“I consoled myself with the hope that I should one day find a
good chance [to escape]. Meanwhile, I would learn to write” (231).
This quote is found toward the end of the essay
but it is thesis of the whole piece. Everything leads to this idea.
Curse or blessing?
“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” (230).
Learning to
read opened his eyes up to freedom and made him realize that he was a “slave
for life,” which he viewed as his wretched condition.
“In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their
stupidity…I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing my self
dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should
have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed
‘(230).
When is knowing the truth of a situation
actually harmful? Is it sometimes better to be left in the dark? What would be
an example of this?
The more you know the more trouble you can get
into.
The Mistress:
She completely changes as a result of her involvement with
slavery. Douglass's states that slavery was as bad for the slaveholder as it
was for the slave. Previously pious, sweet, kind, and tolerant, Mrs. Auld began
to exercise her power as a slaveholder. Her better nature was completely
altered. She embraced her husband's command to cease instructing Douglass, and
overcompensated for it by brutally and methodically trying to prohibit Douglass
from any interaction with the written word.
Consider the basic skills of literacy — learning to read and
write…a path to freedom.
“I used also to carry bread with me, enough of which was
always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; for I was much better
off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood.
This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return,
would give me that more valuable bread
of knowledge.” (surprising fact: the house slave sometimes had better
nutrition than poor whites)
English
101
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Introduction…NO
QUOTES
The introduction should start with a
general discussion of your subject and lead to a very specific statement of
your main point, or thesis. Include title and author of primary texts. The
thesis should tell in one (or at most two) sentence(s), what your overall point
or argument is, and briefly, what your main body paragraphs will be about.
Conclusion…NO QUOTES
Your conclusion begins with a
restatement of your main point; but be sure to paraphrase, not just repeat your
thesis sentence. Tie your main points together about the issues and primary
texts you wrote about in your essay.
When
you are quoting the text (which you will have to do three times for each in
class essay, midterm and the final, follow this layout:
You would first use your own words and
then use the quote to back up your point. Let’s say you are trying to back up
the idea that the moon is purple and the author supports that idea. “The moon
is of course purple” (Last name 37). You would then follow this up with more of
your own words.
In
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, Douglass explains
different methods he used to learn to read and write. For this essay, pick
three methods he used in order to do so.
Mistress
teaches him the alphabet
He
traces his master’s school work
He trades
bread for help reading the signs he sees at the port
He
tricks other children into showing him how to write letters and words he
sees
“In
moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity”
“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 conditions, without the
remedy.” (Douglass 262).
Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was
heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment
me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I
heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It
looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and
moved in every storm” (263).
