Preview

Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
552 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary
In the essay Learning to read and write by Frederick Douglass he talked about growing up as a slave, trying to learn how to read and write, how it’s hard to get what you want but with a lot of work and effort it can be done. It really connected with me how if he wasn’t white ethnicity he was considered a slave and didn’t have same privliges as the white kids in his neighborhood. With having glasses and being short made me feel different as well, not with rights but with making friends and being considered different from the others. The essay really connects with world events around 1930 when slavery was legal and how it was hard to obtain the knowledge Frederick Douglass had when he was writing this essay. What he accomplished in his essay …show more content…
When the mistress stopped teaching him the alphabets he had to find other ways of reading. It became more difficult also because of the mistress having a change of heart and monitoring him making sure he does not get time to read. He would have to wait to run an errand and finish quick so he could pay a white neighborhood kid in bread for reading lessons. Even learning to write became a challenge and strategy once he had learned four letters from the ship carpenters writing it on the boat he would trick the other kids into thinking he can write well so he can learn new words. Eventually he learned and practiced with his master’s son’s book by re copying hat he had wrote until he could write it down without having to look. He would of never learned anything if he didn’t sneak around, he also realized that if he didn’t want to get in trouble he would of have to play dumb and hide his knowledge of reading or writing, besides the fact that slaves didn’t have rights, what horrified him the most was knowing the truth behind it all, how everyone should have rights and be treated equal the constant thought of him knowing the truth and not being able to do anything terrified him. The main idea is that the whites kept all the blacks from learning so they wouldn’t find everything out, how it’s wrong to have slaves how we are all equal, how we have our own minds and opinion. Especially
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analyzing Frederick Douglass 'Learning How To Read'
    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analyzing Frederick Douglass 'Learning How To Read'

    The short narration “Learning how to Read” by Frederick Douglass, tells a story about how Douglass being a young slave hunger to learn how to read. He mentions some of the things he need to do to learn how to read and write. Douglass being nothing but a young slave had an eager to get his education although his master had prohibited him to stop learning Douglass was very smart and brave. In this story he demonstrates to be very confident and very curious but about why his master did not want him to learn how to read and write. But Douglass creative mind urged him to get…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Learning to Read by Douglass
    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Learning to Read by Douglass

    In “Learning to Read” an excerpt from his autobiography, Frederick Douglass writes about the steps he took to learn to read and write. He shows all the steps in this excerpt. He was a slave in a house; he didn’t have any opportunity to go to school or get any educations but the mistress in the house helped him and taught him the alphabet. But then Douglass’s master asked his wife to stop teaching him. She listened to her husband and turns into inhuman, an evil woman, Douglass could not recognize her anymore. Douglass writes, “She finally became even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself” (36). She changed and she became more evil, more violent than the master. But then that didn’t make Douglass stop and stand hopelessly, he found another way to learn. He tricked a kid from his neighborhood and makes that kid teach him how to read and it went well. After that he continued to find more way to learn, and try improving his reading. He found a book named “The Columbian Orator”. He used every opportunity he got try to read this book and learn the words in there. That was the final step that he took to learn to read. Some years later, after he went to a shipyard and saw and board with words, letters, and he wanted to write. He tried to copy the letters from the board. He didn’t stop; he wanted to know more about writing. He found a boy and asked him to teach him write. The boy taught him to write all the alphabet letters. Finally, the last step he took to learn to write was that he took a book and copy all the words in there and try to remember what the words looked like. That was long and not so easy time for him to learn how to read and write but it didn’t stop him from his interest in reading and writing. Even though he didn’t have any opportunity as a slave to have education, he became strong and found any way that could help him to learn. He keep reading and writing until he…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary
    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page

    Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary

    Learning to Read and Write by Frederik Douglass Frederik Douglass born a slave in 1818 in Maryland. He learned to read and write then he escaped to New York to become a leader in the abolitionist. He is best known of his autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederik Douglass (1845)”. He described in his narrative biography his relation with Hugh family that own him as slave. He focused in the early writing of his story about his mistress, and how she was kind, warm, with tender-heart.…

    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Analysis Of Frederick Douglass Two Cheers For Brown V. Board Of Education
    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of Frederick Douglass Two Cheers For Brown V. Board Of Education

    I think that this reads best as an essay intended to inspire and to illustrate the importance of literacy to all. He writes in a matter-of-fact tone, simply telling the story of the lengths he went to become literate. As Frederick Douglass was a slave, he risked his very life for the ability to read and write. What he gained, however, was far better than the life he lead before his efforts paid off. It was far from easy; he even fought himself in his efforts sometimes, stating, “I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity.” Fortunately, he used his knowledge as a lifeboat of sorts, and he went on to become a powerful orator, journalist, and most importantly, a free…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rebellion - How Ben Franklin and Frederick Douglass bettered themselves through education
    • 737 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rebellion - How Ben Franklin and Frederick Douglass bettered themselves through education

    When Mrs. Auld began teaching Frederick how to read was Douglass’s first real foray into rebellion. It was illegal to teach a slave how to read and write and after Mr. Auld reprimanded Mrs. Auld, Douglass realized that “to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (Douglass 20). The seed of rebellion had been planted and he had discovered his path to freedom. He was proud of his new ability and tried to practice it as often as he could by challenging children to writing letters (Douglass 26). Douglass cultivated this new ability and treats it as the reason he was able to become free.…

    • 737 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare And Contrast Frederick Douglass And Education
    • 126 Words
    • 1 Page

