of
learning a Malcolm X's considerable frustration at his inability to read and write launched him on
a quest to overcome his deficiencies. He said, "I saw that the best thing I could do was
get hold of a dictionary -to study, to learn some words. "And he was lucky enough to
reason also that he should try to improve his handwriting. "It was sad. I couldn't even
write in a straight line, "he told us. These ideas together moved him to appeal to the
prison authorities for some paper and pencils
s For the first two days, Malcolm X just skimmed through the pages of the dictionary
trying to negotiate his way through its unfamiliar format. He told us of his amazement
closely related the words seemed How moist could be the root of moisture, and
advisable and advisory had the same root word! "I didnt know which words I needed to
learn, "he said, "finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying. "In his slow,
careful, crude handwriting, Malcolm X copied everything on the first full page of the
dictionary into a notebook. He even copied the quotation marks! This took him one
full day. After that, he read everything he had written aloud. " Over and over, aloud,
to myself, I read my own handwriting, "Malcolm recalled. He also logged important
things that happened every day. Repetition helped move him from basic literacy
toward true proficiency
Malcolm X depicted how the next morning when he woke up, he kept thinking about
the words he had copied and read aloud and about the acquisition of the knowledge
as pursuing. It was a marvelous feeling. He felt immensely proud
