The Importance Of Passion In Malcolm X's Learning To Read

One of the biggest educational epidemics facing students of this generation is their lack of passion. As a whole, most students lack the desire to want to be great. Being good enough is the accepted standard. However, students who display passion strive for success. Malcolm X’s memoir, “Learning to Read” not only displays the importance of education but, the continuity of learning outside of a classroom or school setting. X taught himself how to eloquently read and write in order to mask his elementary education. As a result, he was able to think for himself when it came to issues about racism. Similarly, Walt Whitman’s, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” is a poem about a person who was curious about Astronomy. This poem also highlights the importance of self-learning because after unsuccessfully getting important information, the narrator went out and to learn and experience for himself. Both articles help to prove why passion is the foundation of learning. …show more content…
Learning is an effort. Passion that lacks effort shows results in sloppy learning. For example, Malcolm X memorized words in order to get a better understanding of the things he would read. X said, “I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying” (X 2). He was left in amazement. The effort he put in opened up his word base and he became inspired by the potential he had. Likewise, in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” the narrator sought out the astronomer because he wanted to be inspired. The tone of the first stanza of the poem reflects inspiration. The astronomer inspired the narrator to go in the last stanza and gather information on his own. If both X and the narrator were not passionate about their learning, neither of them would have gone out their way. As scholars, information that a student learns becomes fodder to increase their knowledge and make