The Importance Of Learning To Read And Write Frederick Douglass

Education is something that is often taken for granted in this day and age. Kids these days rebel against going to school all together. In the essays “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie and “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, we learn of two young men eager for knowledge. Both men being minors and growing up in a time many years apart, felt like taking how to read and write into their own hands, and did so with passion. On the road to a education, both Alexie and Douglass discover that education is not only pleasurable, but also painful. Alexie and Douglass both grew up in different times, in different environments, and in different worlds. They both faced different struggles and had different achievements, but they were not all that different. Even though they grew up in different times they both had the same views on how important of education was. They both saw education as freedom and as a way of self-worth even though they achieved their education in different ways. They both had a strong mind and a strong of sense of self-motivation.

Before I read this piece of art, I did not think that I would like it; I thought it was a tedious literary work like the ones a part of a colossal textbook at first glance. However, I changed my mind after reading it thoroughly. I am honestly amazed at how Douglass’ words link together to have such easy flow and clarity through each sentence. He is a better writer than some of the people who learned how to read and write at an even younger age than him. Last but not least, I love how he proves that education is important since reading and writing gave him the advantage to become a free man; this excerpt gives a lesson on why education is pivotal to gaining knowledge to have a sense of individuality.

In the pre-Civil War plantations of the South, slaves were forbidden to read or write. In other words, they were forced to be ignorant and locked in mental darkness. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he writes in dept about his life as a slave in these plantations. After leaning the ABC's and learning to spell words consisting of three or four letters from Ms. Auld, Frederick Douglass illustrates how he secretly taught himself how to read and write using various strategies such as: Learning the letters on the timber at Durgin and Bailey's ship yard, getting lessons from the white boy's he met on the street, Webster's Spelling Book, and master

Douglass lived in the slave times. It was illegal to a slave to read and write. Any slave caught reading or writing would be severely punished or even killed. Slave owners felt that if they learn they will soon rebel and start to fight back. Douglass even grew up not even knowing his own age. His master’s wife is what

In "Learning to Read and Write" written by Frederick Douglass, he talks about his experience of teaching himself how to read and write as a slave boy living in Master Hugh's house where his mistress educated him. However, she was dictated by her husband and the instructions given to the slaves on how to read had to stop; in order for Douglass to teach himself, he obtained a book about slavery, The Columbian Orator and read the book every free second he had. Encouraged by the book, Douglass runs away to the north from his master for freedom. Douglass' main ideas include depravity, chattel, and an emancipation, which represents a moral corruption, the slave properties, and an act of freeing someone from slavery, respectively.

This text had great meaning to many because of the heartfelt emotions that Douglass was expressing to the audience through his amazing words. This text had an immense impact on the equality for African Americans. Many look back on this account now and can’t grasp the idea that African Americans or blacks were slaves to others and treated as poorly as Douglass describes. Douglass was taught to read and write by his owner’s wife, but his owner made his wife stop teaching him because he didn’t want Douglass to have any sort of benefit or advantage over him, but clearly, it was too late. The women who had been teaching Douglass was very kind to him and almost, treated him as if he were her own son, but once she stopped teaching Douglass, her kindness towards him began to fade.

Fredrick Douglass had received the greatest gift of education overcoming these harsh obstacles with the true meaning of grit. As a slave Fredrick Douglass was not supposed to learn due to the fact that he wasn’t seen as a human. From his drive to learn Fredrick Douglass found out how this world is supposed to be for instance on how one person should treat another. Even from learning Fredrick Douglass still had the perception that he was a slave for life due to the oppression of slave owners had on slaves. As a slave reading will be punishable by death. Without education slaves felt more below to the slave owner’s slaves were not on equal ground. Fredrick Douglass knew education was important from learning to read gave Fredrick Douglass a different perception on life detesting the slave owners and having the will to want to be free.

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.

Through his readings he discovered his self worth and how wrongful it is to be a slave. After acquiring knowledge it helps slaves understand how wrong it is to be slaves and to view themselves as humans instead of property. According to The Black Scholar,” Exposure of slaves to the teachings of Douglass caused much unrest. As they began to understand better, many situations developed in slave holding areas that were difficult to control”(Clendon 11). Understanding slavery is wrong is the first step in becoming free. Although Douglass admits that education is not the only key to freedom, it is a building block to not only escape but be successful once becoming free. During that time period many whites truly believed that African Americans were not capable of living free in society so they must be put to work. Once a slave becomes educated and self reliant it then creates a problem for the slave

Frederick Douglass effectively persuades his audience to show the crucial need for learning to read and write and to inform how slavery was a true

In the excerpt “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass talks about his experiences in slavery living in his masters house and his struggle to learn how to read and write. Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman. Some of his other writings include “The Heroic Slave”, “My Bondage and My Freedom”, and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”. In this excerpt, Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, imagery, certain verb choice, contrast, and metaphors to inform African Americans of how important it is to learn to read and write and also to inform a white American audience of the evils of slavery. I find Frederick Douglass to

Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that an education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054). He believed that the ability to read makes a slave “unmanageable” and “discontented” (2054). Douglass discovered that the “white man’s power to enslave the black man” (2054) was in his literacy and education. As long as the

Frederick Douglas was born into the slave trade in Talbot County, Maryland. He was sent to work on a plantation for the Hugh’s Family for about seven years. This is the location where his learning truly began. His mistress was a “kind, tender-hearted, woman” who treated Frederick as a human instead of property the family owned. This was a dangerous thing for both parties at this time in history it was considered wrong. Frederick States “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me” which I see the connection he had made to her change of personality because of slavery. She had heavenly qualities that slavery was able to divest from her. It was injurious to Fredrick not only for the lashings a salve would

People often wonder about the struggles of slave life, including the fact that it was extremely difficult to become literate as a slave. Frederick Douglass, who was once a slave who learned to read and write, outlines these obstacles and the effects that they had on him in a chapter titled “Learning to Read and Write” within his autobiography. Said chapter reveals Douglass’s innermost thoughts and attitudes towards many things during his time as a slave, including his mistress, slavery itself, and reading. Douglass displays an appreciative and later aggravated tone towards his mistress, an outraged tone towards slavery, and an enthusiastic tone that later becomes resigned and despairing towards reading, exemplifying that tone can strongly influence the portrayal of a topic.

Literacy, the ability to read, write, and understand a language, is an extremely important part of modern society. It’s second nature for us now to read street signs as we drive past, food labels in the grocery store, etc. Not to mention the ability to enjoy novels. Being illiterate means that you can’t do any of that. You probably wouldn’t even know how your name is spelled or what it even looks like. Literacy (or lack of) has greatly affected an abundance of people’s lives throughout history. Three authors-Sandra Cisneros, Frederick Douglass, and Sherman Alexie- share their backgrounds, the influence that literacy has had on their lives, and the challenges that they faced to get to where they are. The similarities and differences