The Power of Education
Douglass’s, “Learning to Read and Write,” is an extremely interesting and persuasive essay. Before reading his essay I had never really thought why they didn’t want their slaves to be educated. I always thought it was because they didn't feel that slaves were worthy of an education. However, after reading the essay Douglass convinced me that why slaveholders wouldn't educate their slaves was because the more education that the slaves had, the more power they had. Education gives people the ability to be capable of thinking outside the box and gives us the power to take control of our own life.
In his essay ‘Learning to Read and Write’ Douglas maintains that “the only way to keep people enslaved is to prevent them from learning and acquiring knowledge"(28). In other words, he believes that education plays a huge role in our lives. Douglas’s essay put into perspective that uneducated people tend to be the more oppressed in some way or another than educated people. It just makes me so grateful for the things that I have and the ability to freely learn how to read and write. His stories showed me just how important it …show more content…
He expresses how terrible he feels for not being able to do something to free himself. Douglas shows us this when he writes, “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 a remedy; in moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (27). The essence of Douglas argument is that gaining knowledge helps us to see our lives in a different perspective, whether that knowledge shows us how good or bad our circumstances are. Douglas continues to prove his point my stating, “Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seeing in everything; it was ever present to torment me with a sense of wretched condition”
Douglass’s, “Learning to Read and Write,” is an extremely interesting and persuasive essay. Before reading his essay I had never really thought why they didn’t want their slaves to be educated. I always thought it was because they didn't feel that slaves were worthy of an education. However, after reading the essay Douglass convinced me that why slaveholders wouldn't educate their slaves was because the more education that the slaves had, the more power they had. Education gives people the ability to be capable of thinking outside the box and gives us the power to take control of our own life.
In his essay ‘Learning to Read and Write’ Douglas maintains that “the only way to keep people enslaved is to prevent them from learning and acquiring knowledge"(28). In other words, he believes that education plays a huge role in our lives. Douglas’s essay put into perspective that uneducated people tend to be the more oppressed in some way or another than educated people. It just makes me so grateful for the things that I have and the ability to freely learn how to read and write. His stories showed me just how important it …show more content…
He expresses how terrible he feels for not being able to do something to free himself. Douglas shows us this when he writes, “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 a remedy; in moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (27). The essence of Douglas argument is that gaining knowledge helps us to see our lives in a different perspective, whether that knowledge shows us how good or bad our circumstances are. Douglas continues to prove his point my stating, “Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seeing in everything; it was ever present to torment me with a sense of wretched condition”