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23 April 2019

Three Stairs

There are a lot of odds and obstacles that block people from learning; nevertheless, a higher level of education or knowledge is often required to obtain more opportunities. In the past, people’s races and environments limited their learning opportunities. However, people still struggled to educate themselves. In the essays, "Learning to Read," by Malcolm X, "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me," by Sherman Alexie, and "Learning to Read and Write," by Frederick Douglass, the three individuals show three steps of how they overcame educational odds and obstacles. In order to overcome educational obstacles, it is essential for one to have a source of motivation and passion for succeeding. This paper highlights various individuals source of motivation of several individuals who faced various educational challenges and obstacles.

Alexie was motivated by his father, who cherished all books. Alexie said, “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well." (23) Once he started to love books, he read all the linguistic forms he found. Even though Alexie read words with passion, his colleagues and classmates would strongly disapprove of his knowledge because of his race. Apparently, people were always expecting Indian students to fail. A succeeding disturb gave Alexie a strong desire to break down the door for his race. Alexie was more than willing to overcome the educational obstacles faced by the Asian race during those times. Basically, he wanted to prove that the Indians could also excel in studies. He, therefore, strived against the prejudice of Indian by educating himself and people who were still struggling to overcome educational obstacles.

Douglass started to teach himself when his mistress taught him how to read and write. Douglass said, "Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell." (126) His mistress ignited his passion for knowledge. Douglas had a strong prejudice to the slaves that they could not read and write. However, the slaves were not able to learn or receive support from anyone. Douglas believed that knowledge of how to read and write could help bring about freedom to the slaves. Reading and writing would also help him to attain his desired freedom. After Douglass realized that there was a way he could become a freeman, he started to read books, and actually, he enjoyed it with passion. He actually read books frequently with a lot of interest. Since Douglass had a strong desire to become a freeman, learning became so pleasurable to him that he could easily overcome educational and environmental odds.

When Malcolm X wrote a letter to his leader, Elijah Muhammad, he was unable to write a decent one. Malcolm said, “I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad." (240) He realized that knowledge and education are essential to misunderstanding-less communication and share his thoughts. Since Malcolm X was in prison, he had a hard time to teach himself, but he found a way to build his knowledge. He started to copy the dictionary from A to Z. Copying the dictionary was very helpful in learning how to read and write. This is because the dictionary contains all words. When Malcolm X reached a higher level of education, he became fully aware of human rights and civil rights. Malcolm X also thought that African Americans could be able to champion for their rights if they knew how to read and write. Having the reading and writing skills would help black people to express themselves. He began to view his role as a human right activist for his race.

Everyone who is trying to educate himself/herself will face educational odds and obstacles. Motivation, effort, and strong desire are the three steps of stairs to overcome educational obstacles. Alexie, Douglass, and Malcolm X also had educational odds, but they reached a higher level of education, and they obtained higher knowledge with these three. Motivation will ignite people’s passion, endeavoring will make it burn explosively, and a strong desire will help fuel people’s passion. It is, therefore, good for learners to ensure that they are motivated to obtain an education.