Lila Toczek Analysis Essay Draft Today many people read new articles and discoveries as they believe that is the only way to learn something new. Innovative ideas and useful knowledge are hard to come by in the words of twitter or Cosmopolitan magazines. However, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas”, which was written in 1845 has a greater ability to speak on the past, present, and future. Knowledge is power, it is a tool that when used wisely, can provide an individual with the motivation and encouragement to move passionately towards a cause. The Civil War was immensely accelerated by knowledge. When the northerners learned of what was occurring in the south, they acted more aggressively. When the slaves learned that there was a possibility of being free in the North, they became more interested and invested in their call to freedom. The abolitionist movement commenced when the truth of harsh treatment was discovered. When people become more informed of an event or topic, they have the …show more content…
His story goes to show the contrast of his life before being educated, compared to his life after teaching himself to read and write. Frederick Douglas was an individual who documented his rise to power through his newly learned literacy. Douglas described his experience as a “mental darkness”, where he did not know how he could have lived without knowing what he had recently learned. Frederick Douglas was previously naïve to the idea of freedom as he was completely unaware of it’s existence. Slavery was the only thing that he knew, and could not stand up to fight for something, such as freedom, when he did not know it was an option. By learning bit by bit to read from his mistress or bribing starving boys with bread, Douglas slowly discovered literature for himself. It was with this knowledge that Douglas gained the power of being aware of all his