In Frederick Douglass’s essay “Learning to Read and Write” he explains many of the deterrents he faced as a slave, including the challenges of reading and writing in this era. Owners prohibited their slaves to have an education. Why would they not want their slaves to have an education? Being educated meant you had the power of knowledge. Slaves lacked the basic concept of understanding and power, therefore they couldn’t challenge the practice of slavery in a political manner.
Frederick Douglass wrote the article “Learning to Read and Write”. Douglass was a slave trying to learn to read and write. Douglass talks about how he was successful in learning to read and write, for him to carry out this, he had to resort to different strategies. Douglass was making friends of all the boys, he traded bread for knowledge, he didn’t give them up when they helped him with learning to read and write, so then Douglass and the boys would talk to each other about how they wish to be free. The book Columbian Orator was used in schoolrooms in the nineteenth century to learn how to read and speak, it also taught people how to read and write, it was a big part of Douglass’ plan to learn to read and write.
In “Learning to Read and Write,” the writer, an abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, wanted to learn how to write and read, but there were struggles throughout his process, and eventually accomplished his goal by reaching out for help. Douglass was born into slavery, his master's wife started to teach him the alphabet, but eventually was diminution of knowledge by her husband. Therefore, this circumstance did not persevere Douglass to hindrance reading. Instead, Douglass seek for help from little white boys by giving them food and in return they gave him proficiency of knowledge. Additional, Douglass expanded his awareness of education after reading The Columbia Orator which acquainted with being able to have his own thoughts opening the doors
At one put when Mrs. Auld wasn’t having a good day. She separated Douglass into a lonely place. Where he doesn’t have a book or anything that has to do with learning. Even sometimes She would send someone to check on him if he is hiding a book or reading something that could be knowledgable. Douglass showed Mrs.Auld slavery and education were incompatible with each other.
The quote, “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. (Chapter 1)” connects to the author's purpose because it shows that the masters want the slaves to be as ignorant and illiterate as possible. The author states, “Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A,B,C. After I learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. (Chapter 6)” This quote shows that Mrs. Auld had not been influenced by slavery, she did not know to keep her slaves illiterate, and she still had a kind heart, therefore, she wanted to teach Douglass how to read.
Stumbling Isn’t Falling Our lives and how we grew up has a lot to do with our identity. Where you came from, and your experiences have molded you into who you are today. Today you see many writers use their personal experiences to show portray the concept to the audience. In this essay we will explore personal experiences of both Malcom X in “A Homemade Education” and, “Learning to read and write” by Fredrick Douglas.
“Learning to Read and Write” is a narrative writing that successfully grabbed the attention of readers in the context of society in Maryland between 1830–1840. Frederick Douglass, the author of the writing, was born a slave in 1818 in Maryland (Douglass 100). At that time, a slave who was able to read and write was unacceptable and like a crime in society. Douglass, an ambitious and strong-minded man, would learn to do both read and write. That was amazing!
Fredrick Douglass meets Hugh Auld’s wife Sophia and he is surprised about how nice she is. She does not really know how to treat slaves because she has never had them. A slave with education is said to be a dangerous slave so they are not supposed to be taught. However it seems like Mrs. Auld did not know that, and she began to teach Douglass the Alphabet which is a big turning point in Douglass’s life as a slave. Mr. Auld figures out that his wife has been teaching Douglass, and he puts an end to it, and he tells her how dangerous it is to teach a slave.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an autobiography consisting of Frederick Douglass’ search for freedom from the slaveholders who kept many African Americans captive, allowed many to understand the pain and misery in the midst of slavery. Published in 1845, Douglass conveyed the lives of African Americans and how they have suffered a great deal of pain and discomfort through a provocative tone . Throughout his autobiography, Douglass used countless metaphors to portray his life. From Mr. Plummer to Mrs. Auld, the reader could better perceive the text by visualizing the metaphors that Douglass has used. Using Frederick’s writing, youthful audiences can gain knowledge about slavery and its effects.
When Douglass was a child we was owned by the Aulds. Mrs.Auld had grown fond of Douglass, and began to each him how to read. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read because it could lead to them running away, but Mrs.Auld taught him anyway. When Mr.Auld found out he demanded her to stop teaching him.
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.
Douglass is again denied of something he sees white people have so again he is deprived mentally. He begins seeking an education for basic things like reading and writing, things most people do automatically without even second guessing doing it. Sophia Auld starts to teach Douglass how to read, but once her husband tells her not to she refrains from it and Douglass frantically teaches himself. “Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” (Douglass 48). Mr. Auld knows that literacy is what makes a man out of a slave, so he shuts down Douglass’ learning as soon as he finds out about
“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.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s autobiography in which Douglass goes into detail about growing up as a slave and then escaping for a better life. During the early-to-mid 1800s, the period that this book was written, African-American slaves were no more than workers for their masters. Frederick Douglass recounts not only his personal life experiences but also the experiences of his fellow slaves during the period. This book was aimed at abolitionists, so he makes a point to portray the slaves as actual living people, not the inhuman beings that they are treated as. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, slaves are inhumanly represented by their owners and Frederick Douglass shines a positive light
An education often opens new doors for people, but how does a lack of an education affect other people? What causes such a stark difference between people with knowledge and people no knowledge at all? In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass an American Slave we can see that Douglass is more intelligent than the other slaves on the plantation he is living on due to his hidden ability to read. With his level of education, he is able to see the brutal mistreatment of slaves and is unable to look at things the same way when he was an uneducated slave. The slaves on the plantation do not know how to read and therefore do not view being a slave the way Douglass views it.
