on to section B... It went much faster after so much practice helped me pick up writing speed" (Malcolm X 2). While Malcolmdictionary, on writing tablets to improve his handwriting, Douglass had more of a graffiti writing style. Douglass copied from his master Thomas's notebook when his mistress left him to watch the house, but when he was taught to write by the poor white boys, he says, "...my notebook was the board fence, the brick wall and sidewalk; my pen and ink were a piece of chalk” (Douglass 105). The differences between the materials used by Malcolm X and Douglass when learning to write show the differences in the severity of the prisons in which Malcolm in a prison where reading and writing were not only allowed, but encouraged. This allowed him to devote more time to reading and writing. expansion and development of his knowledge. Douglass was not allowed to read and write, so his prison was more severe than that of Malcolm also shows that he had to get around his “guards” (teachers) to learn to read and write. Douglass is like a street sweeper, seeking literacy in any form, while Malcolm X is more like a scholar, studying literacy of all kinds. Malcolm X talks about his experience reading about slavery. He says, “I will never forget how shocked I was when I began to read about the utter horror of slavery” (Malcolm X 4). While Malcolm X read about the horrors of slavery, Douglass had already experienced it. Malcolm As a slave during the abolitionist period, Douglas gained a vague understanding of the meaning of the word "abolition" by listening to the white men speaking around him. By reading newspapers, Douglass learned that there were people in the North who actually wanted to abolish slavery. What is ironic is that Douglass was one of the most important abolitionist leaders of his time, and more than a hundred years later, Malcolm X is reading about the abolitionist, without even realizing how similar he and Douglass are. Douglass shares many similarities, their experiences made him see reading in a completely different way. Malcolm Malcolm X loved his books and the knowledge that came from them because he saw them as a source of freedom. He says: “Between… and my reading books, months went by without me even thinking about being imprisoned. Indeed, until then, I had never been so truly free in my life” (Malcolm X 2). This view is very different from Douglass's. Once Douglass could read, he envied other slaves who couldn't read because they were still naive to the world around them; however, his eyes were open to the world his masters tried to keep him from seeing. Douglass says, “…sometimes I felt that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing…In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 103). He saw how horribly other slaves were treated and heard stories about how there were people in the North who fought to free the slaves. Once exposed to the world around him, there was no turning back. For this, he saw his literacy, for which he had worked so.