Learning To Read And Write Frederick Douglass Essay

Douglass takes his audience through the events that helped teach him how to read and write.He started out with looking at his master’s newspaper, then he made friends with the white boys and learned from them, next he started reading books, and finally he found a way to learn how to write.

Douglass takes his audience through the events that helped teach him how to read and write.He started out with looking at his master’s newspaper, then he made friends with the white boys and learned from them, next he started reading books, and finally he found a way to learn how to write.

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–Vanessa Petranek Douglass makes use of a paradox when he is discussing what learning to read and write provided for him. He says that learning to read and write was a blessing because he was able to learn about the world around him and what it really meant to be a slave.

He was able to learn more about the abolitionist movement and if there was any progress towards freeing slaves.

I really enjoyed the style of this essay; it was simple and easy to understand, but also showed that Douglass was an educated man.

Quote: “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity,” (262). I always imagined that every slave would want to know how to read and write, and did not think that this could be a negative thing.

Douglass mentions at the end of his essay that he would meet with boys that he knew could write, and have writing competitions with them.

He would also copy what his master had written, and tells his audience, “Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write,” (264).Douglass does not include over-the-top imagery and descriptions, but he includes just enough to allow the reader to picture what he was experiencing.He describes his mistress as “pious, warm, and tender hearted,” (260).In his essay Douglass says, “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery…” (262).In the same paragraph Douglass reveals to the reader how reading was also a curse for him. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your visiting.Intention: The intention of this piece is to tell Douglass’ story of how he came to learn how to read and write.This description aligns with his direct and simple style, but offers enough information to allow the reader to picture what type of woman this mistress was.Douglass uses elevated diction throughout his essay, which surprised me, considering he was a former slave.He realized how truly powerless he was and in the end he was still only a slave.The ability to read did not change the fact that he was still destined to be a slave for life.