Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass An American Slave Summary

In the first few chapters of ‘Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave,’ he mostly speaks of the horrors that take place on a large plantation. He tells us of the different types of cruelty imposed on the slaves by the many different overseers that passed through the plantation. Early on we learn of how easy it was for slaveholders to make the slaves feel less human, one way was through not letting them know their age. Without knowing simple details of their lives’, slaves were left feeling like animals. Children were taken away from their mothers at a young age, removing the bond that develops as a child grows with their mother.
While reading Douglass’ narrative, he leads you to believe he blames the situation for making slaveholders cruel. He says that the owners are ‘hardened’ by slave ownership. Rather than thinking that these people are just cruel …show more content…
They allowed me to grow as a writer and develop a style I could call my one. These teachers were the people that encouraged me to love creating my own stories and situations, sharing my opinions with others, and making sense of my own thoughts that I didn’t yet understand. My love for reading was supported my one teacher in particular; I remember her saying, “Unless the material is toxic and misleading, reading can never be negative. Expand your vocabulary and become a cultured individual without even taking a step.”
Even though I had teachers who were extremely supportive, I also had teachers who discouraged a personal writing style and wanted us all to write in the same, to-the-point tones. These suggestions from authoritative figures were not nearly as extreme as Fredrick Douglass’ slavery. But, once you are given the ability to read and write, all you’d like to do is expand your knowledge and make it your own. As I wanted to develop my writing style, Douglass wanted to learn in order to develop his