Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write”, gives readers insight into the struggles of being a slave with intelligence, but more importantly into his experience. In his essay, Douglass shows how he fought to obtain knowledge; however, a reading of his story will reveal that what he learned changed him for the better. Michael Scott, a former EOF student read the story and believed that Douglass’s intelligence was a destructive and to a certain degree pointless. Contrary to Scott’s statement, Douglass’s knowledge wasn’t more of a curse than a blessing. Being a slave was everyone’s curse. Douglass went into depression because he hadn’t had the same experience as other slaves and finally felt what it was really like to be a slave when he was punished for his knowledge. However just because his knowledge is what got him into trouble doesn’t necessarily make him, being an intelligent slave; a curse nor does it mean that he had absolutely no alternatives to his condition. In fact, he above most other slaves had the upper hand when it came to creating his own alternative. Douglass’s intelligence helped him become autodidactic, manipulate situations to benefit him, and develop an ambition to become free. As individuals we all get to make our own decisions so when the mistress stopped teaching Douglass; it was Douglass’s dedication to his education that drove him to teach himself what she would not. The mistress made a conscious decision to teach Douglass the alphabet. She had
Today, I read two articles which about the two author’s experiences of learning to read and write. One is Frederick Douglass Learning to Read and Write. Another is Malcolm X Literacy Behind Bars. These two articles inspire me to learn more knowledge at the same time, and these two authors set us an example of diligent study. After I compare with these two articles, I found that they both have a lot of similarities, but they still have some differences.
Frederick found something he was passionate about and didn’t stop at anything to obtain his goal to be an intelligent man hoping one day he would make his way out of his lifetime role as a slave. He was taught the alphabet by the Mistress of the Hugh house that he worked for seven years. Her husband didn’t like the power word could potentially give Douglass, so he stopped the sessions for learning. Little did
In the article How I Learned to Read and Write Frederick Douglass talks about the struggle of being a slave in the Hugh Auld’s family, for seven years and learning how to read and write. First, Mrs. Auld would teach him the A, B, C. But later Mr. Auld got upset and did not want the slave to have knowledge because he feared if Douglass got smart he would run away. Which caused Mrs. Auld and Douglass to be very upset with how cruel that lifestyle was, making them upset. Even though, Douglass’s master did not want him learning to read and write he manages to find different ways to learn. For example, he would give the poor local boys bread when they hang out and in return, he learned how to write and read. Douglass was tempted to thank the
In Frederick Douglass 's essay, "Learning to Read and Write", he describes the various methods with which he became literate throughout the age of slavery. The essay is made with well-executed and potent literary tools that serve to each relay the struggle he endured in learning to browse and write, additionally on more prove Douglass 's distinguished accomplishments and talent against apparently insurmountable odds. It 's an awfully personal recount of a heavy time in his life, however it additionally properly depicts Frederick Douglass as a capable author with deeply coherent thoughts. Through the utilization of irony, distinctive syntax, wordy diction, and intelligent metaphors, Frederick Douglass exhibits his ability to eloquently categorical himself and his personal strife.
Frederick Douglass, in his personal memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, recounts his own personal experiences as a slave, and the road he took to become a free man. Douglass’s negative views on slavery permeate the Narrative from beginning to end. The underlying assumption that selfishness and intentional dishonesty are at the root of the slave ownership becomes clear in the excerpt from Chapter 7, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Humans are inherently selfish creatures who find pleasure and significance in gaining an advantage over their fellow man in any regard, including education. Douglass discovers this fact as he pursues academic success.
In the story "Learning to Read and Write," Frederick Douglass reported that Education and slavery were incompatible with each other. Douglass had the will and the willingness to succeeded, and accomplished his goals during his slavery period; regardless of all difficulties, he encountered.
In “Learning to Read and Write” Frederick Douglass reminisces on his experiences acquiring literacy as he attempts to gain autonomy. He speculates that literacy could also foreshadow danger for him but also that knowledge might hold danger for everyone. Concerning literacy, Douglass writes “Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay danger”. He uses “seemed” which implies a subjective interpretation of the mistress’s behavior. Later in the essay, Douglass switches to an objective view of her behavior as he proclaims that she “is an apt woman”. The transition between these perspectives of the mistress mirrors his transformation from illiterate to literate. He stops relying on
Even from a young age, Frederick knew there was a connection between education and freedom, literacy and opportunity. Slaves weren’t allowed to go to school, so he trusted his commitment to learning to teach himself. Frederick Douglass believed that slavery was a set back and didn’t allow people to improve themselves. The more educated he became, the more free he really felt. “A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege.” Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, Page 1.
In “Learning to Read and Write,” from his the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (1841), Douglass tells a narrative of his struggles to learn to read and write and how acquiring this knowledge helps him achieve freedom. Through his journey of acquiring literacy, Douglass outwitted those around him to teach him how to read and write. Upon reading “The Columbian Orator,” Douglass started questioning his and his master’s role in society. Although I didn’t have to go to the extremes that Douglass went through to learn how to read and write, I did struggle to learn how to read and write as an immigrant learning English as a second language. My own struggle with English wasn’t a journey of self-improvement but rather it
Douglass had someone to teach him to read but instead a teacher he had a mistress. The mistress at first didn't really teach him much she left him in a mental darkness. She went from being a “tender-hearted woman” to having a heart of stone. Douglass was always watched because he was always trying to learn. His
Further, this was also the moment when Frederick understood the pathway from slavery to freedom (Douglass 36). He finds out that he was restricted from education in order to keep the structure and understands that he must become literate to gain power. Moreover, he appreciates the realization about the value of education as a grand achievement: “Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master” (Douglass 36-37). Nevertheless, Frederick did continue learning how to read and write as stated in his biography: “Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write” (Douglass 46). This was a life changing achievement for Douglass, since he realised that knowledge brings power, helps to develop your own character and to gain wisdom.
Douglass lived in the master Hugh’s family. Master Hugh ended the mistress illegal attempts at teaching Douglass. After learning the alphabet, Douglass continued to educate himself with the help of the white children he met on the street. Douglass explains that he gave the children bread in exchange for knowledge. He also read many books which prompted new thoughts and ideas.
Likewise, Douglass embraces self by learning to read and write, while continuously practicing to write in order to defeat his position as a slave. Douglass discovers that education will “forever unfit him to be a slave” (1196). After discovering this, Douglass becomes determined to learn as much as he can in order to surpass his position as a slave. Douglass now knows that education is the only
Frederick Douglass, a well-known activist against slavery and racial inequality, wrote about his journey towards literacy throughout his years as a slave. In his article, Learning to Read and Write, he discusses his strategies for gaining knowledge and his internal desires and struggles that centered around his education. In an article known as Freewriting, Peter Elbow discusses his disdain for excessive editing and its negative effects on the natural flow of a written work. These texts have many similarities; they share a love for literature and communication through writing. However, due to the vastly different backgrounds of the authors, topics throughout the piece, and intentions for writing, these articles have many distinctive
The inception of Douglass’s path to learning was taught by an unlikely source, being his master’s wife, and her quick change of heartwhich further spurs him to continue on with his education. Douglass learns the ABCs from his mistress which certainly shocks him as he hasdue to never seening such a kind act being done towards a slave (32). He represents his sweet mistress as “at first [lacking] the depravity indispensable to shutting [him] up in mental darkness” (35). He explains that she was like no other slaveholder, and understands that if a white woman considers education necessary and believes that everyone should obtain a little bit of knowledge, then education was a vile source to him if he was determined to obtain freedom Analysis needs to include WHY Douglass incorporated the passage in order to prove education is power.