Assertions

Learning to Read and Write by Fredrick Douglass Assertion

“Learning to read and write” by Fredrick Douglas is about the time when a slave named Fredrick Douglas was learning to read and write which wasn’t very common. The author’s purpose was to show that slaves were people too that had ambition and desire for freedom, he also showed that knowledge can be a blessing and a curse. In the passage, Fredrick Douglas says “I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Anything, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! it was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me.” After learning to read and write Douglas realized that if he didn’t use this knowledge it would be his biggest downfall and be a slave forever. When Fredrick was learning he realized how cruel and horrible to life he’d been living was he realized that this wasn’t right, so he decided to fight for others who didn’t know better and became an abolitionist. After reading this passage you can tell that his drive and thirst for knowledge is what saved him, without ever learning to read and write Fredrick Douglas wouldn’t have learned of the injustice and wouldn’t fought for him self and others. This fight and drive he had in him lead to his freedom and many others.