ipl-logo

Mr. Auld By Frederick Douglass Summary

477 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Frederick douglass literary essays

Frederick Douglass was a slave in the 1800’s that had many troubles in life, he had to work for many slave owners, but even though he was not allowed to read, with the help of other people he learned how to read. During the time I was a slave I was sold to a man called “Mr.Auld” and his mistress “Mrs. Auld” Mr. Auld was a basic slave owner, but Mrs. Auld was a nice lady and did not take pleasure in giving me work. Mrs. Auld, the mistress had tried to teach me how to read even though slave owners were not allowed to teach slaves to read. This was very nice of her and it felt like she thought of me as a real person. At one of our sessions, Mr. auld had walked into the room and gasped. “Darling, What are you doing with the slave?!” He stammered. “I am teaching this young boy here how to read,” she responded. …show more content…

Auld started to yell at her “ Don’t you know this is not allowed! You can’t teach a slave to read” “I I'm sorry,” Mrs. Auld Murmured At the time, I could not understand what they were saying, but I knew that Mrs.Auld was not going to teach me anymore. I could only understand and speak three to four letter words, yet I knew enough to want to learn more. I knew Mr. and Mrs. Auld was not going to teach me. My plan was that I was going to become friends with the other poor boys in the neighborhood. They did not have a lot of food so I traded the bread I got with them in exchange for them teaching me how to read and write, They did not have a lot of food but they knew how to read and write. At every job I had to go to, I brought my book with me so I can read more and more. I found time to get a lesson before my

Show More
Related
574 Words | 3 Pages

Hugh Auld thought that if a slave learned to read, he would learn enough to want to be free. Even though Sophia couldn’t teach him anymore, Douglass continued to learn.

Read More
134 Words | 1 Pages

He does not agree with Mrs. Auld teaching Douglass these new things, because he felt the education ruined slaves and ultimately would make them unhappy and unruly. Although Mr. Auld’s word were quite harsh, Douglass took it as words of enlightenment and vowed to win his freedom

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

Our first reading of EN101, Fredrick Douglass’ “Learning to Read,” helped our class to better understand the privilege of being a writer. Douglass lives in Hugh Auld’s household for roughly seven years. During this time, he is able to learn how to read and write, though Mrs. Auld is hardened and no longer tutors him. Slavery hurts Mrs. Auld as much as it hurts Douglass himself. The mentality of slavery strips her of her inherent sympathy for others, making her hardened and cruel.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
326 Words | 2 Pages

When Mr. Auld found out he made a few statements. The first was teach a slave to read would ruin a slave and the other, teach a slave to read and get treated like a slave or worse. Frederick knew then the importance of reading and the possibilities of how this skill could help him. He takes it upon himself to learn how to read, write and learn all he can. Mr. Auld passed and his son Thomas Auld inherit everything.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1197 Words | 5 Pages

Moreover, during the years of slavery, teaching a slave how to read was very uncommon. Overtime,Ms.Hugh’s attitude had began to change and fade away, with slavery becoming a greater mean of power and mastery. When Ms. Hugh had a sudden change in mind, Fredrick had gained his knowledge by little white boys that

Read More
582 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

African-American slaves were forbidden to obtain the knowledge of being able to read or write, stemming from the fear of white masters that educated slaves will overpower them. Douglass managed to learn to read by bribing poor and hungry white boys into teaching him in exchange for bits of bread. Douglass illustrates his thirst for literacy through “[The] bread [he] used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give [him] that more valuable bread of knowledge” (pg 23). This reveals how much Douglass valued education and took advantage of all the knowledge he had access to. Today’s youth, especially the ones belonging to a minority

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

Douglass states: “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Douglass 51). Reading and writing opened Frederick Douglass’s eyes to the cause of the abolitionist. He became knowledgeable about a topic that white slave owners tried to keep hidden from their slaves. Literacy would eventually impact his life in more ways than what he could see while he was a young slave under Master Hugh’s

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

Because of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.

Read More
1080 Words | 5 Pages

In Frederick Douglass’s narrative essay titled “Learning to Read” he recalls his journey to literacy. Throughout the essay Douglass reveals how he learned to read and write, despite the fact that education was strictly prohibited to slaves. Initially, Douglass learned how to read through his mistress, but he later learned from the little white boys on the streets. As for learning to write, he often times observed ship carpenters and replicated the copy-books of his Master’s son. Frederick Douglass did not have the same opportunities students have today, yet despite his adversities, Douglass was able to become a literate slave, and ultimately free himself from slavery with the power of

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

If Ms. Auld didn’t teach Douglass how to write his path to freedom wouldn’t have even started. “After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further” (40). When Douglass got older and wanted to be a free slave his knowledge came in much handy to help his friends and even himself to escape. “The week before our intended start, I wrote several protections, one for each of us” (78).

Read More
954 Words | 4 Pages

The history of my literacy has been a long road of a frustration and learned lessons. As a child, I was a bit of a loner so reading and writing were the closest thing to a social life for me. The things that I bottled up inside came out through my writing and it became somewhat of a pass time for me. As long I could remember literacy as has been an important value for me in my life because from very young age I got express my true self without being judged by the outside. Even though in my later years I would deal with some heartaches and set back that lead me to give up on my love for reading.

Read More
1474 Words | 6 Pages

From the moment Frederick Douglass was given the tools to read “books” he was overcome with a joy and excitement for knowledge that inspired him to persevere regardless of the beliefs of others. As a slave Douglass was sent to live with his masters the Hugh family, during his time there his master’s wife began to teach him to read “books”. The lessons gave the young boy a chance to explore worlds he never imagined and was the beginning of an undeniable love for literature. Unfortunately when his master was informed of this he immediately halted all the lessons. Douglass recalls Mr. Hugh explaining to his wife that studying “books” was not suitable for slaves and

Read More

More about Mr. Auld By Frederick Douglass Summary

Related Topics

Open Document