FD paper
Frederick Douglas narrative on “Learning to Read and Write” was an essay showing that with an education you can overcome anything. He told the early years of him learning from the alphabet from the mistress. Then of the little boys he met that also thought him to read. Then being at the ship yard where he finally learned how to write. This narrative is effective because Douglas shares several of his own personal experiences, which helped him learn to become literate. To begin with Frederick talks about living in Mater Hugh’s family, and the early stages of his process to learning to read. He speaks of his first teacher in being his mistress. He describes her as being a pious, warm and tender hearted woman. That in the beginning she was injurious to slavery. She began teaching Frederick the alphabet, but then it came to realization what she was doing and she ceased to teach him. Douglas then describes her as becoming violent and hateful towards him as the role of a slave owner became apparent to her. Now Frederick first source of literacy was gone, he got a new plan to help himself learn to read. He befriended a group of poor little white boys that he met while doing errands. Frederick offered the poor boys bread in return for lessons to help him learn to read. The boys would sympathize with Douglas for that he was bound for a life of a slave. Next Douglas recalls working at Durgin and Bailey’s shipyard. The ideal of escaping to the north is presented to him here by an Irishman. He was wary of his words for he feared he was trying to get him to run so he could catch him for a reward. While on the ship yard Frederick was getting the ideal to learn to write. He would watch the ship carpenters write letter on timber for the ships. Then he would tell boys at yard he could write better than them so he could learn more letters from them. Afterwards while he was taking care of his master’s home; he would then write in the spaces left in the master’s copy book