Rhetorical Analysis Of Learning To Read And Write Frederick Douglass

Literacy is considered to be a key part of society; however, individuals have different contemplations about it. Frederick Douglass, for instance, uses numerous rhetorical strategies to convey his views about education in his excerpt “Learning to Read and Write”. He believes that learning to read and write is a privilege that a person ought to have regardless of social class. Education gives a prospect for people to be self-aware and to have a sense of identification. Douglass suggests that although many limitations prevent people from reaching their goals, one will prosper as long as they have their mind set on succeeding. Frederick Douglass’s goal, becoming literate, had been hard to accomplish due to many circumstances. His race conflicted with his desire to learn as it was a time of slavery, and he was “a slave for life”. In the beginning, he did not have issues on learning as his mistress was kind-hearted and had taught him the basis of education. However, as time passed, “slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. She turned into the complete contrary of what she had been. Slave owners began to think that such

He uses Pathos along with metaphorical analogies to accomplish this. He mentions his surreptitious affiliation with white boys; with whom he exchanges bread with for that “more valuable bread of knowledge”, who helped him succeed in learning to read and how grateful he is for their aid. He also defines their enslavement to be an act of robbery by the enslavers who are "a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes”. This implies the hardships the slaves experience and how this affects them emotionally and mentally. It also proves that slavery, throughout history, had been one of the most painful and influential aspect in society (Reddie,