Coming to an Awareness of Language and its Importance to Society

Justice Smith In the article of coming to an awareness of language; Malcolm X discusses a time in his life where he considered himself an unfunctional adult because of his lack of being able to read words and to understand what an article, book, or newspaper was explaining. When Malcom X lacked in reading skills, his irritation grew even more by not being able to express his thoughts because he was also unfunctional in writing in a straight line. He harshly criticized himself for not having the ability to read and write efficiently. While Malcolm X was in prison, he motivated himself to pick up a dictionary and to learn words, and memorize what each word meant. Eventually Malcolm X would begin to form sentences with words he learned from the dictionary while also improving his writing skills, and to write in a straight line.

Malcolm gained knowledge of places, people, and events from history which helped him expand his critical thinking skills and gain a better perspective of the society and world he lived in. Being able to read and write would also enhance Malcolm X's perspective on topics he deemed worthy of discussion. When Malcolm X was able to pick up a book, he was finally able to understand what the book was explaining word for word. When Malcolm X read more books in prison, he expressed the feeling of being free, ignoring all the time that had passed while remaining in prison due to burying himself in books; with time passing by, it's as if time didn't exist whenever he read a book. Language is a powerful form of communication. Language is where one expresses thoughts, ideas, and feelings to get a person's point across a discussion or argument. The more a person learns more words, the more a person produces more thoughts. Every time a person learns something new, it changes the brain structure. Every time a person picks up a book or some other reading material; they are at first unaware that just by learning something, can soon lead to learning more things which can change a person's situation, life or outlook for better or worse.

Whatever a person learns; it can mold a person's outlook, personality, thought process, and how to perceive society, which can also shape a person's future for better or worse. Learning a language and how to read can open up new doors of opportunity for many across the world; and Malcolm X took the self interest and opportunity to teach himself to read and write. Many take the opportunity to learn as much as they can, while some don't bother taking the opportunity at all. My experience of learning a language and communicating with people I have never met, have helped open my eyes on learning about where people come from, what shaped their personality and outlook that helped become who they are. When people learn a language, it helps to communicate with other people that share similar experiences and experience new ones. Everyone on this planet has learned a language from their family to friends in order to learn, speak and communicate with one another. Learning a language is an important ability to have and it can also keep certain practices of cultures alive and refrain from being extinct. Learning a language also teaches people to learn about their family history and how we a people came to be. Language also brings more discovery to new things that have been uncovered and examined to understand how it got there and figuring out it's origins. That is the power of language and it offers much more than we people realize.

Works cited:

Buscemi, Santi V., and Charlotte Smith. 75 Readings Plus. 10th edition ed., McGraw-Hill, 1994.

Buscemi, Santi V., and Charlotte Smith. Malcolm X: Coming to an Awareness of Language.

Buscemi, Santi V. Selections from: A Reader for College Writers & 75 Readings Plus. 10th edition ed., McGraw-Hill Education Create, 2015.

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