92 pages • 3 hours read
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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Reading, Discussion & Quiz Questions
READING CHECK
1. Why do the Littles leave their home in Omaha?
Answer: to escape the Ku Klux Klan/white supremacist terrorists
2. Why does Malcolm no longer live with his mother after age 12 or 13?
Answer: She is sent to a state mental hospital
3. Whom does Malcolm describe as “the first really proud black woman I had ever seen in my life” (39)?
Answer: Ella
4. What do Malcolm and Shorty have in common, causing Shorty to take an immediate liking to him?
Answer: They are both from Michigan/Lansing.
5. What is Malcolm’s job at the Roseland State Ballroom?
Answer: He shines shoes.
6. What is the name of the hairstyle Malcolm adopts by straightening his hair with burning lye?
Answer: a conk
Discussion Suggestion: Use the above question to introduce discussion on how the conk operates as a symbol in the book. Note how Malcolm attaches metaphorical significance to conking his hair, in the sense that it is an extraordinarily painful act of self-mutilation performed in an effort to assimilate into white culture.
7. Where does Malcolm meet Laura?
Answer: at the drugstore where he works as a soda jerk
QUIZ
1. Who do the authorities say is responsible for Earl’s death?
A) the Ku Klux Klan
B) the Black Legion
C) No one—they rule it accidental
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