All the people have an inquisitiveness to discover and learn different knowledge and experiences; we all have this ability to acquire knowledge and experiences through study, experience, or by being taught from the first day we born. As we grow up we have the neediness to be able to communicate with the others; consequently, we begin to develop the skills to talk catching all the words we hear around us that are important to the development of literacy. With time we are old enough to attend school, which is the place where we improve all our cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and math, but not all the people have the same know-how or capability to acquire this knowledge. In my personal experience the buildup and development of my literacy …show more content…
The process of learning a second language has many difficulties, but my process of learning another language reminds me to when I was a child trying to learn the alphabet and accomplishment the skills of speech to be able to communicate with others. Today, after the process I already did when I was a child, I have to start again in order to learn another language. First, I start to learn the alphabet that was not difficult at all; however, as I was learning more advance terms, learning English began to become more complex, but “The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell” (Douglass 101). In my English class the professor made me to learn ten simple words every single week although the problem was that every single word I had to know the correct spelling, pronunciation, and the use of the word. The process of learning new vocabulary was not as tough as being able to make coherent sentences. I remember, I joined into a conversation club with others students who want to learn English too, but some students had a higher or lower knowledge of English ; as a result, we exchanged our knowledge with the other students; learning from each other like Douglass when he learned from the other white boys; in contrast, he exchanged bread …show more content…
Despite my speech is the one I found the most demanding and effortful. I regard the pronunciation in English challenging owing to some of the combination of letters in English does not exist in my first language. Douglass was a slave of the power of be literacy and free; likewise, I was a slave of my pronunciation. The desire of communicate in English were persistently; by that time, I had a solid bases of grammar, reading, writing, and listening. However; having a conversation in English was problematic because people did not understand me well even though I understood them. According to Douglass, he was prisoner of his knowledge “As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (103). I was a prisoner of my own thoughts, I had many ideas that I wanted to say, but I did not know how to say them in the right way with an adequate pronunciation which were understandable for the rest of the people; despite the fact, I knew how to write them, read them, and if someone would say the say ideas I wanted to say I could understand them. I could express all the ideas in my head better in Spanish; comparable with Douglass who if he had been released of the darkness would have the self-determination to read and write
Frederick Douglass’s memoir, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” describes Douglass’s life as a slave who through a multitude of experiences, reaches his path to freedom. He inherently has a life very disparate to that of a traditional slave. Through good fortune Douglass is able to escape the clutches of back-breaking agricultural work, and instead is given away as a personal slave. While working for the Auld family he receives a somewhat un-strenuous experience, in which he is able to clandestinely become literate. Douglass’s autobiography is a story in which the savior and key to salvation does not take physical form, but lies in literacy. In this memoir, Douglass goes through a process of understanding, in
During the days of slavery many slaves did not know the alphabet, let alone reading and writing. Douglass feels distant from his close ones and is often stressed about his situation. Sometimes, he would be so tensed that he feels that there is no other option than to take his own life in order to be free and escape the misery of slavery. Frederick Douglass was stressed and he would find himself “regretting [his] own existence, and now wishing [himself] dead;” he had no doubt that “[he] should have killed [himself]” (146). Douglass is clearly suffering from the knowledge he gains because it leads him to be estranged and makes him often want to end his own life. This is not a good practice for anyone in life for the reason that life is precious and it should never be taken for granted. Before Douglass learns how to read, he was content with his condition as a slave, but this proved a cruel incident that occurred in his life by making him
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts to escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery. Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054).
Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many others writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences. Douglass’s work today still remain of great impact and influence, allowing us to understand the reality of slavery, and thus inspiring many others to come out and share for others to understand.
One day, Douglass eavesdrops on him and Mrs. Auld’s conversation. Mr. Auld persuades her that reading “could do him (Douglass) no good, but a great deal of harm.” (page 39) This antithesis along with the rest of his statement makes Douglass come to the realization that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day on, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write,
As a slave Douglass was prohibited from learning to read and write. He started to learn from his mistress who taught him the alphabet. Later, she became aware that teaching Douglass to read could give him power. Therefore, Douglass was forbidden to read. In fact it was illegal to teach a slave to learn. As a result she and her husband tried to stop Douglass from learning to read. Every time she saw him with a newspaper she beat him. They didn’t allow him to have any books in the house and they monitored him at all time. Douglass didn’t give up. He kept learning secretly and faced his obstacles.
