¶ … Homemade Education" deals with how he learned to read and write in prison. The thing that impressed me most about this essay is that Malcolm X taught himself how to do these things instead of relying on someone else to show him the way. He decided that he needed to learn how to read and write, and he would not be able to do many of the things that he wanted to do otherwise, so he made sure that he learned. Asking for a dictionary and pencils and tablets in prison got him started, and it was nice to read about how seriously he took his task once he realized that there was so much that he could learn. He never knew that there were that many words and after he discovered them he could not leave them alone. It is part of made him such a good speaker, and he was finally able to transfer that speaking ability to written words as well.

The thing that impressed me the least about the essay was that he ended up in prison in the first place. It would have been nice to think that he was above the kinds of things that get people locked up in prison, but it was actually a blessing in disguise. Even though it was upsetting that he got involved with all of the things that are wrong with society, if he never would have gone to prison he might never have learned to read and write the way that he did while he was in there.

There are many tips about writing that can be found in this essay, but the most important one can be applied not just to writing but to anything else, and that is to not give up. Even though Malcolm X could not read or write well, he taught himself, and he kept trying. He ended up getting really good at it because of this. It is the same for anyone struggling with writing - the way to get better at it or anything else in life is to continue to practice until the desired level is found.