    Compare And Contrast Frederick Douglass And Education

    Slaves encounter tremendous challenges to get literate. Douglass, a young teenage slave, “live in Master Hugh’s family about seven years” (61). He is fortunate to learn the alphabet from his sympathetic mistress at first. However, Mr. Hugh perceives that his wife educates Douglass; then, he forbids his wife from teaching the salve. As a result, Mrs. Huge obeys her husband’s command; she loses her kindness to become a cruel slave owner, and she no longer teaches Douglass to read. As Douglass condemn, “education and slavery were incompatible with other each” (61). Slaveholders teach slaves to read and write, which is disadvantageous to them. When slaves become literate, they can run away to escape from their masters’ control. Therefore, education…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Close Reading of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass1
    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Close Reading of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass1

    According to the narrative of Frederick Douglass, during the 19th Century, the conditions slaves experienced were not only cruel, but inhumane. It is a common perception that “cruelty” refers to the physical violence and torture that slaves endure. However, in this passage, Douglass conveys the degrading treatment towards young slaves in the plantation, as if they were domesticated animals. The slaves were deprived of freedom and basic human rights. They were not only denied of racial equality, they weren’t even recognized as actual human beings.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Comparing Henry David Thoreau And Frederick Douglass
    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing Henry David Thoreau And Frederick Douglass

    He wrote about his personal experience to reach out to the audience so they can, through his words, see and feel what he went through as a slave. Douglass’s idea of protest was active and peaceful to a certain extent. Douglass made it a point to learn how to read shortly after his mistress was forbidden, by her husband, from continuing teaching Douglass how to read. Douglass. According to Douglass, his master said, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell” (39). and Douglass did. He would do anything he could to continue his “education”. He went to children and tricked them into teaching him how to read and write. Also, he would sneak a book during any free time he had so that he can practice until he mastered it. With all of his reading, he realized that there was a life outside of being a slave and he was determined that he was not going to be a slave for his entire life, he was one day going to be free. Douglass explains how one day his life changes, “I have already intimidated that my condition was much worse, during that first six months of my stay at Mr. Convey’s, than in the last six. The circumstances leading to the change in Mr. Convey’s course…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Analysis Of Notes Of A Native Son By Frederick Douglass
    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis Of Notes Of A Native Son By Frederick Douglass

    People often says discrimination and racism still exist in today's society. In the essay “Notes of a native son” by James Baldwin and “ Learning to read and write” by Frederick Douglass, both author elaborated how they suffered and got treated badly by the society because of their races and color. Both of the author highlighted that they were treated like an ignorant due to their background and because of that their life were hard and terrible. Douglass, in his essay, He basically explains how he learned to read and how reading changed his life and make him the person he became. At first, Douglass didn't know how to read and write then been slavery at the same time, in reminder, during this period of time, only white peoples…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary
    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass Learning To Read And Write Summary

    Frederick Douglass in his essay "Learning to Read and Write" explains all the difficulties he had to face when he learned to read and write in 1830s. Being a slave, it was against the law to learn to read and write, yet Douglass by risking his life, using all opportunities managed to learn reading and writing.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Literacy In Frederick Douglass
    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Literacy In Frederick Douglass

    In Frederick Douglass's autobiography The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. He elegantly depicts his journey of learning to read and write in the seven years of enslavement by the Hugh family. In order to argue the effect of slavery on literacy and the importance of literacy.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis
    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    In the excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass’s sad tone helps the reader understand the effect that his literacy had on his thoughts and feelings toward slavery. Douglass describes how his mistress had given him “the inch” that he needed to learn to read and how he used bread to convince the little white children to teach him. He soon found the knowledge of how horrible his enslavers were. “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 120-121). This quote describes how he is depressed because he had learned the truth of his enslaves and wished that he would forget the truth. Although learning to read was a great ability he had acquired, it was a curse that led…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis of Frederick Douglass's "How I Learned to Read and Write"
    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis of Frederick Douglass's "How I Learned to Read and Write"

    In the excerpt “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass talks about his experiences in slavery living in his masters house and his struggle to learn how to read and write. Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman. Some of his other writings include “The Heroic Slave”, “My Bondage and My Freedom”, and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”. In this excerpt, Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, imagery, certain verb choice, contrast, and metaphors to inform African Americans of how important it is to learn to read and write and also to inform a white American audience of the evils of slavery. I find Frederick Douglass to be relatively persuasive in his argument to his intended audiences.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Theme Analysis by Frederick Douglass
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Theme Analysis by Frederick Douglass

    In the autobiography, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, there is an underlying theme of knowledge as the path to freedom. During Douglass ' time, slave owners deprived slaves of an education and as a result, the slaves were thus deprived of freedom. Knowledge among slaves is what the white men feared the most, as knowledge not only "spoiled" slaves, it also provided them with the insight that ultimately paved their road to freedom.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Frederick Douglass Education
    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essay On Frederick Douglass Education

    Douglass knowing that he could no longer be educated by Mrs. Auld, he would look for other methods to teach himself. Douglass’s determination to be educated guided him well. In chapter seven, Douglass shares how he gained an education without a formal teacher. Douglass became friends with local poor white boy’s, who he traded bread with in return of knowledge. Douglass also made use of the child of Mr. Auld, by using his educational books. Mr. Auld was right to fear the education of slaves, it was Douglass’s education which led him to seek freedom from slavery. It was education which caused Douglass the passion to better his mind. It was education which helped Douglass establish a legacy, which presented the harsh reality of being a slave. By taking a slave’s education away, a master can maintain their power other their slave, continuing their suppression. Douglass was born into a world that did not want him to be educated, but his persistence to learn resulted in him gaining both an identity and his own freedom. Education is something that many of us nowadays take for granted, but Douglass demonstrates the true power and importance of knowledge within his…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics