"Conked"

“My First Conk” Response Questions may 25

1.      Why did Malcolm X want to get his hair conked? What did the conk symbolize to him at the time he got it? What does it symbolize at the time he writes about it?

He wanted to get his hair conked, because that was the fashion that people had.  It represented the whites and they wanted their hair to look straight like how the white men were wearing their hair.   Once he writes about it he realizes its degrading to have to change their hair to look like a white man and that the whites seem more superior as the blacks seem more inferior and he doesn’t believe it should be like that, but more equal to one another and it shouldn’t matter how your hair looks, and God created all bodies and they shouldn’t have to look a certain way, such as white standards. 

2. Why do you think Malcolm X write this selection as a process explanation instead of a set of instructions?

He wrote it as a process, because process is the way to comprehend the story and see the way the story is carried out rather then steps of the way he conked his hair.  He went through the process of what happened and he went in order so the reader could get an understanding what he went through.

3. Why do you think Malcolm X includes so many references to the pain and discomfort he

endures as part of the process?

Malcolm X is trying to give the reader the idea of the pain he went through and not only the pain but the processes of getting his hair conked just because it was the popular thing to do.  When he’s writing about it he realizes that it wasn’t worth all the pain and burning just to look like someone because that was the thing to do.

4.      In the last paragraph, Malcolm X encloses several words in quotation marks. Why do you think he does this? What is the effect of these quotation marks?

I believe he puts quotations around certain words so the reader can focus on those words and get a true meaning of what he was going through.  It also gives an effect to the story helps catch the readers attention.

5. The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1964, when many African Americans

regularly straightened their hair. Is his message/thesis still relevant today? Are there any current trends or practices that you would consider a contemporary equivalent of conking?

I don’t believe that there is any equivalent conking, people go with their own styles.  Although maybe in the service would be everyone has short/buzzed hair that would be the only thing close to conking, everyone else I believes does what makes them feel most comfortable and have no pressure within conking their hair.

ESSAY

Going from high school to college you see things about yourself that changes compared to when you were in high school.  Growing up and realizing your metabolism isn’t like it was in high school and not being as active you notice change, it’s like a break between high school and college.  Looking back to soccer conditioning and tryouts every summer, realizing what I went through to now trying to stay in shape on my own time, time changes you and makes you realize what you went through to get where you are today.

I remember the four years in high school we had soccer conditioning every summer from six to eight in the evening a few times during the week.  It wasn’t mandatory, but it was frowned upon if you didn’t show up.  We would have to run what’s called the 9:30 it was a cross country course that was one mile and ¾ quarters long.  If we didn’t make it the first time we had to run it again in 11:30.  It was a “rough” course out in a grass field with hills.  Then we would have some other sprints and running then eventually get ball work in.  We did this all summer long and it’s something we strived for.  Once soccer tryouts finally came around we would have pure running from six to eight in the morning, then the 9:30 run again, then after the run we worked with the ball.  This lasted for five days straight.  At the time it was horrible feeling, the heat wore you out and it was a rough week and it was summer on top of that.  Senior year came and soccer season came and gone and then graduation.  That summer of 2006 was the first free summer in four years.  I enjoyed it and loved every bit of it up until college started.  I began to get my “freshman fifteen” everyone talks about and realized that it was great not having to condition a few times a week and deal with the heat, but in the long run it was actually keeping us in shape all summer long.  Once the “freshman fifteen” started I realized I had to start working out, because I was having too much fun and it started to show, it was something I wasn’t used to.  My metabolism had slowed way down.  I could tell in pictures and the way my clothes fit.

Looking back now seeing pictures and seeing the way my style has changed from high school to college and seeing how I thought soccer conditioning was terrible, but in the end it was a great benefit that paid off.  It keeps me motivated today to run, work out and stay active.  The times have changed and the styles have changed as well.  Looking back you think why did I work so hard for four summers straight and strive to make that run, and why did I wear what I wore that summer I graduated high school.  I believe things change as well stay the same, but as society is today people try to stay with the fashion and keep up to date.  People look back and say why did I wear that?  But it was up to date then it just goes to show times moving and things change.  Although, I have changed my style from what I use to wear to more with what’s popular and what I feel comfortable in, but at the end of the day I still wear some of the same old soccer T-shirts and realize it has shaped me and that time will move on, but memories will stay the same.