Learning to Read and Write Essays - 1169 Words

Alana Roberts Essay I February 26th, 2013 â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† by Fredrick Douglas is a story about a slave breaking the bondage of ignorance by learning to read and write. During the course of 7 years Douglas discreetly teaches himself to read and write by means of stealing newspapers, trading food with poor white boys for knowledge and books, as well as copying his master’s handwriting. Douglas learning to read gave him extreme awareness of his condition as he says â€Å"†¦I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy† (Page 168-169). With his new consciousness he suffered with depression envying his fellow slaves for their†¦show more content†¦Ignorance also befalls on the oppressors. Douglas sheds light on how slave owners prayed to Christ, went to church every Sunday and yet mistreated people to the upmost degree and punished them for reading. Southerners often justified slavery by saying they were bringing Christianity to slaves. Christianity is a religion based on love and compassion for your fellow man. Since the Europeans did not believe the Africans were worthy to be in the same human category as them they dehumanized them relating them to animals. Although the bible says â€Å"we must never treat any part of Gods creation with contempt. When we do, we are indirectly treating our Creator with contempt.† If they did not believe slaves were worthy to be treated as God’s creation then why did they push their religion on them? The answer is to keep them controlled and confused. Europeans stripped Africans of their traditions starting with their name, this in some degree made Africans like blank canvases ready to be painted anew. Christianity gave slaves hope that one day their situation will change if they prayed hard enough and abide by Christ words. It also gave them a brand new vision of what God should look like. White is good, Black is bad. In the Christian bible they saw Jesus as a white man so in turn they could have related the goodness of Christ to the â€Å"goodness† of their masters. Some slaves even argued about whose master was more kind. I guess this is whatShow MoreRelatedLearning How to Read and Write Essay1214 Words   |  5 PagesBeing the second youngest in my family out of five children, you would think that reading would be easy for me growing up. But learning how to read was a challenge. It was something that I never thought I would be able to do without a lot of help from my father. Being brought up with my father, a single parent we had our ups and downs. My father was a very hard working man. He tried his hardest to take of five children. Besides having a job that required him to work long hours he made sure weRead MoreVark Learning Styles: Read/Write Learning Style1031 Words   |  5 Pages VARK Learning styles: Read/write learning style Name: Institution: VARK Learning styles: Read/write learning style Overview of the read/write learning style The read/write learning style mainly makes the use of printed words to receive and convey learning information. Using the style enables one skill to become the input of another through the transfer of the ability to read to that of writing. The skills transfer is integral in raising the awareness of how the structural components involved inRead MoreVark Learning Styles: Read/Write Learning Style1002 Words   |  5 Pages VARK Learning styles: Read/write learning style Name: Institution: VARK Learning styles: Read/write learning style Overview of the read/write learning style The read/write learning style mainly makes the use of printed words to receive and convey learning information. Using the style enables one skill to become the input of another through the transfer of the ability to read to that of writing. The skills transfer is integral in raising the awareness of how the structural components involved inRead MoreFrederick Douglass s Learning Of Read And Write1334 Words   |  6 PagesFredrick Douglass’s â€Å"Learning to Read and Write†, gives readers insight into the struggles of being a slave with intelligence, but more importantly into his experience. In his essay, Douglass shows how he fought to obtain knowledge; however, a reading of his story will reveal that what he learned changed him for the better. Michael Scott, a former EOF student read the story and believed that Douglass’s intelligence was a destructive and to a certain degree pointless. Contrary to Scott’s statementRead MoreAn Analysis Of Learning To Rea d And Write By Frederick Douglass872 Words   |  4 Pageson. He even wished to die from all the pain he stored in himself that he could not express, except in his writing. With all of the obstacles and pain throughout the years, it was worth it because he escaped slavery and became a free man. â€Å"Learning to Read and Write,† by Frederick Douglass, was his hardship of receiving an education and earning his freedom. In his essay, he had used ethos, pathos, and his formal tone for the essay is an important impact for the audience to take his essay seriously.Read MoreThe Process Of Learning How I Read And Write848 Words   |  4 PagesThe process of learning how to read and write Speaking and expressing oneselves in verbal communication, is not an activity as simple as we think it might be. In fact speaking takes to the brain a noticeable quantity of effort to be completed every time we feel the necessity or instinct to communicate with worlds with an other human beings. The brain is one of the most powerful Central Processing unit existing in the world. Reading and writing than are activities vay more tiresome and articulatedRead MoreAn Analysis Of Learning To Read And Write By Frederick Douglass1307 Words   |  6 PagesFrederick Douglass, a well-known activist against slavery and racial inequality, wrote about his journey towards literacy throughout his years as a slave. In his article, Learning to Read and Write, he discusses his strategies for gaining knowledge and his internal desires and struggles that centered around his education. In an article known as Freewriting, Peter Elbow discusses his disdain for excessive editing and its negative effects on the natural flow of a written work. These texts have manyRead MoreLearning to Read and Write: The Story of Frederick Douglass Essays818 Words   |  4 PagesLearning to Read Write Frederick Douglas was born into the slave trade in Talbot County, Maryland. He was sent to work on a plantation for the Hugh’s Family for about seven years. This is the location where his learning truly began. His mistress was a â€Å"kind, tender-hearted, woman† who treated Frederick as a human instead of property the family owned. This was a dangerous thing for both parties at this time in history it was considered wrong. Frederick States â€Å"Slavery proved as injurious to herRead MoreAnalysis Of Frederick Douglass s Learning On Read And Write 999 Words   |  4 PagesIn Frederick Douglass s essay, Learning to Read and Write, he describes the various methods with which he became literate throughout the age of slavery. The essay is made with well-executed and potent literary tools that serve to each relay the struggle he endured in learning to browse and write, additionally on more prove Douglass s distinguished accomplishments and talent against apparently insur mountable odds. It s an awfully personal recount of a heavy time in his life, however it additionallyRead MoreLearning To Read And Write Has Been An Adventure For Me.1213 Words   |  5 PagesLearning to read and write has been an adventure for me. Speaking English as a second language has been harder than I have realized. When I was growing up my sister was already in her teens and didn’t spend much time with me. I wasn’t to social with kids of my age until I started preschool, so when I did attend preschool I didn’t really have any social skills. I was shy, and very quiet, not speaking or understanding english very well. Within my first couple years of school I was able to quickly learn