Frederick Douglass Graphic Organizer
1. In the passage, Frederick Douglass reveals about himself his life story. He writes about his childhood in which he learned to read by exchanging bread for lessons, his thoughts on slavery after reading The Columbian Orator where he had gotten hope on escaping slavery, and how he thought about slavery and freedom after reading one of Sheridan’s mighty speeches. His thoughts on slavery from a young age is revealed at the end of paragraph one where he said “You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be as free as you have?” At this age, he was just realizing the fact that he would be a slave for life.
2. Frederick Douglass learned to read by using the little white boys he met in the street as mentors. “With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read.” He found time to learn by going one part of the errand he would be sent on quickly, leaving enough time to get a lesson before he would have to return. After each lesson, Frederick would bestow upon the little boys that taught him bread; that was always available in the house; as the boys were poor and often didn’t eat enough food.
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Frederick tells stories in this passage about the way he learned to read, his thoughts on the Columbian Orator, and how freedom occupied his thoughts after reading one of Sheridan’s mighty speeches. Frederick tell us about these stories to show us how various people and books at different times in his life influenced him to be at the stage where he was when he was writing this autobiography. The main idea he is trying to convey is that throughout your life, you will meet people and do things that will lead you to who you will be at the peak of your life if you let them influence you