Excerpts from Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin

While the excerpts from the autobiographies of Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin both talked about how they came to be as learned as they were there was definitely a different tone between the two. In both experiences they talked about what it was in their lives that lead them to be the voracious readers that they had become, and in both they showed in someway how their lives could have steered them in a different path had something gone different at key points, but one of the accounts felt more sterile than the other. In Franklin’s story if he had done as his father feared and “get to sea” or even been content in one of his earlier attempts at apprenticeship he may have never been put in the position that lead to his ability to read as much as he did. Similarly had Malcolm not gone to the Norfolk Prison Colony and had the access to the wealth of knowledge there he likely would never have gone down the path his life had led him to.

That would be where the excerpts differ though, I found Malcolm’s retelling to be much more personal. He would use the voices of his characters by including quotations from them and stronger punctuation, painting a much more colorful world. Whereas Franklins excerpt was much more cut and dry and it felt more like he was giving a chronological account of the time rather than telling a story. Even with that said I found both to be engaging and informative, so even without the level of voice that is presented in Malcolm X’s paper Franklin’s shows that it could be just as effective.