In the essays Me Talk Pretty One Day, written by David Sedaris, and Prison Studies, written by Malcom X, both authors recall their triumphs over challenging learning environments while attempting to learn a new skill. Sedaris, first publishing his essay in 2000, tells the story of learning a new language in his French class, which was diseased with an abusive teacher. On the other hand, Malcom X, whose book was first published in 2004, reflected on his abnormal methods of learning how to read during his adolescence in prison. I selected Me Talk Pretty One Day because it is my personal favorite essay that I’ve read so far in The Language Of Composition: Second Edition. To compliment Sedaris’ essay, I decided to choose Malcom X’s piece, due to my curiosity about Malcom X’s life.

            In his memoir, Malcom X recounts his teaching himself to be literate whilst in jail. Malcolm, who at this point had never excelled past an elementary school education, felt determined to become literate while he was in prison, however, he had no one to teach him this skill. Instead of abandoning his passion for English literature, Malcolm taught himself how to read and write. With a dictionary and a tablet of paper, he worked tirelessly towards his goal, saying “Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words” (Little 2). Eventually, X reveals that by the time he was released from prison, he was devouring various pieces of literature during all hours of the day due to his newly established skill.

            In his 2000 essay, David Sedaris recalled his experience of learning French in an unusual classroom environment. Sedaris had been taking this adult language class alongside other non-native speakers after he moved to Paris to pursue higher education. In his situation, due to his teacher’s negative and verbally abusive attitude toward her pupils, David and his classmates struggled to learn the language. Throughout his essay, Sedaris recounts the abusive qualities of his past educator, such as her tendencies to belittle and scare her student by frequently serving insults, along with the occasional physical altercation. Despite his teacher’s abuse, Sedaris was determined to learn the new language. “After being singled out as kfdtinvfm,” Sedaris explained, “I took to spending four hours a night on my homework, putting in even more time whenever we were assigned an essay. I suppose I could have gotten by with less, but I was determined to create some sort of identity for myself: David the hard worker, David the cut-up” (Sedaris 4). Due to his persistent studying and practice on his own, David was eventually able to understand a full sentence of French, delivered by his teacher.

            In both works, the author recounted their experience of learning a new skill due to their own determination to do so. In the case of Malcolm X, he taught himself how to read, and in the case of David Sedaris, he partially taught himself the French language. Both Malcolm X and Sedaris learned these skills in unusual ways, such as while being imprisoned, or while dealing with an abusive educator. Malcolm X and David Sedaris also shared a determination and drive in order to achieve their goals, which required countless hours of studying and dedication to their work. Additionally, both authors studied subjects that fall into the field of the humanities.

 In today’s world, the pattern of learning based on determination rather than on environment is still extremely prominent. For example, those in underprivileged or impoverished communities are often left to somewhat educate themselves on subjects that interest them. Similar to Malcolm X and David Sedaris, many people around the world teach themselves to be literate despite their lack of educational resources and unfavorable learning environments. According to an October article from Daily Mail, a 34-year-old man from California effectively taught himself how to read after the education system failed him as a child. The man, named Oliver James, became viral online after posting Tik-Tok videos of his verbal reading practice. Throughout his time documenting his progress, James grew literate enough to read Lois Lowry’s The Giver. This man is one example of many that there are still countless people like X and Sedaris, who persevere and learn something new despite a major challenge that may be associated with acquiring the new skill.