Name: _______________________________

“A Homemade Education” (Malcolm X) Vocabulary & Comprehension Worksheet

VOCABULARY: Read each sentence. Using a dictionary, look up each underlined vocabulary word. Then write a sentence using the correct meaning of each word. 1. I wanted to convey in letters what I wrote.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

2. In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

3. I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

4. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

5. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation, and I had tried to emulate him.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

6. I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

7. I was immensely proud to realize I had written so much at one time.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

8. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history.

definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

9. It was a) inevitable that as my word-base b) broadened, I could pick up a book and read.

(a) definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

(b) definition: _____________________________________________________________

sentence: _____________________________________________________________

COMPREHENSION: Write complete sentences for each question below.

who (was involved): __________________________________________________________

what (happened): ___________________________________________________________

where (did it happen): _________________________________________________________

when (did it happen): _________________________________________________________

why (did it happen): ___________________________________________________________

how (did it happen): __________________________________________________________

1. What does the expression “Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah

Muhammad- “ say about Malcolm X’s language? What kind of education does this expression reveal”? ________________________________________________________________________

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2. What kinds of problems did Malcolm X have with reading? How did these problems make him want to improve his vocabulary? ________________________________________________________________________

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3. What steps did he take to improve his vocabulary? What other improvements occurred as

a result of his vocabulary improvement efforts? ________________________________________________________________________

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4. What does Malcolm mean when he says, “I had never been so truly free in my life?” How is this ironic? Explain. ________________________________________________________________________

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5. Why is this reading called “A Homemade Education”?

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