In “Learning to read and write ” Frederick Douglass described the obstacles that he faced trying to get an education as a slave.During the time of slavery the idea of slaves reading and writing was viewed as deadly. In his narration he expressed how his enslavers did what ever they could to prevent him
He had long fought to learn to read and was so excited and eager to do so, he never expected the circumstances of this to be as dehumanizing as they were. He regretted learning to read because it brought him nothing but desperation, he learned his awful truth and that of his fellow slaves. "It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy." (Douglass, 24) The truth was that the more he learned the more he became aggravated, he knew there was not much he could do. It brought his moral down along with many other feelings, even a slave like Frederick had learned the awful feeling of
With education comes power and Douglass grasped the full meaning of this after hearing his master argue with his wife about the adverse effects that could come from her teachings. The ability to read and write was precious to a lot of slaves as it gave them a sense of power and could possibly provide opportunities to them. As a result, many slave narratives feature the narrator’s quest for literacy while they were enslaved. Douglass speaks in detail about the hard work he out forth in order to master the skills and the amount of importance he placed on acquiring the knowledge. “Through conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.”
In his self-titled chronicle, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", the author presents his audience with a memorable description of his resourcefulness in how he learned to write. His determination to shake off the bonds of illiteracy imposed by his slaveholders created in him the ability to conquer obstacles that held many slaves back. His mastery of the basic steps of the written language would one day play a central role in his success as a free man. The way these skills were acquired teaches us not only of his willpower, but also of his ingenuity as well. The outcome of his efforts culminated in an inimitable slave-narrative, as well as a career as one of the most famous abolitionists that this country would ever know.
As a relatively young man, Frederick Douglass discovers, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that learning to read and write can be his path to freedom. Upon discovering that...
Frederick Douglass’s tone in his introductory paragraph of Learning to Read and Write is learned and reflective. Douglass begins his introduction with a brief background of how he “succeeded in learning to read and write” despite the difficulties presented by his masters. He does not use words or phrases that suggest remorse even the slightest bit of bitterness, instead he uses analytic descriptions of how his mistress “kindly” began to instruct him, but because of the disapproval from her husband, stopped and allowed no one else to teach him. Douglass then explains that his mistress, although was a strict slave-owner, “first lacked the depravity indispensable to shutting me [him] out in mental darkness.” Through reflection and analysis, Douglass concluded that his mistress treated him badly not out of heart but because she had become corrupted in attempts to receive the approval from society. This itself I find ironic because instead of having developed resentment towards his mistress, Douglass respectfully describes her as a woman who was simply following the norm. Also, because of the emphasis on her kindness, after he explained that she was deprived from teaching him,
While writing about the dehumanizing nature of slavery, Douglass eloquently and efficiently re-humanize African Americans. This is most evident throughout the work as a whole, yet specific parts can be used as examples of his artistic control of the English language. From the beginning of the novel, Douglass’ vocabulary is noteworthy with his use of words such as “intimation […] odiousness […] ordained.” This more advanced vocabulary is scattered throughout the narrative, and is a testament to Douglass’ education level. In conjunction with his vocabulary, Douglass often employed a complex syntax which shows his ability to manipulate the English language. This can be seen in Douglass’ self-description of preferring to be “true to [himself], even at the hazard of incurring ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur [his] own abhorrence.” This is significant because it proves that Douglass can not only simply read and write, but he has actually obtained a mastery of reading and writing. This is a highly humanizing trait because it equates him in education level to that of the stereotypical white man, and how could one deny that the white man is human because of his greater education? It is primarily the difference in education that separates the free from the slaves, and Douglass is able to bridge this gap as a pioneer of the
He soon found help from some poor white children, which he exchanged bread for knowledge. This helped him succeed in learning to read. Douglass came in contact with “The Columbian Orator,” which, thanks to his ability to read, transitioned his thirst for learning into a thirst for freedom. In this book, he was able to finally find his voice and argue the thoughts that had been on his mind about the injustice of his personal situation and slavery itself. Although, this knowledge and comprehension “relieved of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which was relieved” as he grew to “abhor and detest enslavers” (Douglass 1199).
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.” ‒ Nelson Mandela. Since the 1960’s learning a second language has decreased by 30 percent in today’s society. People who wish to learn an additional language often do so to communicate with people who reside in different countries. With an increase in today’s globalization, it is forcing companies throughout the world to break the language barrier. However, with the advancement of technology, numerous citizens find it unnecessary to learn another language, as a translation is at the tip of their fingers. The methods of learning a foreign language can differentiate between people. Nevertheless it has been