Frederick Douglass Essay Example for Free

Frederick Douglass EssayFrederick Douglass was born a slave in 1818, a time when slaves were forbidden to have an knowledge he succeeded in program line himself to indicate and write. In Frederick Douglass Learning to Read, the audience was given a front row seat that allowed a glimpse inside the true depth and extent of sla precise. Douglass expressed emphasis on literacy and the impact it had on slavery by revealing how slavery was detrimental not only to slaves but slave owners, how the travel plan to educate himself caused mental anguish, and how literacy became his key to freedom. In the beginning, the masters wife viewed Frederick as her equal and didnt see anything wrong with educating him. Douglass said of his first teacher She at first lacked the depravity indispensable to mop up me up in mental darkness (346), then she realized that educating a slave meant giving them a voice. Slavery had the power to turn a kind and caring person into a callous and venomous brut e. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger like force (Douglass 346).She ceased to instruct him and made sure nobody else would. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could clog me from taking ell (347). Frederick Douglass was a brilliant man and determined to learn how to read. Douglass turned children into teachers and through an exchange of scribble successfully learned how to read. In Learning to Read, Douglass wanted to name the boys who helped him as a testimonial of the gratitude and pith I bear them(347), but instead stated where they lived.Douglass writes about the steps he took when erudition to read and goes as far to include where the children lived that help him succeed establishes accurate logic. The path Frederick Douglass traveled to pursue his education was a roller-coaster of emotions. Douglass was twelve when he came across the book The Columbian Orator , it contained material that spoke out against slavery, and with intrust at his fingertips he came face to face with reality. beholdThat very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my tuition to read has already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish. (Douglass 348). He was still a slave, no longer ignorant of the truth but still without the answer. I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wish myself dead and but for the hope of being free Slavery was so horrific that he envied the clueless slaves and even contemplated death, but it was hope that saved him.Douglass use of loaded language appeals to the emotions of the audience. In Learning to Read, Douglass is glowing to hear the word abolitionists, although he didnt know what it meant he associated the word with hope. If a slave ran external and succeeded in getting clear, or if a slave killed his master, set fire to a barn, or did anything very wrong in the mind of a slave holder, it was spoken of as the fruit of abolition(348,349).From a urban center paper he reads about the petition to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and at the sorrel he is encouraged to runaway to the north, where he could be free. Douglass wrote I consoled myself with hope that I should one daytime find a good chance. Meanwhile, I would learn to write. (349) A lump of chalk, any solid turn up and another clever method would provide Douglass with the tools necessary to learn how to write.Frederick Douglas was a slave who succeeded in learning to read and write establishes his credibility and authority. Douglass views on the importance of literacy and the impact it had on slavery was effective by accurately using logic, appealing to emotions, and establishing ethical credibility In Learning to Read, Frederick Douglass gives a first-hand account of the struggles he faced to free himself, mentally and physically, from slavery. Through his persistence to learn to read and write he discovers that knowledge is the key to freedom.