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Education in frederick douglass
Education in frederick douglass
Education in frederick douglass
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Fredrick Douglass was an important African American figure in the nineteenth century. Douglass was born into slavery in 1818. He was an African-American social reformer, an abolitionist, an orator, a writer, and a statesman. He was named the “father of civil right movement”. He was the writer of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederic Douglass.
Slaves were not supposed to be able to read or write and this made it hard. His mistress always got mad anytime she saw him reading. It was hard for him to accept the things he had read since they gave him more details about his race and what he was going through. Douglass learning how to read and write caused him to deal with his readings emotionally and mentally. Alexie thought that him learning how to read made him smart and he was very proud of doing so.
Frederick Douglass Essay By being persistent, creative and determined Frederick Douglass was able to achieve the impossible by overcoming the odds by the use of unconventional methods to become literate. Frederick Douglass faced a lot of adversities while living with the Hugh’s family. He tried his best to learn as much as he could from whoever he could or from whoever was willing to teach him.
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.
Learning To Read and Write is an autobiography Written by Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born into slavery, and moved into his final master’s home when he was a young boy. From the start Douglass was giving schooling from his mistress, however this came to an abrupt ending when Douglass’ master walked into a lesson and became furious. In spite of his lessons coming to an end, Frederick Douglass was determined to learn to read and write so he could escape his life of slavery and enter a new found life of freedom. With his determination Douglass was ready to do anything to learn.
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.
All slaves have once had the dreams of freedom and a plot for escape, but the pathway to this freedom could come only with the ability to read and write. It was said by master that instructing a Negro how to read and write would ruin them as a slave (Douglass, 1845/1995, p.20). Once they learned these things then they would have the same knowledge as a white men, and the next thing they would want is their freedom. If slaves had this capability then their chances of escape would be much greater and white slave owner could not make a living without them. Frederick Douglass had his own way in succeeding to learn, he was first taught by his master’s wife, until her husband caught her in the act and forbid her to ever proceed in her actions (Douglass, 1845/1995, p.20).
Every person learns from his or her environment, and especially from those who surround them. However, if the community does not provide the necessary needs for education, there is a deprivation of learning and a chance of not developing a thriving community. Frederick Douglass demonstrates the importance of pursuing an education in an unsupportive community in “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Douglass’s education grows due to those who surround him by tricking boys to teach him unintentionally. Education includes the perspective which affects an individual's opinion.
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.
Reading about Frederick Douglass 's struggle to learn to read and write reminded me of some difficulties I faced when I was also trying to learn. All throughout elementary school, I had to take a speech therapy class to help me learn to read. It was very difficult to learn how to read some words because of my speech impediment. However, I worked a little harder each day to sound words out right and before I knew it, I was able to read and write just as good as every other student. In a way, Douglass and I both had some difficulties we had to push through to be able to learn to read and write but if you work hard enough anything is possible.
The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through
“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.
Douglass notes many references as to how he himself learned to read and write. He explains how learning brought many positive and negative implications for him. Douglass first learned how to read and write near the middle of his time as an enslaved man. One of his past mistresses, Mrs. Auld, taught him the basics of spelling and the ABCs. From that moment, Fredrick craved to learn, and sought out to read and write.
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.
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.