Language and Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Language and Literacy - Essay Example Mellix, on the other hand, explains how it felt uncomfortable writing in Standard English arguing that she could not express her true self. She claims that after â€Å"reading, practicing, writing, rewriting, and experimenting,† she learned that â€Å"one can, through writing, bring out new lives, each with new complexities, possibilities, and difficulties. Remarkably, I continually write and give birth to myself† (Mellix 111). Mellix found out that she was able to reinvent herself through writing. Coincidentally, Malcolm X also had a similar experience while in prison. Through reading and enhancing his knowledge of Standard English, he saw his situation and himself differently. â€Å" I had increasingly become frustrated because of being unable to express my thoughts in the letters I wrote to a public figure† (Malcolm 99). While Malcolm learned and became comfortable using Standard English through copying out of the dictionary and reading, Barbara Mellix learned and became comfortable with Standard English through revising and writing. It is certain that all these authors, Malcolm, Mellix, and Gloria, viewed themselves differently and got an identity as a result of language. Learning to use Standard language enabled Mellix and Malcolm discover new possibilities. Both Douglass and Baca were illiterate; they were not able to read or write. They both learn how to read and write by employing certain unconventional strategies and without the help of a regular teacher. â€Å"In learning how to read and write, I employed various stratagems. I had no regular teacher† (Douglass 5). The authors felt less empowered and humiliated simply because of they not able to read or write and as such could not express themselves. â€Å"There was nothing more humiliating than not being able to express one’s self†¦I felt so intimidated, vulnerable, scorned and ridiculed† (Baca 4).