The phrase “Knowledge is Power” is carved into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Inside one can find artifacts from centuries past and present. Throughout the many rooms divided by time periods and world powers, there are numerous relics depicting the differences between class systems and how knowledge has increased throughout the ages. The increase of knowledge can be linked to the success and power of each world power. Likewise, books highlight these same differences and link learning and knowledge to freedom and success. There are also many examples that concentrate on the connection between social class and the ability to gain knowledge. In the “Land of Opportunity”, James W. Loewen emphasizes the tie between class systems and knowledge by arguing that many times individuals in a higher class system have more opportunities to learn and become successful, while those in a lower social class have fewer opportunities to gain knowledge. In contrast, Frederick Douglass disputes this generalization by expressing his personal experience as a slave, and how gaining knowledge gave him the power and a sense of freedom. In both of these pieces, knowledge is a crucial factor in each individual’s achievements; however an individual’s social status is not the deciding factor to increasing knowledge and success. Determination and a desire to use power gained from knowledge in beneficial ways can be more powerful than social barriers. Many times, determination is stronger than the bonds between class systems. Douglass’s personal example emphasizes the truth of that statement. Originally, he was born a slave, but taught himself to read despite the repercussions that followed from his master and mistress. Ingeniously,... ... middle of paper ... ...s, individuals have equal opportunity to gain knowledge. Each individual that walks through the marble halls of the Museum of Art in New York City can gain insight into times past and how they have affected the time we live in today. Similarly, books today emphasize the importance of knowledge and the power that it can create in individual lives regardless of social class. It is up to each person, then to take advantage of this process and use it to become successful and gain power. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. "Learning to Read and Write." N.d. www.pasadena.edu. PDF file. Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Trans. Robin Buss. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print. Loewen W., James. “The Land of Opportunity.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing. Eds. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. 2nd ed. Boston/New York. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 201 205. Print.
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.
Allen supports her claims about hierarchies and power dynamics in her chapter “Social Class Matters.” She dives into the structures of society by examining power and social class in various contexts. In this chapter, she explains that people are categorized according to themes of class difference and struggle. Social class is associated with the relationship between power and the distribution of resources. Because this stratification system of social class is one of the biggest predictors of school achievement, social identity plays a large role in the social reproduction of inequality in the education system.
One scenario which occurs is the effect of knowledge on a person facing racial inequalities. Both men begin to stray from their programed beliefs and wonder if rebellion may be an option; however, both men learn knowledge is a gift just as much as it is a curse. Wright even states “I felt trapped and occasionally, for a few days, I would stop reading” to indicate the turmoil the knowledge actually released in him (95). The books became his life and he had to learn to will away the pain they created. He even wanted to forget them at one point, similarly to when Douglass was jealous of the ignorance of other slaves. These ideas provided a more accurate description of the circumstances each faced when attempting gain an education; because they were relatable it is easier for us to see how common and how plausible this situation
Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.
One theme found in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is that ignorance can lead to a depth of curiosity. In his autobiography, Douglass has an eagerness of wanting to know more information from anything that surrounds, and that his “…want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness…”. Douglass want for knowledge is obstruct by his master’s deprivation of information to his slaves. When in Baltimore, Mrs. Auld was teaching Frederick the ABCs and teaching him how to write. Once Master Auld found out about this he was enraged and told Mrs. Auld that “learning would spoil the best nigger in the world”. Once Douglass heard this he understood what knowledge can do. Douglass’s ignorance lead to curiosity from which lead to knowledge. In the news article “The Case for Teaching Ignorance”, Marlys H. Witte, a college professor, suggested teaching a class called “Introduction to Medical and Other Ignorance”. Marlys wanted her students to “…recognize the limits of knowledge and to appreciate that questions often deserve as much attention to answers”. Many people didn’t agree with Marlys H. Witte, but many scientist and sociologist have agreed with her. Sociologist, Linsey McGoey, has said “…students
The reader is first introduced to the idea of Douglass’s formation of identity outside the constraints of slavery before he or she even begins reading the narrative. By viewing the title page and reading the words “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, written by himself” the reader sees the advancement Douglass made from a dependent slave to an independent author (Stone 134). As a slave, he was forbidden a voice with which he might speak out against slavery. Furthermore, the traditional roles of slavery would have had him uneducated—unable to read and incapable of writing. However, by examining the full meaning of the title page, the reader is introduced to Douglass’s refusal to adhere to the slave role of uneducated and voiceless. Thus, even before reading the work, the reader knows that Douglass will show “how a slave was made a man” through “speaking out—the symbolic act of self-definition” (Stone 135).
... and unhappy (Douglass 78).” Learning how to read was as big a step towards freedom for Douglass as it was back. It made him aware of the circumstances but it also made him realize how difficult it would be for him to ever find himself a free man. However, knowledge overpowers ignorance in the sense that his masters could never take his ability to read away from him and because Douglass now knew his condition, he knew that he deserved a better life.
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
Nevertheless, our social structure isn’t a brick wall were individuals are trapped in there social class. We are still able with education and the opportunities to shape our lives and achieve our full potential. Harlon L. Dalton emulates the possibility within his story about Horatio Alger, “neither Alger nor the myth suggests that we start out equal. Nor does the myth necessarily require that we be given an equal opportunity to succeed. Rather, Alger’s point is that each of us has the power to create our own opportunities.”
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.
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
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
However, some of our past generations weren’t able to receive an education, due to being in a poor income family, or during pre civil war time, were the slaves weren’t able to have any education.This was the case for Frederick Douglass, He wrote about his journey of how was able to learn how to read and write in his essay How I Learned to Read and Write. Douglass wrote about how he was a slave child pre civil war time, and how the wife of his master been secretly instructed him how to read and write. That until his master found out, and put an end to it. Back then slave owners though if their slaves had an education, than they would be able to think for themselves and be an educated human being. However, Douglass didn’t let his master stop him from learning how to read and write, he continued his education by observing those around him, and by sneaking in the room of his owner’s son, and using the son’s old copy-books. “During this time, my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk” (275). Growing up, my mother grow up in the country of Guatemala, She had grown up not having many materials to have an education, but she had never let that hold her back. My mother had worked hard with the little things she had around her, and was able to graduate high school and move to
Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrows’ leaders. Not only can we become a better nation by acquiring the skills necessary to be productive members of a civilized society. Increase knowledge to actively achieve and meet challenges that can produce changes in which are productive for attaining business innovations, political and economic objectives.
When I think about knowledge the first thing that comes to my mind is education. I believe that knowledge comes to people by their experiences in life. In other words, life is an instrument that leads me to gain knowledge. Many people consider that old people are wise because they have learned from good and bad experiences throughout their lives. Education requires work, dedication and faith to gain knowledge. We acquired knowledge through the guidance of from parents, role models, college/University teachers and life experiences.