Friday, November 19, 2010
Fredrick Douglas, How I Learned to Read and Write from The Life. Questions for reflection and writing
In considering Douglas' fight to learn to read and write, it makes me feel a little ashamed of myself. I have been thinking back to when I was learning to be literate and I really can't remember the process. It seems the only thing that comes to mind is sitting in our reading circles and copying the letters our teacher had written on my big chief notepad. I guess it makes me feel a little irresponsible, in away, that I can't remember such a valuable lesson, another thing I take for granted without realizing how much it means to me. There are struggles in every one's life, granted Douglas fought an amazing fight for something he wanted. I am not sure I would have fought so hard, I think I would have just bowed out like the rest of the slaves and accepted that it was to be my fate.
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HI Penny,
ReplyDeleteI really like the connection that you make with Douglass, especially at the very end when you tell us that you would have accepted your fate. Many today might just agree with you, because I don't think that we realize the seriousness of this crime, and I use this word loosely. Literacy is something we take for granted. You certainly aren't alone. While I am in love with both reading and writing, I too have a difficult time remembering how I learned to read and write. Though I can tell you of the times where I read R.L. Stine novels and wrote short stories and poems.
Ms. C