What role did learning to read play in each author's life? What were specific elements of their writing that made the articles effective pieces of communication? https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytime

Learning to read gave each of the author’s in the short term, somewhat of an escape from their current and unfortunate situation, a distraction if you will. Malcom X in prison, sneaking in some additional reading time, despite it being lights out. Fredrick Douglass, bribing some of the other neighborhood kids with bread, and in exchange the neighborhood kids would provide him with books. In the long-term reading served as guide for many of these author’s, paving the way and providing some sort of direction. Confidence as well, to be more than just their current situation, Malcom X went from a convicted hustler to a well-educated and influential leader. Fredrick Douglass, despite battling with his own emotions after reading about slavery, regretting even being able to read at one point, still had the motivation and drive to run away. Each of the authors with their tenacious efforts and approaches to life, were able to educate themselves, change their mindsets and change the course of their lives. If Fredrick Douglass never learned to read, he never would have read about the horrors of slavery and thus, might never have become motivated to run away.

The author’s writing styles made these stories that much more intense. The article by Sherman Alexie was most effective on the reader, the tone took somewhat of a stoic approach, strong and straight to the point. It made the reader feel as if the author wanted their story to be heard, but also wanted it known that the struggles faced did not hinder them from overcoming obstacles and becoming successful. Referencing to paragraphs as “a fence that held words”. Then later using that same reference and saying, “I was seeing the world in paragraphs”.  The author’s diction used to describe simple choices they made or descriptions to things they saw made the reader truly feel the pain the author was going through and made the story much more effective and interesting to read.

Interested to hear everyone's take on this. 

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The focus of these four articles was on the profound importance of learning to read. However, each author experienced this learning in a different manner.
In “The Making of a Writer: Listening in the Dark”, Eudora Welty describes this process through emphasizing that she could not read or write without listening. She reflects on her own past experiences in which she learned to listen and became a talented reader and writer.
On the other hand, Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me” reflects on learning to read from a different perspective. At the beginning of the article, he describes growing up in the Spokane Indian Reservation, and despite both of his parents working minimum-wage jobs, his house was full of books. These books influenced his way of thinking, influencing him to see the world around him as literary terms. He uses his reading skills to overcome the challenges and expectations of living in an Indian reservation. The author recognizes that this passion for reading had a purpose, which was to save his life.
In Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write”, this learning process is once again different. His slave owner and instructor began to educate him and later forbade him to continue this education due to its incompatibility with slavery. As he continued to read secretly, he became empowered by authors that call to abolish of slavery. This learning process is significant because without the knowledge of how to read, the author would not have been exposed to this way of thinking. Reading and writing opened his eyes to the injustice of his situation.
Finally, an excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X expresses the importance of learning to read through the author’s own self-education. Through the painstaking effort of learning to read, the author could better understand the world around him. This knowledge changed the course of the author’s life and he used this new opportunity to become an articulate and influential leader of his country’s black community.
The overall experiences of learning to read, from these four authors, provides an opportunity to improve their lives and change their outlooks. These messages were portrayed so powerfully because of specific literary elements used, such as metaphors, symbolism and tone, which all served to augment the author’s voices.

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