Reading Essays: Learning To Read By Frederick Douglass

The essay we chose is untitled “Learning to read” and was written by Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist activist from the ninetieth century. In the essay he tells us the struggles he had gone through to learn how to read, something that would be considered today as normal. In the following paragraphs, we will argue whether, his essay could be used as credible and useful source for an academic research paper. Frederick Douglass is a public figure well known in the world for his contribution to the abolitionist movement in the ninetieth century. There are many schools, streets, libraries named after him. In general, testimony from people who stood up against injustice at the time they are living are highly considered. We think of Nelson Mandela,

He describes her by using words like “tender-hearted woman”, “pious” or “heavenly qualities”. He also does so by describing the pain that he felt when he was stuck with the word “abolitionist” and how fearful he was to ask some of his white fellows its definition. He says for instance that he was “tormented” and “envied [his] fellow-slaves for their stupidity”. He also uses pathos by narrating his childhood, we all cherish your childhood, we tend to focus on the good memories more than the bad ones. When talking about your childhood memories usually we tend to feel nostalgic. We have seen the use of emotional appeal in this paragraph by the use emotionally charged words such as “tender-hearted”, now we will see how the essay illustrates the logic of cause and

Frederick Douglass was persistent in learning how to read. He did very small steps, one at a time and persevered and finally succeeded. Also, we can point out that because he was one among the few educated black persons from his time, that may explain why the stood out from the crowd of black folks. The struggle he went through as a kid and the lessons he learned gave him the strength to stand up against slavery and fight for justice. History proved us that doing so is risky, we think of Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. or Fred Hampton. In short, the whole essay sums up the logic of cause and effect, without the struggles he went through while attempting to learn, without being one the few black persons educated at that time, Frederick Douglass’ name would have been lost in history. Now that we have discussed the logic of cause and effect, we will examine who the Frederick Douglass was trying to reach by writing this