The Narrative Of Frederick Douglass: A Class Analysis

Class discussions and seminars have always prove to be challenging for me. During these discussions, the class is always in a passionate debate, whether over the ending of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or the injustice of slavery in “The Narrative of Frederick Douglass”, and nearly a dozen students raise their hands to offer their opinions. While most of the students are eager about the ongoing discussion, I am nervously scribbling down my classmates’ thoughts and hoping the teacher will choose from the sea of enthusiastic students rather than me. It is difficult for me to jump into the middle of an ongoing conversation to put in my thoughts and the idea of it alone intimidates me. I combated with this challenge for the first semester of the year. I made numerous attempts to speak up in the classroom, but during my of these attempts, the class usually changed topics or someone already brought up my idea before I could speak. I attempted asking the only friend I have in the class to help open up the conversation for me, but that proved to be futile when many other students leaped at the opportunity when a new topic opens up. Every effort I made to get a spot in the debate did not work in my favor. At the end, I was left with only one option.

I conveyed my own ideas to her to get her approval of my opinions. I also asked for her to pick me to start off the discussion, which will provide me with a chance to speak in the class. This helped me raise my confidence in future class discussions when I was able to build upon my chance to speak up. Little by little, I managed to increase my participation in class throughout the rest of the year. My proudest moment occurred when I rushed to input my own ideas about the symbol of the river in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, disregarding my past reluctance of speaking