Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Analysis

Frederick Douglass’s piece, Learning to Read, explained the firsthand experiences he had as a young, black boy during the time of slavery and segregation. The struggles he faced and lengths he took trying to learn how to read and write. Toni Morrison’s piece Noble Lecture, was meant to describe the cruel and oppressive qualities that language can possess, and its effect on others. Douglass would agree with Morrison’s view that language can be used for violence because of his experiences and struggles he faced while trying to acquire an education.

Picture this going through life without the ability to read or write. Without these abilities, it is impossible for a person to be a functioning member of society. In addition, imagine that someone is purposely limiting your knowledge to keep a leash on your independence. Not only is an American slave raised without skills in literacy, he cannot be taught to read unless someone breaks the law. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the reader is given a detailed explanation of why slave masters keep their slaves ignorant and the effects such a strategy has on the slaves’ lives. In his autobiography, Douglass describes how the knowledge he obtains has substantial positive and negative effects on his psyche. He is given renewed passion and hope for freedom while struggling with the burden of enlightenment of his situation. Ultimately, however, education shapes his fate, and he achieves freedom and prominence as an advocate for abolition.

Frederick Douglass was very fortunate to have learned how to read. In his time if you were a slave and had no education you couldn’t escape to freedom. Frederick Douglass’s key to education was his mistress (155). At first she was very nice and was giving him the education he needed and wanted but then from the influence of her husband she became rotten and denied him the right to his education “My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband no, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else” (155). But then he was fortunate enough to get some boys around where he lived to continue teaching him “The plan which I adopted, and the one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these I could I could, I converted into teachers,

Knowing how powerful reading was, Frederick Douglass decided to take reading into his own hands. He had to acquire new ways to educate himself to read and write. Frederick Douglass immediately realized that all of the white boys on the street knew how to read and write and he soon converted them into his new teachers. He began taking bread from the house and, in trade, received valuable reading lessons from the poor white boy's on the street. Through these lessons, Frederick Douglass could now read. Learning to read gave Frederick Douglass the self confidence he needed to write. He believed that if he could write, he may be able to, one day, write his own pass. Frederick Douglass began learning the letters marked

Douglass’s escape from slavery and eventual freedom are inseparable from his movingly narrated attainment of literacy. Douglass saw slavery as a

The power of education was also a key argument in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, but it was not an argument with a consistent meaning. Although Frederick Douglass believes that the only way to freedom for him and his fellow slaves, is through learning how to build on. At the same time Douglass is disgusted with education because it lets him know and fully understand the extent and horrors of slavery. Later, he finds out that while the conditions are slightly better there is still a great deal of injustice. He then begins to think getting his education could be his way to liberty and freedom and though he endeavors to learn much as he can, he starts to doubt whether he is correct or not. He then state “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out” (47). In the end, these elements of freedom-becoming educated-led to his last act of rebellion, which he thought would bring him freedom. H e engages in a fight with his master. He can no longer stand his new sense of education and knowledge. He states “This battle with Mr.

Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.

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.

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.

In his autobiographical essay “Learning to Read”, Frederick Douglass illustrates the critical and empowering aspects of his life that contributed to his success and shaped his attitude towards learning. Douglass was a former slave who became emancipated and fought for the freedom and rights of enslaved Africans that experienced harsh and brutal treatment. During his early years, Douglass was illegally taught how to read and understand the alphabet by his master’s wife. However, he was later abandoned by his mistress and was forced to learn on his own. Throughout this troubling moment of his life, Douglass turned to a book titled “The Columbian Orator” which allowed him to acknowledge the brutalities of slavery and use his knowledge to help other former slaves. Douglass’s narrative depicts the remorseful attitude which he expressed towards his education and literacy. However, his knowledge later allowed him to escape the brutalities of slavery and contribute his efforts to fighting against it. Similarly to Douglass, I have experienced many positive and negative aspects of learning that have altered and shaped my attitude towards school.

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.

To achieve this need Douglass had to reach within himself and ignore all the bad happening. Douglass reached this need by realizing he could do better than what other thought of him. When he got told he could not be taught to read, Douglass had a spark inside of him. From that point on, he would get an education whether he was allowed to or not. “These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought” (960).

Furthermore, Douglass as a young boy soon began yearning to learn. In spite of the law against educating slaves, Douglas persevered and with incredible ingenuity taught himself how to read and write. In his narrative, Douglas wrote, "Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave. I instinctively assented to the proposition and from that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 29). As he learned to read, he realized how brutal his life has been and devised a plan to escape to freedom.

In the beginning of Douglass working for Master Thomas Hugh, Mrs. Hugh teaches Douglass the basic alphabet in order for him to read, but as the time goes by, Mrs. Hugh realize that it is too dangerous to teach a slave how to read, so she stops teaching him and she does not even let him to read a magazine or newspaper. Douglass starts to look for the white boys on the streets. He learns to read from them after Mrs. Hugh stops teaching him and give bread to treat. Later on, he gets a lot of documents from a man that he met named Sheridan. Those documents utter Douglass’s thoughts a lot. Also, this is the first time that he realizes that he has to do something for the abolition of the slavery. After that, while he was walking down on the wharf, he helps the two white men unloaded their boat without asking, and he gets a suggestion that he should run to the north because they do not think Douglass should be a slave. Because of that, Douglass wants to learn to write as well so he can write letters to the government. The idea as to how Douglass learns to write is being in Durgin and Bailey’s shipyard. He learns to write from all pieces of from timber wood with letters, he repeated and practice every single letters on the timbers. When there is nobody at the house, he always takes a pen and imitates the words on his master’s copybook. A

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.