what "voice" means in an essay - Foothill College

An essay can have voice without a writer's personal information. Writers may not
want to share personal stories, and, for many assignments, personal information is
not appropriate to include. In either situation, personality and originality (voice) can
be expressed with insights, reflections, and, as in the example below, with unique
connections: voice is heard not by personal information but by the continued use of
the metaphors "wings" and "flying."
"I believe I can fly" is a famous song written by R. Kelly, a black singer. This song is about a man
who thinks one day he can be totally free. The “fly” represents freedom. To be able to fly, we need “wings.” So,
what is our "wings"? I didn't know the answer until I read the story of Malcolm X, Richard Rodriguez, and
Lucille Elmore. I found out our "wings" is literacy. Literacy makes them free. Literacy gives them the power to
“fly."
What happen if you don’t have “wings”? In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X went to
school until 8th grade, but he still is unable to read or write. Later, in jail, when he wants to read something,
"nearly all of the words…might as well have been in Chinese." A similar problem happened to Lucille Elmore
in the article “Overcoming An Invisible Handicap,” by Thomas J. Cottle. Elmore finished high school, but when
she was getting older she feels illiterate. She said, “I didn’t know books, I didn’t know history, I didn’t
know…” She couldn't fly. Like Malcolm X and Elmore, Richard Rodriguez has problems with his school and
also at home. In the excerpt from Hunger Of Memory, he was not encouraged to read at home. At school, he
was confused and feels lonely. He recalls, "I needed to look up whole paragraphs of words in a dictionary." This
sentence best represent his poor reading and writing skill during that period of time. These four have the same
big problem, being illiterate. So, how do they find their "wings"?