Analysis Of Mothers Tongue By Frederick Douglass

In paragraph two of “ Learning to Read and Write”, Fredrick Douglass wrote “education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” Fredrick Douglass explained through his writing of his past three reasons why education and slavery do not mix well together. Through storytelling Douglass tells about everyday life with the mistress. First Douglass tells the story on how punishment came with learning from the master’s wife. He talks about how when he was a child that he would sit and read a book. That he would read a book until the master’s wife caught him. When caught by the mistress, she would beat him for reading without permission. Douglass second reason why slavery and education don’t mix is through his tellings about being segregated

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

Douglass had the unusual privilege of receiving the beginnings of an education from the wife of one of his masters, Mrs. Auld. Her lessons were cut short when she was discovered by her husband who, "forbade her. . . telling her it was unsafe to teach a slave to read . . . because he would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master". From this experience, Douglass learned that education was his "pathway from slavery to freedom". In essence, the act of keeping the black man ignorant was "the white man's power to enslave the black man"(Douglass 1776).

     It is at this time that Frederick Douglass learns one of the greatest freedoms of all. He is set free, in an educational sense. Douglass has been taught a few reading lessons form his mistress. Soon after his master discovers this, and commences the teaching at once. Soon thereafter, Frederick Douglass uses some smart tactics to resume his learning. He in a sense manipulates the children around him into teaching him how to read and write. This grand achievement taught Douglass something, as he says, “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. It was just what I wanted, and

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

The ability to read gave Douglass a place of leadership among his fellow slaves. Knowing the benefit and power of reading, Douglass began teaching the other slaves at Mr. Covey’s; he “succeeded in creating in them a strong desire to learn how to read” (2075). He kept a Sabbath school which attracted slaves from the neighboring farms. The slaves were improved by this instruction. Instead of “wrestling, boxing,

Firstly, Douglass demonstrates an appreciative tone towards his mistress that later shifts to a more aggravated one. At first, while his mistress is instructing him in the knowledge of reading, he is appreciative, explaining that his mistress had “kindly commenced to instruct” him (Douglass 1). He also describes the mistress as a “pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman.” (Douglass 2) By portraying the mistress this way as well as asserting that his mistress “kindly commenced” to teach him to read, Douglass illuminates his own gratitude for her and her teaching; he is appreciative of her kind disposition and willingness to instruct him.

Throughout the history of slavery in the United States, it was common practice not only for slaveholders to neglect to teach their slaves to read or write, but also for them to outright forbid literacy among slaves. This was done in order to limit the slaves knowledge and modes of communication, making it more difficult for them to learn about the abolitionist movement or for for them to share their situation with the world outside of slavery. Like many other slaves, Frederick Douglass was not allowed to learn to read or write. In his autobiography; “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass retells how he managed to become literate in a time where most African Americans were forbidden from literacy, and how this knowledge allowed him to eventually escape slavery.

In the Daily Gazette, Micaela Baranello states that Diane Anderson, a Swarthmore Education professor, emphasized, “The importance of realizing that just because students speak outside of the dominant discourse does not mean they are deficient, but rather that they are different” (Baranello). This demonstrates that if someone is different somehow, it should not degrade them, and that is what both Gloria Anzaldua in How to Tame a Wild Tongue and Frederick Douglass in Learning to Read explain in their texts. Even though Anzaldua promotes language identity while Douglass encourages an overall education, they both promote social justice and tolerance through the role of literacy.

Douglass' mistress treated all her slaves as if she would treat any other human beings. As Douglass explains, "She was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman..... She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach" (101). She lacked a general depravity towards the slaves and promoted education among the slaves at first. But, her husband did not; he knew if his slaves had knowledge about slavery and were literate and able to verbally defend themselves, the wall separating African-American slaves and White men will eventually break and free men power will no longer be available. When Douglass was in an unsupervised room for more than a reasonable period of time, he got "suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of himself" (101). Master Hugh's corrupted morality blocked Douglass' every attempt to learn more about literacy and slavery.

1. Douglass taught himself how to read and write. At first, Douglass’s mistress taught him how to read the alphabet before her husband prohibited her from doing this. After that he started to teach himself how to read by reading books and newspapers, and how to write by copying his little Master Thomas’s written in the spaces left in the copy-book when his mistress goes to the class meeting every monday afternoon. However his most successfully way of teaching himself how to read was to make friends with the white boys whom he met in the street. He bribes them with food to get them to teach him. He also learned how to read and understand the meaning of the name on the timber.

As soon as Douglass pieces together what Mr. Auld was saying he recognizes that “What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.” (Douglass 38). This instant illustrates one of the first climaxes of the narrative. One statement made by Mr. Auld so greatly impacted Douglass by giving him a new sense of hope and will to succeed in obtaining his freedom. Douglass pulls out the positive in this experience, that Mr. Auld accidentally shared with him the power that comes with education. “In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both” (Douglass 39). Douglass learned to read not only in thanks to his kind mistress, who willingly taught him to read, but also to his cruel master whose rage towards Douglass learning to read and write generated him to give Douglass the knowledge he wanted to keep from him to begin with. The lesson given to him by his master about education was far more important than even the lesson’s on learning to read. Douglass’s use of chiasmi takes this climax to the

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

In lines 18-32, Douglass describes what was an abnormality in those times- a white woman (his master’s wife) taking pity on him, and teaching him to read and write. Douglass’s juxtaposition of his master’s wife’s attitude toward him- which was one of a “pious, warm and tender-hearted” nature, to the way the rest of society perceived him as a “mere chattel” helped highlight just how abnormal her behavior was. This contrast further developed through the fact that to treat a slave as a human being back in those days was “not only wrong, but dangerously so,” yet despite that commonplace assertion found all throughout life back then, his master’s wife still treated Douglass no different than she would treat a friend. This section of the text elaborated upon her kind-hearted nature, which led her to pity and help those worse off than her, no matter how society perceived it. Douglass emphasized this point by using mostly long, well constructed sentences that were filled with figurative language. This syntax helped elaborate upon the tone of newfound hope in this section, by demonstrating his flowing thoughts and feelings, due to his newfound freedoms. This syntax helped emphasize the fact that Douglass had acquired the very knowledge slave owners sought to keep from him, therefore acquiring the power that had been kept from him his whole life.

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.