The first memory most people have of learning to read is a lighthearted and comforting memory. Most of us might not even remember the exact time, or what we read when we first learned to read. However, as most of us will be unable to relate to the following two authors, who both had hardship and serious internal struggles while trying to master what most would consider a necessity to function in society.
In “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie begins sharing his experiences as a young and motivated reader. Like the title states, Alexie claims to have learned how to read on his own by picking up a Superman comic book. Alexie goes back to explain his earliest years as a Native American child living on a Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state. As Alexie begins to describe his childhood, he states that he was poor, and that they lived paycheck to paycheck, and on government funding. Alexie then continues to explain that his father …show more content…
As a young man living on the streets, Malcom X explains that he had a very articulate nature when he spoke, but when it came to writing, he was unable to even put proper English to paper. Malcolm X’s journey of educating himself first began in Norfolk Prison Colony. Malcolm simply picked up a dictionary and copied it— word for word. He worked slowly, describing everything onto his tablet, page by page. Every night he would study the work he had written the durning the day and continued to do this day to day. Malcolm claims that not only did he learn vocabulary and writing skills, but that he also gained insight into people, places, and historical events. After Malcolm broadened his vocabulary, he was able to open himself to the world of reading, and if he was not writing, he was reading, and vise
In “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie begins sharing his experiences as a young and motivated reader. Like the title states, Alexie claims to have learned how to read on his own by picking up a Superman comic book. Alexie goes back to explain his earliest years as a Native American child living on a Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state. As Alexie begins to describe his childhood, he states that he was poor, and that they lived paycheck to paycheck, and on government funding. Alexie then continues to explain that his father …show more content…
As a young man living on the streets, Malcom X explains that he had a very articulate nature when he spoke, but when it came to writing, he was unable to even put proper English to paper. Malcolm X’s journey of educating himself first began in Norfolk Prison Colony. Malcolm simply picked up a dictionary and copied it— word for word. He worked slowly, describing everything onto his tablet, page by page. Every night he would study the work he had written the durning the day and continued to do this day to day. Malcolm claims that not only did he learn vocabulary and writing skills, but that he also gained insight into people, places, and historical events. After Malcolm broadened his vocabulary, he was able to open himself to the world of reading, and if he was not writing, he was reading, and vise