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A Book full of Pictures and A Book full of Words

A Superman comic book filled with pictures of a superhero saving the world from

villains, and a dictionary filled with words and definitions, a reference book too many, are two

non traditional methods of learning to read. In ³Learning to Read´ by Malcom X, he had been in

prison; he is perturbed because he could not articulate the words he wanted to write. While in

prison he came to the realization as he wrote to Mr. Elijah Mahamad with whom he was

corresponding with, ³It was because of my letter that I happened to stumble upon starting to

acquire some kind of a homemade education´ (257). He picked up a dictionary and began to

learn to read. In ³The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,´ by Alexie Sherman, he

picked up his first Superman comic book at the age of 3, he¶d ³pretend to read the words . . . and

say aloud, µI am breaking down the door¶ in this way´ (17). He picked up a comic book and

began to learn to read.

Intertwining the comic book and the dictionary shows the reader that education is often

best required through a non traditional approach, Malcom X states in ³Learning to Read,´

³Prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone

differently and I had attended college´ (266), while Sherman Alexie points out in ³The Joy of

Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,´ ³I loved those books . . . I was trying to save my life´

(18). A comic book and a dictionary alter two authors¶lives by breaking down barriers to save

their lives.
 There were different barriers confrontin both Malcom and Alexie, but both authors were

determined to overcome their barriers. Malcom X had been in prison for burglary but had envied

another inmate, because of his ability with language, ³Bimby first made me feel envy of his

stock of knowledge . . . I had tried to emulate him´ (258). Likewise, Alexie had to deal with

being American Indian with society¶s assumption that ³Indian children who were expected to be

stupid´ (17).Malcom looked at Bimby with envy;Bimby was full of knowledge, whichMalcom

didn¶t have. However, Alexie had to prove himself as an American Indian. He wasn¶t going to

be proven that he was stupid. He was determined to read. He states, ³I refused to fail, I was

smart . . . I read books late at night . . . I read books at recess . . . during lunch « after I had

finished my classroom assignments . . . in the car . . . or basketball games´ (Alexie17). In order

for both authors to achieve their purpose, they had to be determined, Malcom X states, ³I knew

right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life´ (265).

By learning to read a comic book and a dictionary, Malcom and Alexie through

homemade education saved their lives. Malcom asks, ³Where else but in a prison could I have

attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a

day´ (266)? When Malcom was asked, ³What¶s your alma mater?´ He answered,³µBooks!¶ You

will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I¶m not studying something I feel might

help the black man´ (265).Likewise, Alexie conveys, ³I loved my father with an aching

devotion, I decided to love books as well´ (16). Both authors claim books had become their way

to enhance their knowledge, and by reading that they were helping the ³black man´ and the

devotion to the father, also saving their lives through different barriers they encountered.

Malcom X and Alexie Sherman are no different in their methods of learning; they had

used non traditional methods. Malcom X was in prison and did not like his writing, he did not
know a lot of words, mostly he knew slang. Moreover, Alexie was not going to be assumed

stupid because he was American Indian. Both Malcom and Alexie were determined and they

achieved their goals in reading. ³Learning to Read´ and The Joy of Reading and Writing:

Superman and Me´ have proved they accomplished their purpose. Malcom recognizes, ³My

homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity

to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America´ (265).

Indeed, Alexie indicates, ³The Indian kids crowd the classroom. Many are writing their own

poems, short stories, and novels . . . They look at me with bright eyes and arrogant wonder.

They are trying to save their lives´ (18).Both essays by Malcom and Alexie integrated brings out

the essence of further exploring in enhancing their lives by sharing their experience to the

readers, but it gives a message quite profoundly to the readers. By integrating both essays, the

purpose is the essays written by Malcom X and Alexie Sherman, if both authors had not written

their essays, and had not been completed and published, the purpose in learning to read would

not have existed and breaking down their barriers would not have resulted in writing essays, and

there would be no essays to read and interpret.

Let alone saving readers lives by their words.