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Frederick Douglass Learning How To Read And Write Summary

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Summarize Douglass’s process of learning how to read and write. How does his journey towards literacy begin, and what tools does he find to assist him?
In “Learning How to Read and Write”, Fredrick Douglass discusses his journey towards literacy as a slave. In the beginning, Fredrick Douglass begins his journey towards literacy during his seven year stay with the Hugh family. Initially, Mrs. Hugh taught Douglass how to read. However, Mrs. Hugh soon became violent towards Douglass and ended all teaching sessions with him because she thought that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.
Moreover, Douglass found ways to help further his journey towards literacy by continuing to read on his own. Additionally, Douglass proceeded …show more content…

Moreover, Douglass began to acquire knowledge about an abolitionist movement. With Douglass’ knowledge about an abolitionist movement, he began to contemplate about the meaning of freedom and the need to escape slavery. Essentially, Douglass decided that he needed to run away to escape slavery. However, Douglass thought that he was too young to flee from slavery. Furthermore, Douglass realizes that escaping slavery with the inability to write would be a detriment to his education. Instead, Douglass decides to further his journey towards literacy by copying his master’s copy-book, thus completing his journey towards …show more content…

By Douglass learning how to read, this meant that he could excel beyond being a slave. Furthermore, this also meant that Douglass could educate illiterate slaves by teaching them how to read and write so that slaves could become aware of social injustice and use the notion of literacy to become successful. Moreover, learning to read came to define Fredrick Douglass as a person when he stated “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom...I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read” (Douglass 63). This quoted passage suggests that Douglass’ attitude towards literacy was positive because he realized that learning how to read helped him gain knowledge about the pathway from slavery to freedom.

How does Douglass explain the conflict between literacy and slavery in his own experience? What explanation does he offer to why his master does not want him to learn how to read? What effect does the knowledge that literacy is prohibited have on

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