What would you do if you were to learn to read from a stranger? Would you go to the lessons or would you opt out? In the novel The Sign of the Beaver young Matt was left in the middle of Maine to watch his family’s newly built cabin while his father returns home to bring the rest of their family. While alone, Matt has many exciting adventures including a man who betrays Matt by stealing his gun, a bear that he helps slaughter, a bee’s nest, and the meeting of an Indian, Attean, whom he called his friend in the end. Near the beginning of the book, Attean’s grandfather trades Matt a pair of moccasins for him to teach Attean. Even though Attean did not want to go, Attean should have attended to the reading lessons for three reasons. He would learn something new, he would be able to help the Indians when trading, and he might even enjoy it. All three of these are practical reasons why he should have attended. …show more content…
He would learn to read, to write, and to speak better English. These would be very helpful when the Indians were trading with the white men. The next reason Attean should have attended to the reading lessons is because he would be able to help the Indians when trading, as mentioned just before. It would be very helpful if Attean could read what the white men wrote, tell the Indians, and then be able to write back to the men, when necessary. If Attean were able to read, he could make sure that they were not being deceived during trades. The last reason Attean should have attended to the reading lessons is because he might enjoy it. He might appreciate being capable of reading books by the fire to the younger children and writing notes or stories whenever he pleased. He might also become fond of hanging out with Matt. Teaching him as well as learning from him. There are many things they could learn from each
I knew about Equiano was one of the first to learn how read and write, but I didn’t know a white young man taught him. It seemed to me that it wouldn’t be a smart thing for a white man to teach a slave how to read and write.
The Indians would still have their land in the east. There wouldn’t be any troubles of moving to a different area. They still would had the land their ancestors lived in. They wouldn’t be in the west. They could have avoided all these issues of moving from the east.
Frederick Douglass’s determination has inspired me to earn my BA in Social Work. His life experience has inspired me to overcome similar obstacles. Douglass was a slave who learned how to read by his master producing a desire to learn more. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hugh stopped teaching him and even prevented him from reading. He was convinced that by learning he would achieve freedom but he had to overcome challenges.
Both stories “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and “Learning to read” by Frederick Douglass talk about how language both helped and hurt them. In Amy’s Tan “Mother Tongue” she explains how language has affected her as a child. She began to noticing the type of English she used in her books and with her mother. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass also explains how language has helped him “forge” his Identity. As a slave, he did not know how to read or write. But after learning from his master the language has helped him discover who he was.
At the beginning of the story Fredrick describes social impacts on how the slaves were forbidden to learn how to read and write. The slave-owners would explain how it would harm the slaves if they had any form of education. When the young slaves grew older, the slaveholders seemed to prevent them from learning anything, as if it would damage the whites because they would all end up having a sense of self-sufficiency. Since the whites thought they were incapable to society, in order for the slaves to pursue freedom they must
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.
To improve literary skills, lower class citizens should take the initiative outside of the education system to increase the likelihood of breaking through their class’ economic barrier. In the essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, Alexie says that he grew up as a part of the lower class on a Native American reservation. His parents often had to find different jobs that only paid minimum wage, which made it difficult for his family to live comfortably. Even though his family was part of the lower class, his father continuously read books. Alexie began reading to follow his father’s passion. He looked at novels and eventually understood their composition. Alexie’s firsthand experience allowed him to learn how to read in a much more efficient manner than if he learned through the reservation’s mediocre schooling system. Outside reading also motivated him to learn more. Alexie loved the feeling of gaining more information on how to have a positive impact on society. If he did not dedicate time for reading outside of his
of the slaves could read or write, yet Nat knew how. The master did not overlook Nat’s literacy and
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
“How would you feel if you were a slave and were not allowed to learn reading and writing?” Frederick Douglass is one of millions victims in slavery; moreover, he is one of few influential African-American abolitionists. He illustrates how he successfully overcomes tremendous difficulties to become literate in his essay, “Learning to Read and Write.” He believes that education is the key to freedom for slaves. Similarly, non-English speaking immigrants regard education as the essential to get rid of struggles in English in the United States.
The lack of a teacher proved limiting to Douglass’s pursuit of freedom. Nevertheless he persisted in finding new ones, affirming that “Mistress, in teaching [him] the alphabet, had given [him] the inch, and no precaution could prevent [him] from taking the ell” (35). Since, however, there are no more delightful mistress’s to educate him, he resorts to “making friends of all the little white boys whom [he] met in the street” by which “many of these as [he] could, [he] converted into teachers”(36). After taking this new step to freedom, Douglass “finally succeeded in learning to read,” furthering his comprehension and unlocking the door to endless knowledge supplied by literature (36). In learning to read, Douglass could now take use of
After reading and listening to the lectures, I would have first enacted laws that would do away with underminding the Great Plains Indians knowledge of their homeland and authority they had over their people. Having dealt with Indian relations for over 200 years, I believe that the people of the United States, white or indian, should be treated fairly on their own land. Creating individual towns and territorys for both whites and indians would create even more tention, so rather than seperating each race the I would create united communities consisting of both whites and indians on both white land and indian land. Living in a community were both races are next door to each other and are trading items, would allow for relationships to grow much
Before one ever starts attending school, their very first lesson is to become literate in the language they speak. From reading sentences to reading paragraphs to reading novels, we try to achieve literacy. However, some of the greatest public speakers and writers did not achieve it through the way most people did. This is shown in the literary works of Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Sherman Alexie. Like these people, literacy isn’t achieved by simply going to school. It’s achieved through great perseverance and through great tenacity.
Find what the child loves and help him learn to focus on it and excel.
If you couldn’t read or write, how would you tackle your daily life? Being literate is a crucial part of everyone’s life; reading and writing are essential for a person’s success. Every single day, it’s used, whether it’s for an Advanced Placement Language class or reading a billboard as you’re driving past. As a child, I grew up reading on a daily basis and I believe that I am as successful as I am on behalf of it. Countless memories have been created, thanks to the multiple books that have been read and the umpteen amount of papers that I’ve written. Throughout the numerous years of my education, my teachers and parents left a long lasting impact on my reading and writing skills.