Frederick Douglass Taking Risk Essay
Is risk taking worth the effort?
By: Gwen May
Have you ever taken a risk? Risks are things that may have a positive or negative outcome. Whether it is something small like trying something new. Maybe you are experiencing something for the first time and the risk is how you react. Many people take risks like Frederick Douglass, the Challenger crew, and people on the Titanic. Risk taking is a very common thing for people to do, but the outcome is always unknown and lessons are always learned.
In the autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass takes many risks. Frederick Douglass was a slave whose goal was to learn to read and write. Even though Douglass knew that he, and the people helping him achieve this goal, could get in serious trouble. Douglass wanted to be treated as a human with all the same qualities. The narrative states, “It is Almost an unpardonable offense to teach slaves to read in this Christian country.” This shows how teaching a slave to read could get everyone in trouble. Though his journey was tough and he didn't have the best resources, he made it through an achieved his goal with perseverance. Douglass’
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These impacts can teach lessons. In 1986, The Challenger set off to explore space with 7 explorers aboard. Everything was very smooth until out of nowhere the shuttle starts to explode. At the time the president was Ronald Reagan who was planning to give his Address to the Nation speech, but in light of the situation, he gave a speech about the crew, there risks, and the lessons they’ve taught us. “The Challenger 7 were aware of the dangers but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn the seven heroes…” Ronald Reagan tells the nation. His words prove that though the risk did have negative outcomes, it taught everyone a lesson. Now you can see the negative impacts of risks, ut also examples of the lessons they teach such as perseverance and
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288 Words | 2 PagesIn the article, “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, he achieved to learn how to read and write in the time of slavery in Maryland. At a young age he learned how to be literate. But then he was a slave that not only thought about being free but wanted to learn how to read and write. His mistress only helped him to learn the alphabet, but he was also accused of reading, so she never trusted him to be near a newspaper, book or anything that had to do with reading. Sometimes he would get sent to run errands and he tries to finish it fast so he can read a part in a book that he found or get some lessons.
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299 Words | 2 PagesFrederick Douglass was a slave who wanted to learn how to read. His mistress wanted to teach him but her husband did not approve, so he had to find a different way to learn how to read. He gave the white children down the street bread and in return they would teach him to read. Frederick Douglass grew to not like reading because it reminded him that he would never be free. Douglass’s tone in his Autobiography is angry, this helped him achieve his purpose.
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405 Words | 2 PagesAt this point in time, Frederick Douglass can now use his literacy to teach others and eventually gain freedom for all. He composes a Sunday school to enlighten his, “loved fellow-slaves how to read” (Douglass 90). Clearly, with more and more slaves learning skills like reading, it leads them to understand the need for revolt just like Douglass learned. This education helped jumpstart the discontinuation of
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973 Words | 4 PagesBecause of this, he successfully creates a contrast between what the slave owners think of and treat the slaves and how they are. Douglass says that slave’s minds were “starved by their cruel masters”(Douglass, 48) and that “they had been shut up in mental darkness” (Douglass, 48) and through education, something that they were deprived of, Frederick Douglass is able to open their minds and allow them to flourish into the complex people that they are. By showing a willingness to learn to read and write, the slaves prove that they were much more than what was forced upon them by their masters.
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