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Frederick Douglass Learning How To Read And Write Summary

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Summarize Douglass’s process of learning how to read and write. How does his journey towards literacy begin, and what tools does he find to assist him?
In “Learning How to Read and Write”, Fredrick Douglass discusses his journey towards literacy as a slave. In the beginning, Fredrick Douglass begins his journey towards literacy during his seven year stay with the Hugh family. Initially, Mrs. Hugh taught Douglass how to read. However, Mrs. Hugh soon became violent towards Douglass and ended all teaching sessions with him because she thought that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.
Moreover, Douglass found ways to help further his journey towards literacy by continuing to read on his own. Additionally, Douglass proceeded …show more content…

Moreover, Douglass began to acquire knowledge about an abolitionist movement. With Douglass’ knowledge about an abolitionist movement, he began to contemplate about the meaning of freedom and the need to escape slavery. Essentially, Douglass decided that he needed to run away to escape slavery. However, Douglass thought that he was too young to flee from slavery. Furthermore, Douglass realizes that escaping slavery with the inability to write would be a detriment to his education. Instead, Douglass decides to further his journey towards literacy by copying his master’s copy-book, thus completing his journey towards …show more content…

By Douglass learning how to read, this meant that he could excel beyond being a slave. Furthermore, this also meant that Douglass could educate illiterate slaves by teaching them how to read and write so that slaves could become aware of social injustice and use the notion of literacy to become successful. Moreover, learning to read came to define Fredrick Douglass as a person when he stated “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom...I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read” (Douglass 63). This quoted passage suggests that Douglass’ attitude towards literacy was positive because he realized that learning how to read helped him gain knowledge about the pathway from slavery to freedom.

How does Douglass explain the conflict between literacy and slavery in his own experience? What explanation does he offer to why his master does not want him to learn how to read? What effect does the knowledge that literacy is prohibited have on

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“She now commenced to practice her husband’s precepts. She finally became even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself.” (pg.29-31, p.104) Frederick Douglass then found any way to learn to improve his literacy. When he was sent to do errands, he always took a book with him. He would also bring a piece of bread with him.

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In Frederick Douglass’ passage, “Learning to Read and Write”, his mistress’ decision to halt his education creates an obstacle that he overcomes through creative acts. Ever since Douglass was a child, he was separated from his family to become a slave for life meaning he wasn’t offered an education unless their master wanted to. In Douglass’ case, his master decided to teach him until the purpose of slavery caught up to her, “ the first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct [him]” (17). Without his mistress’ help in instructing him, Douglass didn’t have an obvious opportunity in an education instead, he began to read at any chance given to him. With the urge Frederick Douglass had in wanting to learn and read more, he had

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Many of us take education for granted and don’t learn to our fullest potential, but Fredrick Douglass soaked in every piece of information up because he knew it was his way out. “Learning to Read and Write” is a famous article based on what Fredrick Douglass went through to earn a valuable education while being enslaved. Author Fredrick Douglass, wrote “Learning to Read and Write”, published in 1845. Throughout the article, he takes us through different events he goes through while being enslaved. Douglass begins building his credibility with personal facts and successfully demonstrating logic and pathos appeal.

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When Douglass had to run an errand he always to his book with him along with a piece of bread. Due to the white kids that were helping him being poor and hungry he exchanged bread for lesson on how to read and write. Learning allowed him to used these new skills towards helping his people after discovering the word

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Frederick Douglass was a slave who wanted to learn how to read. His mistress wanted to teach him but her husband did not approve, so he had to find a different way to learn how to read. He gave the white children down the street bread and in return they would teach him to read. Frederick Douglass grew to not like reading because it reminded him that he would never be free. Douglass’s tone in his Autobiography is angry, this helped him achieve his purpose.

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The “Narrative of Frederick Douglass” is an autobiography written by Frederick Douglass. In this excerpt, he recounts how he struggled to learn to read and write while he was a slave. While living with Master Hugh, the mistress started to teach Douglass how to read until she took on the views of her husband: it was dangerous for slaves to have access to knowledge. Douglass found teachers among the white children he would meet in the neighborhood. When he was sent on errands, Douglass would trade bread in return for lessons.

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Frederick Douglass talks about how growing up in slavery affected him and how he learned to read a little from his master's wife. When her husband found out about it he was furious so Douglass had to turn to kids in the streets to teach him. Frederick Douglass took the risk of learning to read and write when he was forbidden to. In the outcome of the risk Frederick Douglass took he learns to read and write and realizes the horror of his circumstances. He wrote¨ It had given me the view of my wretched condition, without the remedy.¨ (paragraph 7,Douglass).

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Frederick Douglass in his narrative “Why I learned to Read and Write” demonstrates how he surpassed many obstacles along the way towards getting an education. These obstacles not only shaped Frederick’s outlook on life but also influenced him in his learning to read and write. Frederick’s main challenge was that of not being an owner of his person but rather a slave and a property to someone else. Frederick Douglass lived in the time when slavery was still taking place and slaveholders viewed slavery and education as incompatible. The slave system didn’t allow mental or physical freedom for slaves; slaveholders were to keep the apt appearance and slaves were to remain ignorant.

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Learning to Read and Write Frederick Douglass (1817 – 1895) was an author, of ‘Learning to Read and Write’. On his autobiographical essay he narrates how he was able to read and write. The author was one of the many Africans brought to become a slave for life and lived for purpose of his masters. The article talks about slavery of ignorance he had that he was not able to read and write. He also explains that, his mistress once was kind and tender hearted woman and thought him to read alphabets, by the influence her husband how she became stone hearted painful woman (248).

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According to Mistress Hugh, “education and slavery were incompatible with each other” (Douglass, 33). Although Mistress Hugh had stopped teaching Douglass how to read, the seed of knowledge had already been planted. In the years that followed, his hunger for knowledge did not dissipate. Douglass devised various methods to learn to read and write in very clever ways.

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“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass is a personal narrative which describes a specific time in his childhood when he was learning to read and write. Born as a slave in the pre-Civil War south, Douglass was not expected to be literate. However, through strong ambition, Douglass overcame restrictions and stereotypes placed on slaves and taught himself to read and write. Later in his life, Frederick Douglass wrote down this story in his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845. Today, students and adults can enjoy this narrative on how he overcame the struggles of learning how to read and write.

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With all the knowledge he was gaining, he began to comprehend everything around him. The things he was learning fascinated him, but the “more [he] read, the more [he] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers”(Douglass 35); however, that should not be viewed as a negative affect but a positive one. No one should want to be deceived for their entire life. This hatred that he built up motivated him to continue to further educate himself. As a result, he later motivated other slaves to earn an education by having “[availed] themselves to [an] opportunity to learn to read” (Douglass 69) by Douglass teaching them every Sunday.

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Throughout the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, we can see Douglass state in the Narrative that learning how to read changed his

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However, literacy turns out to be not only bliss, but also painful. Indeed, while learning to read Frederick becomes more and more aware of the injustices of slavery, and this leads him to regret this knowledge “Learning how to read had become a curse rather than a blessing” ( Douglass ) . Douglass believes in the importance of education. He thinks that education is a key part to our life; it is the only way to get freedom. Literacy is very powerful because it can set anyone free to pursue dreams.

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